METHOD AND APPARATUS TO REPORT POLICY VIOLATIONS IN MESSAGES

• US 20110099638A1
• Filed: 12/30/2010
• Published: 04/28/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CA, Inc. (d/b/a CA Technologies) (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Symantec Corporation (NortonLifeLock Inc.)
• Inventors: Wolfe, Michael R., Ansanelli, Joseph, Jones, Chris, Chen, Hai, Rowney, Kevin T.
• Granted Patent: US 8,595,849 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/334 Query execution G06F16/335 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]

Abstract

A method and apparatus for reporting policy violations in messages is described. A violation is identified by detecting fragments in a message that match information from any one or more rows within a tabular structure of source data. The fragments that match this information are then specified as part of reporting the violation.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

searching text in a message for fragments that match use-restricted content from one or more columns and any one or more rows within a tabular structure of the use-restricted content;

identifying a violation by detecting fragments in the message that match use-restricted content from the one or more columns and any one or more rows within the tabular structure; and

specifying, as part of reporting the violation, the fragments that match the information from the one or more columns and any one or more rows within the tabular structure.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the matching fragments are specified via any one of a user interface and a structured output format.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the reporting further specifies at least one of a message component containing the matching fragments, the source data, the one or more rows within the tabular data structure, a number of the one or more rows within the tabular data structure, a policy being violated, and one or more rules of the policy being violated.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein identifying the violation comprises:

searching the message for the fragments that contain one or more sub-sets of tokens, each of the one or more sub-sets of tokens matching information from a single row within the tabular data structure; and

determining that the message violates a predefined policy.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the predefined policy comprises at least one rule selected from the group consisting of one or more rules pertaining to the source data, a rule specifying an expression pattern, a rule specifying a message attachment type, a rule specifying a message attachment size, a rule specifying a sender identifier pattern, a rule specifying a recipient identifier pattern, a rule specifying keywords, a rule specifying a file attachment name pattern, a rule specifying a protocol to carry the message, and a rule specifying a newsgroup name.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein specifying, as part of reporting the violation, the fragments comprises highlighting the matching fragments on the screen.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

providing a link from the matching fragments highlighted on the screen to the message containing the matching fragments.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein specifying, as part of reporting the violation, the fragments comprises:

determining a permission level of a user with respect to access to the source data; and

presenting information pertaining to the matching fragments in accordance with the permission level of the user

9. The method of claim 8 wherein presenting information pertaining to the matching fragments comprises:

notifying the user about the matching fragments without displaying the matching fragments to the user.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein presenting information pertaining to the matching fragments comprises:

identifying, to the user, columns within the tabular data structure that contain data matching the fragments from the message, without displaying the matching fragments to the user.

11. A system comprising:

a memory; and

a processor, coupled to the memory, to;

search text in a message for fragments that match use-restricted content from one or more columns and any one or more rows within a tabular structure of the use-restricted content;

identify a violation by detecting fragments in the message that match use-restricted content from the one or more columns and any one or more rows within the tabular structure; and

specify, as part of reporting the violation, the fragments that match the information from the one or more columns and any one or more rows within the tabular structure.

12. The system of claim 11 further comprising a user interface to specify the matching fragments.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein the processor is further to specify at least one of a message component containing the matching fragments, the source data, the one or more rows within the tabular data structure, a number of the one or more rows within the tabular data structure, a policy being violated, and one or more rules of the policy being violated.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein a policy being violated comprises at least one rule selected from the group consisting of one or more rules pertaining to the source data, a rule specifying an expression pattern, a rule specifying a message attachment type, a rule specifying a message attachment size, a rule specifying a sender identifier pattern, a rule specifying a recipient identifier pattern, a rule specifying keywords, a rule specifying a file attachment name pattern, a rule specifying a protocol to carry the message, and a rule specifying a newsgroup name.

15. The system of claim 11 wherein the processor is to highlight the matching fragments on the screen.

16. The system of claim 11 wherein the processor is to specify the fragments by determining a permission level of a user with respect to access to the source data, and presenting information pertaining to the matching fragments in accordance with the permission level of the user.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium that provides instructions, which when executed on a processor cause the processor to perform a method comprising:

searching text in a message for fragments that match use-restricted content from one or more columns and any one or more rows within a tabular structure of the use-restricted content;

identifying a violation by detecting fragments in the message that match use-restricted content from the one or more columns and any one or more rows within the tabular structure; and

specifying, as part of reporting the violation, the fragments that match the information from the one or more columns and any one or more rows within the tabular structure.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 17 wherein the reporting further specifies at least one of a message component containing the matching fragments, the source data, the one or more rows within the tabular data structure, a number of the one or more rows within the tabular data structure, a policy being violated, and one or more rules of the policy being violated.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 17 wherein identifying the violation comprises:

searching the message for the fragments that contain one or more sub-sets of tokens, each of the one or more sub-sets of tokens matching information from a single row within the tabular data structure; and

determining that the message violates a predefined policy.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 17 wherein specifying, as part of reporting the violation, the fragments comprises highlighting the matching fragments on the screen.