Method and system for communications monitoring

• US 20060123106A1
• Filed: 08/21/2003
• Published: 06/08/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/21/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verint Americas Incorporated (Verint Systems Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Credit Suisse International (Credit Suisse)
• Inventors: Blair, Christopher Douglas, Gill, David Alan
• Granted Patent: US 7,925,889 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2101 Auditing as a secondary aspect
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42221 Conversation recording systems at the subscriber's set H04M1/656

Abstract

The present invention provides for a system, and related method, for use in the monitoring of communications traffic, comprising the step of recording the said traffic and storing the recorded traffic in an encrypted data format such that the data can be decrypted only by means of keys that exhibit restricted availability.

Claims

1. A method for use in the monitoring of communications traffic, comprising the step of recording the traffic and storing the recorded traffic as encrypted data such that the data can be decrypted only by means of keys that exhibit restricted availability.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 further including employment of a spare disk and/or CPU capacity within a telecommunications system.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 further including the step of including encrypted search conditions within the decryption keys that are made selectively available.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1, further including the step of employing separate levels of authorization for access to the stored data.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1, further including the step of employing a decryption key that is useable only once.

6. A method as claimed in claim 1, further including the step of logging all accesses to the stored data to an encrypted secure audit trail.

7. A method as claimed in claim 1, further including a tamper detection reference within the encrypted data.

8. A method as claimed in claim 1, further including the step of monitoring all the available communications traffic.

9. A method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the step of storing the recorded traffic comprises the step of recording all of the recorded traffic.

10. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the communications traffic to be recorded comprises traffic through a telecommunications switch, router or gateway.

11. A method as claimed in claim 1, further including the step of encrypting details relating to the communications traffic and storing the said encrypted details for subsequent access.

12. A method as claimed in claim 1, further including the step of authorizing use of the required decryption key in a restricted manner.

14. A system as claimed in claim 13 further including application software that executes the method steps of any one or more of claims 2-12.

13. A system for use in the monitoring of communications traffic, comprising in combination:

a recorder that records the traffic, and

a storage device that stores the recorded traffic as encrypted data, such that the recorded data can be decrypted only by means of keys that exhibit restricted availability.

15. (canceled)

16. (canceled)

17. A method for use in the monitoring of communications traffic, comprising the steps of:

recording the traffic;

storing the recorded traffic as encrypted data such that the data can be decrypted by decryption keys that exhibit restricted availability, that allow encrypted search conditions and that employs separate levels of authorization for access to the stored data; and

encrypting details relating to the communications traffic and storing the said encrypted details for subsequent access.

18. The method as claimed in claim 17, further including the step of employing a decryption key that is useable only once.

19. The method as claimed in claim 17, further including the step of logging all accesses to the stored data to an encrypted secure audit trail.

20. The method as claimed in claim 17, further including a tamper detection reference within the encrypted data.

21. The method as claimed in claim 17, further including the step of monitoring all the available communications traffic.

22. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the step of storing the recorded traffic comprises the step of recording all of the recorded traffic.