Method, system and computer program product for interception, quarantine and moderation of internal communications of uncontrolled systems

• US 10,404,553 B2
• Filed: 01/31/2017
• Issued: 09/03/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Proofpoint Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Proofpoint Incorporated
• Inventors: Cooper, Cameron Blair
• Primary Examiner(s): Donabed, Ninos
• Application Number:
  US15/420,854
• Publication Number:
  US 20170142052A1
• Time in Patent Office: 945 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/08 Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/212 using filtering or selective blocking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/52 for supporting social networking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0245 Filtering by information in the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0281 Proxies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1408 by monitoring network traffic monitoring network traffic per se H04L43/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1441 Countermeasures against malicious traffic countermeasures against attacks on cryptographic mechanisms H04L9/002
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring

Abstract

Embodiments disclosed herein may intercept, quarantine, and moderate communications internal to an uncontrolled system. An example of an uncontrolled system may be a web application associated with a social networking site. In accessing the social networking site, a user may type in a message. An instance of the uncontrolled system running on the user'"'"'s device may prepare a request containing the message. Some embodiment disclosed herein may determine that the message is subject to moderation, intercept the request, and place the message in a queue. This determination may be based on the destination of the request as well the type of the message. Some embodiments may reconstruct the original request for resubmission. If the session is expired, some embodiments may log in for the user and resubmit the reconstructed request. Some embodiments may wait for the next time the user logs in to resubmit the reconstructed request.

Claims

1. A method for controlling communications over a computer network, comprising:

receiving a request from a user'"'"'s device intended for a server of a social networking site, the request containing content intended to be posted on the social networking site, the receiving performed by a network traffic monitoring computer comprising instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium that are translatable by a processor, wherein the network traffic monitoring computer is configured for blocking or allowing submission of content from a plurality of user devices in a computing environment to a plurality of social networking sites on the Internet, the network traffic monitoring computer comprising a plurality of application programming interfaces (APIs), each API specific to one social networking site of the plurality of social networking sites on the Internet, the network traffic monitoring computer having no control of any of the plurality of social networking sites on the Internet;

applying at least one rule from a rule set to determine, based on a type of the content, whether the content is to be reviewed, the applying performed by the network traffic monitoring computer;

responsive to the content determined to be subject to review, stopping the request from reaching the server of the social networking site and communicating the content to a content review system, the stopping and the communicating performed by the network traffic monitoring computer, the content review system comprising instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium that are translatable by a processor; and

responsive to the content being approved by the content review system, reconstructing the content and submitting the request with the content that has been reconstructed to the server of the social networking site via an API specific to the social networking site, the reconstructing and the submitting performed by the network traffic monitoring computer.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the content review system and the network monitoring system share a processor and a non-transitory computer readable medium, and wherein after the communication is stopped, the content is placed in a moderation queue for processing, wherein the content is retrieved from the moderation queue and analyzed in a moderation workflow operated by the content review system.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the content review system and the user device operate in a computing environment.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein the user device operates in a computing environment and wherein the content review system operates outside of the computing environment.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the network traffic monitoring computer waits until next time the user logs in to perform the resubmitting the request.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein responsive to the content not approved by the content review system, the network traffic monitoring computer operates to block the request from reaching the server of the social networking site.

7. A network traffic control system for controlling communications over a computer network, comprising:

a content review system comprising instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium that are translatable by a processor; and

a network traffic monitoring computer comprising instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium that are translatable by a processor, wherein the network traffic monitoring computer is configured for blocking or allowing submission of content from a plurality of user devices in a computing environment to a plurality of social networking sites on the Internet, the network traffic monitoring computer comprising a plurality of application programming interfaces (APIs), each API specific to one social networking site of the plurality of social networking sites on the Internet, the network traffic monitoring computer having no control of any of the plurality of social networking sites on the Internet, wherein the network traffic monitoring computer;

receives a request from a user'"'"'s device intended for a server of a social networking site, the request containing content intended to be posted on the social networking site;

applies at least one rule from a rule set to determine, based on a type of the content, whether the content is to be reviewed;

responsive to the content determined to be subject to review, stopping the request from reaching the server of the social networking site and communicating the content to the content review system; and

responsive to the content being approved by the content review system, reconstructing the content and submitting the request with the content that has been reconstructed to the server of the social networking site via an API specific to the social networking site.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the content review system and the network monitoring system share a processor and a non-transitory computer readable medium, and wherein after the communication is stopped, the content is placed in a moderation queue for processing, wherein the content is retrieved from the moderation queue and analyzed in a moderation workflow operated by the content review system.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the content review system and the user device operate in a computing environment.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the user device operates in a computing environment and wherein the content review system operates outside of the computing environment.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the network traffic monitoring computer waits until next time the user logs in to perform the submitting the request.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein responsive to the content not approved by the content review system, the network traffic monitoring computer operates to block the request from reaching the server of the social networking site.

13. A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions translatable by a network traffic monitoring computer comprising at least one processor to perform:

receiving a request from a user'"'"'s device intended for a server of a social networking site, the request containing content intended to be posted on the social networking site, wherein the network traffic monitoring computer is configured for blocking or allowing submission of content from a plurality of user devices in a computing environment to a plurality of social networking sites on the Internet, the network traffic monitoring computer comprising a plurality of application programming interfaces (APIs), each API specific to one social networking site of the plurality of social networking sites on the Internet, the network traffic monitoring computer having no control of any of the plurality of social networking sites on the Internet;

applying at least one rule from a rule set to determine, based on a type of the content, whether the content is to be reviewed;

responsive to the content determined to be subject to review, stopping the request from reaching the server of the social networking site and communicating the content to a content review system, the content review system comprising instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium that are translatable by a processor; and

responsive to the content being approved by the content review system, reconstructing the content and submitting the request with the content that has been reconstructed to the server of the social networking site via an API specific to the social networking site.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the content review system and the network monitoring system share a processor and a non-transitory computer readable medium, and wherein after the communication is stopped, the content is placed in a moderation queue for processing, wherein the content is retrieved from the moderation queue and analyzed in a moderation workflow operated by the content review system.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the content review system and the user device operate in a computing environment.

16. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the user device operates in a computing environment and wherein the content review system operates outside of the computing environment.

17. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the network traffic monitoring computer waits until next time the user logs in to perform the submitting the request.

18. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein responsive to the content not approved by the content review system, the network traffic monitoring computer operates to block the request from reaching the server of the social networking site.