System and method for automatically configuring a mobile device

• US 20050260996A1
• Filed: 05/24/2005
• Published: 11/24/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Computer Associates Think Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Groenendaal, Joannes G. van de
• Granted Patent: US 7,787,863 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/445
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/564 Enhancement of application control based on intercepted application data
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/67 by electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72406 by software upgrading or downloading
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72451 according to schedules, e.g. using calendar applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72463 to restrict the functionality of the device
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/37 Managing security policies for mobile devices or for controlling mobile applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/64 using geofenced areas
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/73 Access point logical identity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/04 based on user or terminal location or mobility data, e.g. moving direction, speed
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/205 Transfer to or from user equipment or user record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

The disclosure provides a wireless agent for a mobile device. In one embodiment, the example wireless agent is operable to dynamically determine an access point for wireless communications from a mobile device through a network. The wireless agent is further operable to automatically select one of a plurality of security profiles associated with a mobile device based, at least in part, on the determined access point, with each security profile including a plurality of security parameters for accessing at least one wireless network. The wireless agent then modifies at least one of plurality of network configuration options of the mobile device based on the selected security profile and automatically attempts to communicably connect the mobile device to the access point using the network configuration options.

Claims

1. A wireless agent operable to:

dynamically determine an access point for wireless communications from a mobile device through a network;

automatically select one of a plurality of security profiles associated with a mobile device based, at least in part, on the determined access point, each security profile including a plurality of security parameters for accessing at least one wireless network;

modify at least one of plurality of network configuration options of the mobile device based on the selected security profile; and

automatically attempt to communicably connect the mobile device to the access point using the network configuration options.

2. The wireless agent of claim 1, the access point associated with one of a plurality of network protocols and wherein the selection of the security profile is further based on the particular network protocol.

3. The wireless agent of claim 1, further operable to authenticate the mobile device for the wireless communication through the access point based on the selected security profile

4. The wireless agent of claim 1, wherein the wireless agent operable to automatically attempt to communicably connect the mobile device to the access point comprises the wireless agent operable to disable the network adapter using one of the modified network configuration options.

5. The wireless agent of claim 1, further operable to prevent internet sharing by modifying at least one of plurality of network configuration options.

6. The wireless agent of claim 1, each modified network configuration option providing one of the following actions:

disabling access to the enterprise network through an associated port;

disabling access to the enterprise network from an associated Internet Protocol (IP) address;

disabling internet sharing through the mobile device;

disabling network file sharing by the mobile device;

or

updating the selected security profile.

7. The wireless agent of claim 1, further operable to:

automatically collect wireless information associated with the mobile device; and

encrypt the collected information for storage on the mobile device.

8. The wireless agent of claim 7, the collected information comprising at least the following types of data:

networks previously visited;

performance metrics;

intrusion attempts; and

indications that an associated user attempted to modify network configuration options.

9. The wireless agent of claim 7, further operable to automatically communicate the collected information to a wireless gateway in an enterprise network once the mobile device enters the enterprise network, the wireless gateway operable to decrypt the collected information and store the decrypted information for subsequent processing.

10. The wireless agent of claim 9, the wireless gateway further operable to update a particular security file, stored on a server in the enterprise network, based on the collected information and automatically communicate the updated security profile to mobile device.

11. The wireless agent of claim 10, the wireless gateway further operable to automatically communicate the updated security profile to a plurality of mobile devices in the enterprise network.

12. The wireless agent of claim 1, the access point comprising a first access point, the wireless agent further operable to:

receive information from the mobile device using a second access point;

determine that the mobile device is using the second access point;

dynamically select a second of the plurality of security profiles based, at least in part, on the second access point; and

automatically transmit the second of the plurality of security profiles to the mobile device for securing a wireless connection through the second access point.

13. The wireless agent of claim 1, further operable to automatically receive at least one new security profile and at least one update to one of the plurality of security profiles from a wireless gateway once the mobile device enters a enterprise network, the wireless gateway operable to automatically detect the entrance of the mobile device.

14. A method for securing a mobile device, comprising:

dynamically determining an access point for wireless communications from a mobile device through a network;

automatically selecting one of a plurality of security profiles associated with a mobile device based, at least in part, on the determined access point, each security profile including a plurality of security parameters for accessing at least one wireless network;

modifying at least one of plurality of network configuration options of the mobile device based on the selected security profile; and

automatically attempting to communicably connect the mobile device to the access point using the network configuration options.

15. The method of claim 14, the access point associated with one of a plurality of network protocols and wherein the selection of the security profile is further based on the particular network protocol.

