Method and system for managing and tracking content dissemination in an enterprise

• US 10,691,821 B2
• Filed: 12/11/2017
• Issued: 06/23/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Open Text Corporation
• Original Assignee: Open Text Corporation
• Inventors: Mohen, Michael T., Warren, Paul Craig, Kearns, Una, Addaguduru, Chandra Mouli, Bapat, Ameya Devendra
• Primary Examiner(s): Perungavoor, Venkat
• Application Number:
  US15/837,924
• Publication Number:
  US 20180101695A1
• Time in Patent Office: 925 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6218 to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/08 Annexed information, e.g. attachments
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/234 for tracking messages

Abstract

A method and system for managing document dissemination are disclosed, including obtaining a plurality of operation logs from a plurality of local agents, where each of the plurality of local agents is executing on one of a plurality of clients. The method further includes identifying a document stored on a client of the plurality of clients, determining, using at least one of the plurality of operation logs, a dissemination path of the document between the plurality of clients, and performing an action based on the dissemination path of the document.

Claims

1. A method for managing document dissemination, comprising:

at a computer communicatively connected to a plurality of client devices, the computer having a processor and a non-transitory memory containing instructions to perform the method comprising;

obtaining a plurality of operation logs from the plurality of client devices, wherein each of the operation logs includes one or more operation entries, the one or more operation entries indicating corresponding document identifiers and corresponding operations performed on the identified documents, the operations including one or more of the group including requesting dissemination, accessing, opening, printing, modifying and emailing;

identifying a document stored on a first one of the client devices;

identifying an operation information entry included in the obtained plurality of operation logs from the plurality of client devices, the identified operation information entry indicating a request by an application running on the first one of the client devices to disseminate the document;

determining, using the obtained plurality of operation logs, a dissemination path of the document between the plurality of client devices, the determining including resolving information about one or more target entity IDs in the obtained plurality of operation logs to one or more target entities, the dissemination path specifying entities between which the document was communicated and a direction of communication;

determining a set of client devices that have a copy of the document using the determined dissemination path; and

issuing a request to each client device in the set of client devices determined using the dissemination path to perform an action with respect to the document.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining usage information for the document using the obtained plurality of operation logs.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying the determined dissemination path on a graphical user interface.

4. The method of claim 1,

wherein the determined dissemination path is a directed graph;

wherein each node in the directed graph is one of the plurality of client devices; and

wherein each node is connected to at least one other node using a directed edge.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein issuing the request to each client device of the set of client devices comprises:

sending a delete request to each client device of the set of client devices based on a rule associated with the document.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein issuing the request to each client device of the set of client devices comprises:

sending an update rule request to each of the set of client devices to update at least one rule in a local rule repository associated with the document, wherein the update rule request comprises an updated rule, wherein the updated rule specifies at least one operation that may be performed on the document.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending a report comprising the determined dissemination path and usage information for the document to an auditing entity.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the operation information entry specifies a document ID associated with the document, the application that was used to disseminate the document, and a target entity ID to which the document was disseminated.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein determining the dissemination path of the document comprises identifying a target entity of the one or more target entities from the target entity ID using an identity service.

10. The method of claim 4, wherein the application is an electronic mail (email) application, the target entity ID is an email address, and the target entity is a user.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the application is a file transfer protocol (FTP) application, the target entity ID is an Internet Protocol (IP) address, and the target entity is a user.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 6, wherein determining the dissemination path of the document comprises identifying a target identity from the target entity ID, and wherein the application is a file transfer protocol (FTP) application, the target entity ID is an Internet Protocol (IP) address, and the target entity is a user.

12. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer readable program code, which when executed by a computer processor enables the computer processor to:

obtain, from a plurality of client devices communicatively connected to the computer processor, a plurality of operation logs, wherein each of the operation logs includes one or more operation entries, the one or more operation entries indicating corresponding document identifiers and corresponding operations performed on the identified documents, the operations including one or more of the group including requesting dissemination, accessing, opening, printing, modifying and emailing;

identify a document stored on a first one of the client devices;

identify an operation information entry included in the obtained plurality of operation logs from the plurality of client devices, the identified operation information entry indicating a request by an application to disseminate the document;

determine, using the obtained plurality of operation logs, a dissemination path of the document between the plurality of client devices, the determining including resolving information about one or more target entity IDs in the obtained plurality of operation logs to one or more target entities, the dissemination path specifying entities between which the document was communicated and a direction of communication;

determine a set of client devices that have a copy of the document using the dissemination path; and

issue a request to each client device of the set of client devices determined using the dissemination path to perform an action with respect to the document.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12, further comprising computer readable program code, which when executed by the computer processor enables the computer processor to:

determine usage information for the document using the obtained plurality of operation logs.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12, further comprising computer readable program code, which when executed by the computer processor enables the computer processor to:

display the determined dissemination path on a graphical user interface,

wherein the determined dissemination path is a directed graph;

wherein each node in the directed graph is one of the plurality of client devices; and

wherein each node is connected to at least one other node using a directed edge.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein issuing the request to each client device of the set of client devices comprises:

sending a delete request to each client device of the set of client devices based on a rule associated with the document.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein issuing the request to each client device of the set of client devices comprises:

sending an update rule request to each client device of the set of client devices to update at least one rule in a local rule repository associated with the document, wherein the update rule request comprises an updated rule, wherein the updated rule specifies at least one operation that may be performed on the document.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the operation information entry specifies a document ID associated with the document, the application that was used to disseminate the document, and a target entity ID to which the document was disseminated.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein determining the dissemination path of the document comprises identifying a target entity of the one or more target entities from the target entity ID, and wherein the application is an electronic mail (email) application, the target entity ID is an email address, and the target entity is a user.

20. A system for controlling document dissemination, comprising:

an enforcement server operatively connected to a plurality of client devices via a network, the enforcement server including a device processor and a non-transitory memory storing instructions that are executable by the device processor to;

receive a plurality of operation logs from a plurality of local agents, wherein each of the local agents is executing on one of the plurality of client devices, wherein each of the operation logs includes one or more operation entries, the one or more operation entries indicating corresponding document identifiers and corresponding operations performed on the identified documents, the operations including one or more of the group including requesting dissemination, accessing, opening, printing, modifying and emailing;

identify a document stored on one of the client devices;

identify an operation information entry included in the obtained plurality of operation logs from the plurality of client devices, the identified operation information entry indicating a request by an application running on the one of the client devices to disseminate the document, the request having been intercepted by one of the plurality of local agents;

determine, using the obtained plurality of operation logs, a dissemination path of the document between the plurality of client devices, the determining including resolving information about one or more target entity IDs in the obtained plurality of operation logs to one or more target entities, the dissemination path specifying entities between which the document was communicated and a direction of communication;

determine a set of client devices that have a copy of the document using the dissemination path; and

issue a request to each client device of the set of client devices determined using the dissemination path to perform an action with respect to the document.