Systems and methods for reporting the attempted transmission of sensitive information

• US 10,462,091 B1
• Filed: 06/12/2015
• Issued: 10/29/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gen Digital Inc.
• Original Assignee: Symantec Corporation (NortonLifeLock Inc.)
• Inventors: Savant, Anubhav
• Primary Examiner(s): Serrao, Ranodhi
• Application Number:
  US14/737,532
• Time in Patent Office: 1,600 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/046 Interoperability with other network applications or services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/23 Reliability checks, e.g. acknowledgments or fault reporting

Abstract

The disclosed computer-implemented method for reporting the attempted transmission of sensitive information may include (1) identifying an attempt by at least one software program running on a computing device to transmit data to one or more intended recipients, (2) determining that the data of the attempted transmission includes sensitive information, (3) identifying an intended recipient of the attempted transmission, and (4) notifying a user of the computing device both that the attempted transmission includes sensitive information and of the intended recipient of the attempted transmission. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, performed by a computing device comprising at least one processor, for protecting user data privacy, the method comprising:

identifying a software program, running on the computing device, to which a user of the computing device granted access to his or her sensitive data when installing the software program;

monitoring networking hardware on the computing device to detect a plurality of attempts by the software program to transmit data to one or more intended recipients and to identify one or more owners of one or more network resources associated with the intended recipients, the network resources comprising at least one of a network address, a computing device, an Internet domain, and an email account;

determining that the data of the attempted transmissions includes sensitive information, wherein the sensitive information comprises personal information describing the user;

aggregating the plurality of attempts into a postcard display that displays summaries of the aggregated attempts, categorized by the software program and by the identified owners;

notifying a user of the computing device that the software program is attempting to transmit sensitive information and of the intended recipients of the attempted transmissions by displaying the postcard display to the user via a communication interface of the computing device.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the postcard display comprises at least one of:

a destination address;

a return address;

a message.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the destination address comprises the intended recipients of the attempted transmissions.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the destination address comprises at least one of:

a physical location of the intended recipient;

a physical location of a data store used by the intended recipient;

a reputation of the intended recipient;

a data privacy policy of the intended recipient.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the destination address comprises an organization having access to data stored by the intended recipient.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the message comprises a description of the sensitive information.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the return address comprises the software program that attempted to transmit the data.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein displaying the postcard display further comprises displaying at least one of:

the number of attempts to transmit the sensitive information;

the number of software programs that attempted to transmit the data;

the number of intended recipients of the data.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein identifying the one or more owners comprises at least one of:

querying an Internet whois database;

identifying an individual or organizational owner of an email address to which an attempted transmission of sensitive information is directed.

10. A system for reporting the attempted transmission of sensitive information, the system comprising:

an identification module, stored in memory of a computing device, that;

identifies a software program, running on the computing device, to which a user of the computing device granted access to his or her sensitive data when installing the software program;

monitors networking hardware on the computing device to detect a plurality of attempts by the software program to transmit data to one or more intended recipients and to identify one or more owners of one or more network resources associated with the intended recipients, the network resources comprising at least one of a network address, a computing device, an Internet domain, and an email account;

a security module, stored in memory, that determines that the data of the attempted transmissions includes sensitive information, wherein the sensitive information comprises personal information describing the user;

an analysis module, stored in memory, that aggregates the plurality of attempts into a postcard display that displays summaries of the aggregated attempts, categorized by the software program and by the identified owners;

a notification module, stored in memory, that notifies a user of the computing device that the software program is attempting to transmit sensitive information and of the intended recipients of the attempted transmissions by displaying the postcard display to the user via a communication interface of the computing device.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the postcard display comprises at least one of:

a destination address;

a return address;

a message.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the destination address comprises the intended recipients of the attempted transmissions.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the destination address comprises at least one of:

a physical location of the intended recipient;

a physical location of a data store used by the intended recipient;

a reputation of the intended recipient;

a data privacy policy of the intended recipient.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the destination address comprises an organization having access to data stored by the intended recipient.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the message comprises a description of the sensitive information.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the return address comprises the software program that attempted to transmit the data.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the notification module displays the postcard display by displaying at least one of:

the number of attempts to transmit the sensitive information;

the number of software programs that attempted to transmit the data;

the number of intended recipients of the data.

18. The system of claim 10, wherein the identification module identifies the one or more owners by at least one of:

querying an Internet whois database;

identifying an individual or organizational owner of an email address to which an attempted transmission of sensitive information is directed.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising one or more computer-readable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computing device, cause the computing device to:

identify a software program, running on the computing device, to which a user of the computing device granted access to his or her sensitive data when installing the software program;

monitor networking hardware on the computing device to detect a plurality of attempts by the software program to transmit data to one or more intended recipients and to identify one or more owners of one or more network resources associated with the intended recipients, the network resources comprising at least one of a network address, a computing device, an Internet domain, and an email account;

determine that the data of the attempted transmissions includes sensitive information, wherein the sensitive information comprises personal information describing the user;

aggregate the plurality of attempts into a postcard display that displays summaries of the aggregated attempts, categorized by the software program and by the identified owners;

notify a user of the computing device that the software program is attempting to transmit sensitive information and of the intended recipients of the attempted transmissions by displaying the postcard display to the user via a communication interface of the computing device.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the postcard display comprises at least one of:

a destination address;

a return address;

a message.