System for adaptation of multiple digital signatures in a distributed network

• US 10,080,132 B2
• Filed: 03/28/2016
• Issued: 09/18/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Original Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Inventors: Dravneek, Victoria L., Kurian, Manu Jacob, Jones-McFadden, Alicia C., Hsieh, Matthew
• Primary Examiner(s): Lai, Andrew
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kim, Harry H
• Application Number:
  US15/082,645
• Publication Number:
  US 20170280315A1
• Time in Patent Office: 904 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/03 Protecting confidentiality, e.g. by encryption
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/16 selectively restricting mobility data tracking

Abstract

The present invention provides for managing communication of data from Internet-connected devices, such as those devices within an IoT environment. Specifically, the invention provides automated determination of which devices are communicating to which third-party entities and, in some embodiments, the type of data being communicated to such third-party entities. Once such information is known, the third-party entity can be automatically placed into a designated third-party category, which defines the type of data that the third-party entity is authorized to receive. In addition, a user can manage the communications from such devices by selecting to prohibit (i.e., block) or limit, based on data type, which data is communicated to which third-party entities. Additionally, the identity of the third-party entities can be authenticated/verified, such that if the third-party entity cannot be verified, communication of data to that entity is blocked or limited.

Claims

1. A system for managing communications, the system comprising:

a plurality of devices associated with a user, wherein each of the devices are connected to the Internet and communicate data associated with the device to one or more entities; and

a computer platform including a memory device with computer-readable code stored thereon and at least one processor device in communication with the memory device, wherein executing the computer-readable code is configured to cause the at least one processor device to;

establish a plurality of entity categories, wherein each category is associated with an entity type and defines what types of data can and cannot be communicated to entities residing in the category,

poll the plurality of the devices to determine which IP addresses each of the devices are communicating the data to and determine an entity associated with each of the IP addresses, and

in response to determining which entities each of the devices are communicating the data to, manage communication of the data from the devices, wherein managing communication comprises;

determining which entity category each of the entities belong to and placing each of the entities in the determined entity category, wherein placement of the entity in an entity category automatically manages what type of data can and cannot be communicated from the devices to the entities placed in the entity category, wherein automatically managing what type of data that cannot be communicated from the devices to the entities includes;

reconfiguring settings in one or more of the devices to block transmission of a portion of the data communicated from the one or more of the devices to at least one of the determined entities, wherein the portion of the data that is blocked is based the type of data that cannot be communicated to the at least one determined entity as defined by the entity category determined for the at least one determined entity.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer-readable code is further configured to cause the at least one processor device to poll the plurality of devices to determine one or more types of data that are being communicated to each of the determined entities.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the computer-readable code is further configured to cause the at least one processor device to, in response to determining which entities each of the devices are communicating the data to, manage communication of the data from the devices, wherein managing communication comprises blocking transmission of one or more of the types of data communicated from one or more of the devices to at least one of the entities.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer-readable code is further configured to cause the at least one processor device to identify one or more routers through which the plurality of devices connect to the Internet and poll the plurality of devices through the identified one or more routers.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the computer-readable code is further configured to cause the at least one processor device to manage communication of the data from the devices, wherein managing communication comprises blocking, at the one or more identified routers, transmission of the at least a portion of the data communicated from one or more of the devices to at least one of the entities.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer-readable code is further configured to cause the at least one processor device to receive a user input that selects one or more of the devices and, in response to receiving the user input, queries the selected one or more devices as to which entities the selected one or more devices are communicating the data to.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer-readable code is further configured to cause the at least one processor device to verify an identity of each of the determined entities.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the computer-readable code is further configured to cause the at least one processor device to, in response to determining that an identity of an entity cannot be verified, automatically block transmission of all data communicated from the devices to the entity.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer-readable code is further configured to cause the at least one processor device to manage communication of data from the devices, wherein managing communication includes adding at least one additional entity that at least one of the devices communicates data to.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the computer-readable code is further configured to cause the at least one processor device to manage communication of data from the devices, wherein managing communication includes identifying one or more types of data to be communicated from the at least one of the devices to the at least one additional entity.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer-readable code is further configured to cause the at least one processor device to manage communication of data from the devices, wherein managing communication includes encrypting at least a portion of the data communicated from one or more of the devices to at least one of the entities.

12. An apparatus for managing communications, the apparatus comprising:

a computer platform including;

a memory device with computer-readable code stored thereon; and

at least one processor device in communication with the memory device,

wherein executing the computer-readable code is configured to cause the at least one processor device to;

establish a plurality of entity categories, wherein each category is associated with an entity type and defines what types of data can and cannot be communicated to entities residing in the category,

poll a plurality of Internet-connected devices to determine which IP addresses each of the devices are communicating device-related data to and determine an entity associated with each of the IP addresses, and

manage communication of the data from the devices, wherein managing communication comprises;

 

determining which entity category each of the entities belong to and placing each of the entities in the determined entity category, wherein placement of the entity in an entity category automatically manages what type of data can and cannot be communicated from the devices to the entities placed in the entity category,

 

wherein automatically managing what type of data that cannot be communicated from the devices to the entities includes;

 

reconfiguring settings in one or more of the devices to block transmission of a portion of the data communicated from the one or more of the devices to at least one of the determined entities, wherein the portion of the data that is blocked is based the type of data that cannot be communicated to the at least one determined entity as defined by the entity category determined for the at least one determined entity.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the computer-readable code is further configured to cause the at least one processor device to

poll the plurality of devices to determine one or more types of data that are being communicated to each of the determined entities and

in response to determining which entities each of the devices are communicating the data to, manage communication of the data from the devices, wherein managing communication comprises blocking transmission of one or more of the types of data communicated from one or more of the devices to at least one of the entities.

14. A computer program product including a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the computer-readable medium comprising multiple sets of codes which, when extended by a computer, cause the computer to:

establish a plurality of entity categories, wherein each category is associated with an entity type and defines what types of data can and cannot be communicated to entities residing in the category;

poll a plurality of Internet-connected devices to determine which IP addresses each of the devices are communicating device-related data to and determine an entity associated with each of the IP addresses; and

in response to determining which entities each of the devices are communicating the data to, manage communication of the data from the devices, wherein managing communication comprises;

determining which entity category each of the entities belong to and placing each of the entities in the determined entity category, wherein placement of the entity in an entity category automatically manages what type of data can and cannot be communicated from the devices to the entities placed in the entity category,

wherein automatically managing what type of data that cannot be communicated from the devices to the entities includes;

reconfiguring settings in one or more of the devices to block transmission of a portion of the data communicated from the one or more of the devices to at least one of the determined entities,

wherein the portion of the data that is blocked is based the type of data that cannot be communicated to the at least one determined entity as defined by the entity category determined for the at least one determined entity.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the first set of codes is further configured to cause the computer to poll the plurality of devices to determine one or more types of data that are being communicated to each of the determined entities and wherein the second set of codes is further configured to cause the computer to, in response to determining which entities each of the devices are communicating the data to, manage communication of the data from the devices, wherein managing communication comprises blocking transmission of one or more of the types of data communicated from one or more of the devices to at least one of the entities.