16. The method of claim 14, comprising authenticating the mobile device for the wireless communication through the access point based on the selected security profile

17. The method of claim 14, comprising automatically attempting to communicably connect the mobile device to the access point comprises the wireless agent disabling the network adapter using one of the modified network configuration options.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising preventing internet sharing by modifying at least one of plurality of network configuration options.

19. The method of claim 14, comprising each modified network configuration option providing one of the following actions:

disabling access to the enterprise network through an associated port;

disabling access to the enterprise network from an associated Internet Protocol (IP) address;

disabling internet sharing through the mobile device;

disabling network file sharing by the mobile device;

or

updating the selected security profile.

20. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

automatically collecting wireless information associated with the mobile device; and

encrypting the collected information for storage on the mobile device.

21. The method agent of claim 20, the collected information comprising at least the following types of data:

networks previously visited;

performance metrics;

intrusion attempts; and

indications that an associated user attempted to modify network configuration options.

22. The method of claim 20, comprising automatically communicating the collected information to a wireless gateway in an enterprise network once the mobile device enters the enterprise network, the wireless gateway decrypting the collected information and storing the decrypted information for subsequent processing.

23. The method of claim 22, the wireless gateway updating a particular security file, stored on a server in the enterprise network, based on the collected information and automatically communicating the updated security profile to mobile device.

24. The method of claim 23, the wireless gateway further automatically communicating the updated security profile to a plurality of mobile devices in the enterprise network.

25. The method of claim 14, the access point comprising a first access point, the method further comprising:

receiving information from the mobile device using a second access point;

determining that the mobile device is using the second access point;

dynamically selecting a second of the plurality of security profiles based, at least in part, on the second access point; and

automatically transmitting the second of the plurality of security profiles to the mobile device for securing a wireless connection through the second access point.

26. The method of claim 14, comprising automatically receiving at least one new security profile and at least one update to one of the plurality of security profiles from a wireless gateway once the mobile device enters a enterprise network, the wireless gateway automatically detecting the entrance of the mobile device.

27. A mobile device comprising:

memory storing a plurality of security profiles, each security profile including a plurality of security parameters for accessing at least one wireless network; and

one or more processors operable to;

dynamically determine an access point for wireless communications from a mobile device through a network;

automatically select one of the plurality of security profiles associated with a mobile device based, at least in part, on the determined access;

modify at least one of plurality of network configuration options of the mobile device based on the selected security profile; and

automatically attempt to communicably connect the mobile device to the access point using the network configuration options.

28. The mobile device of claim 27, the access point associated with one of a plurality of network protocols and wherein the selection of the security profile is further based on the particular network protocol.

29. The mobile device of claim 27, the one or more processors further operable to authenticate the mobile device for the wireless communication through the access point based on the selected security profile

30. The mobile device of claim 27, wherein the one or more processors operable to automatically attempt to communicably connect the mobile device to the access point comprises the one or more processors operable to disable the network adapter using one of the modified network configuration options.

31. The mobile device of claim 27, the one or more processors further operable to prevent internet sharing by modifying at least one of plurality of network configuration options.

32. The mobile device of claim 27, each modified network configuration option operable to:

disable access to the enterprise network through an associated port;

disable access to the enterprise network from an associated Internet Protocol (IP) address;

disable internet sharing through the mobile device;

disable network file sharing by the mobile device;

or

update the selected security profile.

33. The mobile device of claim 27, the one or more processors further operable to:

automatically collect wireless information associated with the mobile device; and

encrypt the collected information for storage on the mobile device.

34. The mobile device of claim 33, the collected information comprising at least the following types of data:

networks previously visited;

performance metrics;

intrusion attempts; and

indications that an associated user attempted to modify network configuration options.

35. The mobile device of claim 33, the one or more processors further operable to automatically communicate the collected information to a wireless gateway in an enterprise network once the mobile device enters the enterprise network, the wireless gateway operable to decrypt the collected information and store the decrypted information for subsequent processing.

36. The mobile device of claim 35, the one or more processors further operable to update a particular security file, stored on a server in the enterprise network, based on the collected information and automatically communicate the updated security profile to mobile device.

37. The mobile device of claim 36, the one or more processors further operable to automatically communicate the updated security profile to a plurality of mobile devices in the enterprise network.

38. The mobile device of claim 27, the access point comprising a first access point, the one or more processors further operable to:

receive information from the mobile device using a second access point;

determine that the mobile device is using the second access point;

dynamically select a second of the plurality of security profiles based, at least in part, on the second access point; and

automatically transmit the second of the plurality of security profiles to the mobile device for securing a wireless connection through the second access point.

39. The mobile device of claim 27, the one or more processors further operable to automatically receive at least one new security profile and at least one update to one of the plurality of security profiles from a wireless gateway once the mobile device enters a enterprise network, the wireless gateway operable to automatically detect the entrance of the mobile device.