METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING A HONEYPOT MODE FOR AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE
First Claim
1. A method for surreptitiously tracking usage of an electronic device, the electronic device being capable of communicating with at least one external system, the method comprising steps of:
- providing the electronic device with a software environment having a normal mode of operation and a honeypot mode of operation and with a predetermined condition, wherein, in said normal mode of operation, said software environment provides a plurality of user-invokable operations, and wherein, in said honeypot mode of operation, said software environment provides at least one of said user-invokable operations;
detecting at the electronic device the predetermined condition;
in response to said detection, switching the software environment to said honeypot mode of operation; and
,when in said honeypot mode of operation, enabling the electronic device to automatically send a non-user-detectable report regarding usage of said at least one of said user-invokable operations to a predetermined external system.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system are described of providing an electronic device with a software environment having a honeypot mode of operation to which the device is capable of switching upon recognition of a message from an external device or of a pre-determined internal state. Switching to the honeypot mode of operation may include instituting an automatic sending of reports based on usage of the electronic device to an external device, modifying the non-user-observable behaviour of certain user-invokable operations, and manipulating data stored on the electronic device.
107 Citations
37 Claims
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1. A method for surreptitiously tracking usage of an electronic device, the electronic device being capable of communicating with at least one external system, the method comprising steps of:
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providing the electronic device with a software environment having a normal mode of operation and a honeypot mode of operation and with a predetermined condition, wherein, in said normal mode of operation, said software environment provides a plurality of user-invokable operations, and wherein, in said honeypot mode of operation, said software environment provides at least one of said user-invokable operations; detecting at the electronic device the predetermined condition; in response to said detection, switching the software environment to said honeypot mode of operation; and
,when in said honeypot mode of operation, enabling the electronic device to automatically send a non-user-detectable report regarding usage of said at least one of said user-invokable operations to a predetermined external system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An electronic device, configured to enable surreptitious tracking of usage of the electronic device, the electronic device comprising:
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a communication subsystem for enabling communications with at least one external system; memory storing a software environment having a normal mode of operation and a honeypot mode of operation and storing a predetermined condition, wherein, in said normal mode of operation, said software environment provides a plurality of user-invokable operations, and wherein, in said honeypot mode of operation, said software environment provides at least one of said user-invokable operations; a processor for executing said software environment; and a mode-switch module for detecting the predetermined condition and, in response to said detection, switching the software environment to said honeypot mode of operation, wherein, when in said honeypot mode of operation, said software environment is adapted to automatically send a non-user-detectable report regarding usage of said at least one of said user-invokable operations to a predetermined external system. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium having encoded therein computer-executable instructions for surreptitiously tracking usage of an electronic device, the electronic device being capable of communicating with at least one external system, the instructions comprising:
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instructions for providing the electronic device with a software environment having a normal mode of operation and a honeypot mode of operation and with a predetermined condition, wherein, in said normal mode of operation, said software environment provides a plurality of user-invokable operations, and wherein, in said honeypot mode of operation, said software environment provides at least one of said user-invokable operations; instructions for detecting at the electronic device the predetermined condition; instructions for, in response to said detection, switching the software environment to said honeypot mode of operation; and instructions for, when in said honeypot mode of operation, automatically sending a non-user-detectable report regarding usage of said at least one of said user-invokable operations to a predetermined external system.
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Specification