Systems and methods for protecting sensitive data

• US 20080172745A1
• Filed: 01/12/2007
• Published: 07/17/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/12/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Stelz, Jan-Erik, Reinart, Manfred
• Granted Patent: US 8,195,939 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6209 to a single file or object, e.g. in a secure envelope, encrypted and accessed using a key, or with access control rules appended to the object itself
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6245 Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes

Abstract

Methods and systems are disclosed for protecting sensitive data. In one implementation, a message is received that includes a plurality of information elements, at least one of the plurality of information elements having message information and belonging to at least one of a plurality of predefined classes of information elements. At least one of the plurality of information elements may be selected that belongs to a predefined class corresponding to a target class, the target class including classes of information elements selected for removal. Further, any message information corresponding to the selected information elements may be removed to protect sensitive data.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a message including a plurality of information elements, at least one of the plurality of information elements having message information and belonging to at least one of a plurality of predefined classes of information elements;

selecting at least one of the plurality of information elements belonging to a predefined class corresponding to a target class, the target class including classes of information elements selected for removal; and

removing any message information in the message corresponding to the selected information elements to provide a filtered message for transmission.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting at least one information element includes:

receiving configuration data specifying the target class; and

selecting information elements included in the target class.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting at least one information element includes:

receiving configuration data specifying the target class and a non-target class, the non-target class including at least one of the plurality of predefined classes of information elements; and

selecting only the information elements included in the target class.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the at least one information element includes:

receiving configuration data specifying the target class and at least one non-target class, the non-target class including at least one of the plurality of predefined classes of information elements; and

selecting all information elements except the information elements included in the at least one non-target class.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the predefined class corresponds to a security classification of an information element.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein removing the message information comprises deleting the message information.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein removing the message information comprises deleting the selected information element.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein removing the message information comprises replacing the information with dummy information.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the predefined classes are indicated by extensible markup language tags.

10. A system for protecting sensitive data in a message, comprising:

a processor; and

a program stored in a computer-readable medium and when executed by the processor, operable to;

receive a message including a plurality of information elements, at least one of the plurality of information elements having message information and belonging to at least one of a plurality of predefined classes of information elements,

select at least one of the plurality of information elements belonging to a predefined class corresponding to a target class, the target class including classes of information elements selected for removal, and

remove any message information corresponding to the selected information elements to protect sensitive data in the original message.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the program is further operable to:

receive configuration data specifying the target class; and

select information elements included in the target class.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the program is further operable to:

receive configuration data specifying the target class and a non-target class, the non-target class including at least one of the plurality of predefined classes of information elements; and

select only the information elements included in the target class.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the program is further operable to:

receive configuration data specifying the target class and at least one non-target class, the non-target class including at least one of the plurality of predefined classes of information elements; and

select all information elements except the information elements included in the at least one non-target class.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the predefined class corresponds to a security classification of an information element.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the program is operable to delete the message information.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the program is operable to delete the selected information element.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the program is operable to replace the information with dummy information.

18. The system of claim 10, wherein the predefined classes are indicated by extensible markup language tags.

19. A method for removing confidential information from a message, comprising:

receiving a confidential message including a plurality of information elements, at least one of the plurality of information elements having message information and belonging to at least one of a plurality of predefined classes of information elements;

receiving configuration data indicating a class of information elements for removal from the message and indicating a class of information elements for retention in the message, the class of information for removal including confidential message information;

selecting information elements belonging to the class indicated for removal; and

removing any message information corresponding to the selected information elements.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the message is encoded in extensible markup language format.