SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR LOST DATA DESTRUCTION OF ELECTRONIC DATA STORED ON A PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE USING A SECURITY INTERVAL
First Claim
11. A method of securing data stored on a first electronic device, the electronic device adapted to communicate with a second electronic device, the first electronic device including an application containing at least one preprogrammed security feature and having set therein an activation interval and a grace period, wherein the activation interval is a non-zero period and the grace period is a non-zero period, the method comprising the steps of:
- automatically setting, upon communication between the first electronic device and the second electronic device, an activation timer within the first electronic device;
at a point in time subsequent to the automatically setting, determining that the activation interval has elapsed based upon the activation timer;
subsequent to the elapsing of the activation interval, automatically setting a grace timer within the first electronic device;
if, prior to the grace period elapsing, communication is established between the first electronic device and the second electronic device, re-setting the activation timer within the first electronic device based upon a signal from the second electronic device; and
if communication is not established between the first electronic device and the second electronic device prior to the grace period elapsing;
determining that the grace period has elapsed based upon the grace timer;
determining a size of selected electronic data on the first electronic device;
creating a set of random data, wherein the size of the set of random data is equal to the size of the selected electronic data; and
overwriting the selected electronic data with the set of random data.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A data security system and method protects stored data from unauthorized access. According to one aspect of the invention, a client computing device communicates periodically with a server. If communications is not established between the client and the server for a selected activation interval and a subsequent grace period, the data is determined to be lost, and programmed security rules are automatically executed.
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Citations
18 Claims
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11. A method of securing data stored on a first electronic device, the electronic device adapted to communicate with a second electronic device, the first electronic device including an application containing at least one preprogrammed security feature and having set therein an activation interval and a grace period, wherein the activation interval is a non-zero period and the grace period is a non-zero period, the method comprising the steps of:
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automatically setting, upon communication between the first electronic device and the second electronic device, an activation timer within the first electronic device; at a point in time subsequent to the automatically setting, determining that the activation interval has elapsed based upon the activation timer; subsequent to the elapsing of the activation interval, automatically setting a grace timer within the first electronic device; if, prior to the grace period elapsing, communication is established between the first electronic device and the second electronic device, re-setting the activation timer within the first electronic device based upon a signal from the second electronic device; and if communication is not established between the first electronic device and the second electronic device prior to the grace period elapsing; determining that the grace period has elapsed based upon the grace timer; determining a size of selected electronic data on the first electronic device; creating a set of random data, wherein the size of the set of random data is equal to the size of the selected electronic data; and overwriting the selected electronic data with the set of random data. - View Dependent Claims (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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16-1. The method according to claim 11 wherein the at least one preprogrammed security feature is a sequence of security features.
Specification