Distribution of security policies for small to medium-sized organizations

• US 20130247128A1
• Filed: 09/21/2001
• Published: 09/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/21/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Musarubra US LLC (Musarubra US SellCo LLC)
• Original Assignee: McAfee, Inc. (McAfee, LLC)
• Inventors: Hinchliffe, Alex J., Howard, Fraser P., Rai, Bobby, Kemp, Andrew
• Granted Patent: US 8,621,077 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227

Abstract

A security policy distribution system encapsulates parameters for a security policy and instructions for applying the parameters to a corresponding security program into a self-contained configuration file. When the self-contained configuration file is executed on behalf of a computer, the corresponding security program on the computer is updated with the parameters, thus distributing the security policy to the computer.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

providing a configuration procedure for an antivirus program to determine which parameters of a security policy have changed;

creating a self-contained configuration file corresponding to the security policy, the self-contained configuration file comprising instructions for applying the parameters of the security policy;

storing the self-contained configuration file on a server for subsequent downloading by a plurality of devices;

providing the self-contained configuration file in an e-mail to be communicated over a network from the server to a client device for subsequent installation at the client device, wherein a login script, which was previously modified on the client device, is provided to search for updated self-contained configuration files as part of a client login procedure, and wherein detection of the updated self-contained configuration files results in an application of particular parameters of the updated self-contained configuration files being applied against corresponding security software of the client device to replicate the security policy, and wherein the self-contained configuration file includes a first instruction that renders the self-contained configuration file unusable by the client device after a certain period of time, and wherein the self-contained configuration file includes a second instruction for deleting the self-contained configuration file once it is executed; and

receiving an error message if the self-contained configuration file is not installed on the client device, wherein the self-contained configuration file can be propagated between the client device and a peer node in order to replicate the security policy at the peer node.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the self-contained configuration file is downloadable from a first computer to a second computer for execution.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

storing the self-contained configuration file in a database.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein a subsequent self-contained configuration file is provided as part of an operating system task schedule.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the self-contained configuration file is one of an executable file, a registry file, and an extensible markup language file.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the self-contained configuration file is determined to be uncontaminated before applying the parameters of the security policy to the antivirus program.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the parameters of the security policy include parameters that have changed since a previous self-configuration file was created.

20. The method of claim 6, wherein the self-contained configuration file is manually stored on the server.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the application of the parameters of the security policy to the antivirus program installed on the client device is performed as a background task.

2-3. -3. (canceled)

8. Computer executable instructions embodied in non-transitory computer readable media for execution in conjunction with a processor, the instructions being configured for performing operations, comprising:

providing a configuration procedure for an antivirus program to determine which parameters of a security policy have changed;

creating a self-contained configuration file corresponding to the security policy, the self-contained configuration file comprising instructions for applying the parameters of the security policy;

storing the self-contained configuration file on a server for subsequent downloading by a plurality of devices;

providing the self-contained configuration file in an e-mail to be communicated over a network from the server to a client device for subsequent installation at the client device, wherein a login script, which was previously modified on the client device, is provided to search for updated self-contained configuration files as part of a client login procedure, and wherein detection of the updated self-contained configuration files results in an application of particular parameters of the updated self-contained configuration files being applied against corresponding security software of the client device to replicate the security policy, and wherein the self-contained configuration file includes a first instruction that renders the self-contained configuration file unusable by the client device after a certain period of time, and wherein the self-contained configuration file includes a second instruction for deleting the self-contained configuration file once it is executed; and

receiving an error message if the self-contained configuration file is not installed on the client device, wherein the self-contained configuration file can be propagated between the client device and a peer node in order to replicate the security policy at the peer node.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 8, the operations further comprising:

storing the self-contained configuration file in a database.

9. (canceled)

11. (canceled)

12. A system comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor through a bus, wherein the system is configured to;

providing a configuration procedure for an antivirus program to determine which parameters of a security policy have changed;

create a self-contained configuration file corresponding to the security policy, the self-contained configuration file comprising instructions for applying the parameters of the security policy;

store the self-contained configuration file on a server for subsequent downloading by a plurality of devices;

provide the self-contained configuration file in an e-mail to be communicated over a network from the server to a client device for subsequent installation at the client device, wherein a login script, which was previously modified on the client device, is provided to search for updated self-contained configuration files as part of a client login procedure, and wherein detection of the updated self-contained configuration files results in an application of particular parameters of the updated self-contained configuration files being applied against corresponding security software of the client device to replicate the security policy, and wherein the self-contained configuration file includes a first instruction that renders the self-contained configuration file unusable by the client device after a certain period of time, and wherein the self-contained configuration file includes a second instruction for deleting the self-contained configuration file once it is executed; and

receive an error message if the self-contained configuration file is not installed on the client device, wherein the self-contained configuration file can be propagated between the client device and a peer node in order to replicate the security policy at the peer node.

14. The system of claim 12 further comprising a network interface coupled to the processor through the bus.

13. (canceled)

16. (canceled)

17. (canceled)

18. (canceled)