SOURCE-TO-PROCESSING FILE CONVERSION IN AN ELECTRONIC DISCOVERY ENTERPRISE SYSTEM

• US 20100250624A1
• Filed: 08/03/2009
• Published: 09/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Original Assignee: Bank of America Corp.
• Inventors: Andersen, David M., Mayer, Michael J.
• Granted Patent: US 9,330,374 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/809
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/116 Details of conversion of file system types or formats
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1744 using compression, e.g. sparse files
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2365 Ensuring data consistency and integrity
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/258 Data format conversion from or to a database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/907 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/046 Interoperability with other network applications or services

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention relate to systems, methods, and computer program products for improved electronic discovery. Embodiments herein disclosed provide for an enterprise-wide e-discovery system that provides for source-to-processing file conversion of electronic communications and, in some embodiments, decryption of encrypted electronic communication entries for the purpose of efficiently processing data and supplying the electronic data to third party data analysis providers.

Claims

1. A method for electronic communication file conversion in an enterprise-wide electronic data discovery system, the method comprising:

capturing electronic data including electronic communication files from a plurality of custodians based on a data request;

storing, in the memory, the captured electronic data;

copying the electronic data to a conversion server;

identifying, automatically, file type for the electronic communication files;

converting, automatically, one or more of the electronic communication files to a predetermined file format based on identification of file type; and

storing, in the memory, the electronic data including the converted one or more electronic communication files.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein converting, automatically, one or more of the electronic communication files to a predetermined file format further comprises converting one or more of the electronic communication files to a predetermined file format supported by a third-party electronic data presentation entity.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein converting, automatically, one or more of the electronic communication files further comprises converting one or more electronic communication files to Personal Storage Table (.PST) format.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein converting, automatically, one or more electronic communication files to .PST format further comprises converting one or more electronic communication files to .PST format based on identifying the file type as one other than .PST format.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying, automatically, file type further comprises identifying a mobile communication back-up file type as one of the electronic communication file types.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein identifying, automatically, a mobile communication back-up file type further comprises identifying an .IPD back-up file for one or more electronic communication files.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising extracting individual electronic communication messages from electronic communication files identified as mobile communication back-up file type.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein converting, automatically, one or more of the electronic communication files further comprises converting the electronic communication messages extracted from the mobile communication back-up file to a predetermined file format.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying, automatically, file type further comprises identifying Electronic Mail (.EML) file type as one of the electronic communication file types and wherein converting, automatically, further comprises converting electronic communication files identified as .EML file type to a predetermined file format.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying, automatically, file type further comprises identifying Message (.MSG) file type as one of the electronic communication file types and wherein converting, automatically, further comprises converting electronic communication files identified as .MSG file type to a predetermined file format.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying, automatically, file type further comprises identifying a compression scheme file type as one of the electronic communication file types.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising extracting one or more electronic communication files from an identified compression scheme file.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein converting, automatically, one or more of the electronic communication files further comprises converting one or more of the extracted electronic communication files to a predetermined file format.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying one or more encrypted entries in one or more electronic communication files.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising decrypting, automatically, the one or more encrypted entries.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying, automatically, file type further comprises identifying Notes Storage Facility (.NSF) file type for one or more of the electronic communication files.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising identifying one or more encrypted entries in the one or more .NSF file type electronic communication files.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising decrypting, automatically, the one or more encrypted entries.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising converting one or more entries in the .NSF file type electronic communication file to a third-party data presentation-supported entry format.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising converting, automatically, at least one of meeting request entries or meeting response entries located in the electronic communication files to meeting appointments.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising converting, automatically, task request entries in the electronic communication files to task entries.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein converting at least one of meeting request entries or meeting response entries further comprises converting at least one of meeting request entries or meeting response entries located in the electronic communication files to meeting appointments after converting, automatically, the one or more of the electronic communication files to the predetermined file format.

23. An apparatus for electronic communication file conversion in an enterprise-wide electronic data discovery system, the apparatus comprising:

a computing platform including at least one processor and a memory; and

an electronic communication file conversion module stored in the memory, executable by the at least one processor and configured to receive, from storage, a copy of electronic data captured from enterprise-wide custodians, wherein the electronic data includes electronic communication files and wherein the module includes,

a file type identification application configured to identify the file type of the electronic communication files, and

one or more file type-specific conversion applications configured to automatically convert electronic communication files to a predetermined file format based on identification of the file type.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the one or more file type-specific conversion applications are further configured to automatically convert associated file type electronic communication files to the predetermined file format supported by a third-party electronic data presentation entry.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the one or more file type-specific conversion applications are further configured to automatically convert associated file type electronic communication files to Personal Storage Table (.PST) format.

26. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising an electronic communication extraction application configured to extract electronic communication messages from electronic communication files.

27. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the file type identification application is configured to identify the file type of the electronic communication files, wherein file type includes mobile communication back-up file type.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the file type identification application is configured to identify the mobile communication back-up file type, wherein the mobile communication back-up file type includes an .IPD back-up file.

29. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the file type identification application is configured to identify the mobile communication back-up file type, wherein the mobile communication back-up file type includes an .IPD back-up file.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein one of the file type-specific conversion applications is further defined as an .IPD conversion application configured to automatically convert the electronic communication messages extracted from the .IPD files to a predetermined file format.

31. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the file type identification application is configured to identify the file type of the electronic communication files, wherein file type includes Electronic Mail (.EML) file type and wherein one of the file type-specific conversion applications further comprises an .EML conversion application configured to automatically convert electronic communication files identified as .EML to a predetermined file format.

32. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the file type identification application is configured to identify the file type of the electronic communication files, wherein file type includes Message (.MSG) file type and wherein one of the file type-specific conversion applications further comprises an .MSG conversion application configured to automatically convert electronic communication files identified as .MSG to a predetermined file format.

33. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the file type identification application is configured to identify the file type of the electronic communication files, wherein file type includes compression scheme file type.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, further comprising an electronic communication file extraction application configured to extract one or more electronic communication files from electronic communication files identified as compression scheme file type.

35. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising an electronic communication decryption module configured to identify one or more encrypted entries in an electronic communication file and to automatically decrypt the one or more encrypted entries.

36. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the electronic communication decryption module is further configured to identify one or more encrypted entries in an .NSF file type electronic communication file and to automatically decrypt the one or more encrypted entries.

37. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising one or more entry type-specific conversion applications configured to automatically convert file entry format to a predetermined format.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein one of the one or more entry type-specific conversion applications is further configured to automatically convert .NSF file entry formats to a predetermined entry format.

39. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising a hash verification module configured to verify integrity of the copy of electronic data.

40. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising a meeting request conversion module configured to automatically convert at least one of meeting request entries or meeting response entries located in the electronic communication files to meeting appointments.

41. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the meeting request conversion module is further configured to automatically convert task request entries in the electronic communication files to task entries.

42. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the meeting request conversion module is further configured to be executed after converting the one or more of the electronic communication files to the predetermined file format.

43. A computer program product comprising:

a computer-readable medium comprising;

a first set of codes for causing a computer to capture electronic data including electronic communication files from a plurality of custodians based on a data request;

a second set of codes for causing a computer to store the captured electronic data;

a third set of codes for causing a computer to copy the electronic data to a conversion server;

a fourth set of codes for causing a computer to identify file type for one or more of the electronic communication files;

a fifth set of codes for causing a computer to automatically convert one or more of the electronic communication files to a predetermined file format based on identification of file type; and

a sixth set of codes for causing a computer to store the electronic data including the converted one or more electronic communication files.

44. The computer program product of claim 43, wherein the fifth set of codes is further configured to cause the computer to automatically convert one or more of the electronic communication files to a predetermined file format supported by a third-party electronic data presentation entry.

45. The computer program product of claim 43, wherein the fifth set of codes is further configured to cause the computer to automatically convert one or more electronic communication files to Personal Storage Table (.PST) format.

46. The computer program product of claim 43, wherein the fourth set of codes is further configured to cause the computer to identify a mobile communication back-up file type.

47. The computer program product of claim 46, wherein the fourth set of codes is further configured to cause the computer to identify an .IPD back-up file type.

48. The computer program product of claim 46, further comprising a seventh set of codes for causing a computer to extract individual electronic communication messages from electronic communication files identified as mobile communication back-up file type.

49. The computer program product of claim 48, wherein the fifth set of codes is further configured to cause the computer to automatically convert the electronic communication messages extracted from the mobile communication back-up file to a predetermined file format.

50. The computer program product of claim 43, wherein the fourth set of codes is further configured to cause the computer to identify an Electronic Mail (.EML) file type for one or more of the electronic communication files and wherein the fifth set of codes is further configured to cause the computer to automatically convert electronic communication files identified as .EML file type to a predetermined file format.

51. The computer program product of claim 43, wherein the fourth set of codes is further configured to cause the computer to identify a Message (.MSG) file type for one or more of the electronic communication files and wherein the fifth set of codes is further configured to cause the computer to automatically convert electronic communication files identified as .MSG file type to a predetermined file format.

52. The computer program product of claim 43, wherein the fourth set of codes is further configured to cause the computer to identify a compression scheme file type for one or more of the electronic communication files.

53. The computer program product of claim 52, further comprising a seventh set of codes for causing a computer to extract one or more electronic communication files from electronic communication files identified as compression scheme file type.

54. The computer program product of claim 52, wherein the fifth set of codes is further configured to cause the computer to automatically convert one or more of the extracted electronic communication files to a predetermined file format.

55. The computer program product of claim 43, further comprising a seventh set of codes for causing a computer to identify one or more encrypted entries in one or more electronic communication files.

56. The computer program product of claim 55, further comprising an eighth set of codes for causing a computer to automatically decrypt the one or more encrypted entries.

57. The computer program product of claim 43, wherein the fourth set of codes is further configured to cause the computer to identify Notes Storage Facility (.NSF) file type for one or more of the electronic communication files.

58. The computer program product of claim 57, further comprising a seventh set of codes for causing a computer to identify one or more encrypted entries in the one or more .NSF file type electronic communication files and an eighth set of codes for causing a computer to automatically decrypt the one or more encrypted entries.

59. The computer program product of claim 58, further comprising a ninth set of codes for causing a computer to convert one or more entries in the .NSF file type to a predetermined entry format.

60. The computer program product of claim 43, further comprising a seventh set of codes for causing a computer to convert meeting request entries and meeting response entries to meeting appointments and task request entries to task entries.