SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SECURING USER INFORMATION ON SOCIAL NETWORKS

• US 20130290716A1
• Filed: 04/30/2012
• Published: 10/31/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aura Sub, LLC
• Original Assignee: Anchorfree Incorporated
• Inventors: Gavrilov, Dimitry
• Granted Patent: US 9,160,722 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/168
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0272 Virtual private networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0471 applying encryption by an intermediary, e.g. receiving clear information at the intermediary and encrypting the received information at the intermediary before forwarding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for securing personal information of a user on social networks. The method involves: receiving personal information from a user in an unencrypted textual form by a client computer; transmitting the received personal information via a secure virtual private network (VPN) connection to a dedicated VPN server/proxy; receiving the personal information at the dedicated VPN server/proxy; encrypting the received personal information at the dedicated VPN server/proxy using an encryption key; and transmitting the encrypted personal information from the dedicated VPN server/proxy to the social network. Other users of the social network also use the dedicated VPN server/proxy in order to decrypt (access) the personal information of the user, which has been encrypted as specified above.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for securing personal information of a user, the method comprising:

a. Receiving personal information from a user in an unencrypted textual form by a client computer;

b. Transmitting the received personal information via a secure virtual private network (VPN) connection to a dedicated VPN server/proxy;

c. Receiving the personal information at the dedicated VPN server/proxy;

d. Encrypting at least a portion of the received personal information at the dedicated VPN server/proxy using an encryption key; and

e. Transmitting the encrypted personal information from the dedicated VPN server/proxy to the social networking service.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising encrypting the received personal information prior to the transmitting of the received personal information to the dedicated VPN server/proxy.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

a. Establishing a VPN secure network connection between a second client computer and the dedicated VPN server/proxy;

b. Receiving, by the second user computer, a request from the second user, for the personal information;

c. Requesting, responsive to the received request, by the dedicated VPN server/proxy, the personal information from the social networking service;

d. Receiving, at the dedicated VPN server/proxy, the personal information from the social networking service;

e. Decrypting, at the dedicated VPN server/proxy, the received personal information; and

f. Transmitting the received personal information via a secure virtual private network (VPN) connection to the second user computer.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the received personal information is decrypted using a decryption key corresponding to the encryption key.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising sharing the decryption and the encryption key.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising receiving from a user and storing a specification of the items of the personal information to be encrypted by the dedicated VPN server/proxy before transmission to the social networking service.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising storing the encryption key in an encryption key repository.

8. A computer-readable medium embodying a set of computer-readable instructions, which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors perform a method for securing personal information of a user, the method comprising:

a. Receiving personal information from a user in an unencrypted textual form by a client computer;

b. Transmitting the received personal information via a secure virtual private network (VPN) connection to a dedicated VPN server/proxy;

c. Receiving the personal information at the dedicated VPN server/proxy;

d. Encrypting at least a portion of the received personal information at the dedicated VPN server/proxy using an encryption key; and

e. Transmitting the encrypted personal information from the dedicated VPN server/proxy to the social networking service.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises encrypting the received personal information prior to the transmitting of the received personal information to the dedicated VPN server/proxy.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:

a. Establishing a VPN secure network connection between a second client computer and the dedicated VPN server/proxy;

b. Receiving, by the second user computer, a request from the second user, for the personal information;

c. Requesting, responsive to the received request, by the dedicated VPN server/proxy, the personal information from the social networking service;

d. Receiving, at the dedicated VPN server/proxy, the personal information from the social networking service;

e. Decrypting, at the dedicated VPN server/proxy, the received personal information; and

f. Transmitting the received personal information via a secure virtual private network (VPN) connection to the second user computer.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the received personal information is decrypted using a decryption key corresponding to the encryption key.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises sharing the decryption and the encryption key.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises receiving from a user and storing a specification of the items of the personal information to be encrypted by the dedicated VPN server/proxy before transmission to the social networking service.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises storing the encryption key in an encryption key repository.

15. A computerized system for securing personal information of a user, the computerized system comprising:

a. A client computer for receiving personal information from a user in an unencrypted textual form; and

b. A dedicated VPN server/proxy for receiving personal information via a secure virtual private network (VPN) connection from the client computer;

wherein the dedicated VPN server/proxy encrypts at least a portion of the received personal information at the using an encryption key and transmits the encrypted personal information to the social networking service.

16. The computerized system of claim 15, wherein the client computer encrypts the received personal information prior to the transmitting of the received personal information to the dedicated VPN server/proxy.

17. The computerized system of claim 15, further comprising:

a. A second client computer for establishing a VPN secure network connection with the dedicated VPN server/proxy and receiving a request from the second user for the personal information, wherein, responsive to the received request, the dedicated VPN server/proxy receives the personal information from the social networking service, decrypts the received personal information; and

transmits the received personal information via the VPN secure network connection to the second user computer.

18. The computerized system of claim 17, wherein the received personal information is decrypted using a decryption key corresponding to the encryption key.

19. The computerized system of claim 18, wherein the decryption key and the encryption key are shared.

20. The computerized system of claim 15, further comprising an encryption key repository for storing the encryption key.