Method and System for Scanning a Computer System for Sensitive Content

• US 20150067843A1
• Filed: 11/03/2014
• Published: 03/05/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Original Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Inventors: Gianoulakis, George P., Leonard, Kara, Kaplan, Joseph, Yuan, Wangji, LePenske, Eric J., Mcllrath, Jeffry
• Granted Patent: US 9,721,106 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/22
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/50 Monitoring users, programs or devices to maintain the integrity of platforms, e.g. of processors, firmware or operating systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/577 Assessing vulnerabilities and evaluating computer system security
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6245 Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2143 Clearing memory, e.g. to prevent the data from being stolen

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for scanning a computer system for sensitive data. A scan manager manages a scan of files of a second computer. The scan manager receives a request to scan and identify files stored on the second computer based on at least one category of sensitive data. The scan manager receives scan report recipient information and generates a user profile based on the at least one category and the recipient information. The scan manager makes the user profile available to a category server for use in creating a scan profile defining the scan criteria and deploys a scan agent to a computer to conduct the scan based on the scan profile. When the scan is complete and upon creation of the scan report, the scan manager makes the scan report available to the intended recipients.

Claims

1-31. -31. (canceled)

32. A system for managing a scan of a computer for sensitive data, comprising:

a processor of the computer; and

a non-transitory memory of the computer containing instructions that when executed by the processor cause the computer to perform operations comprising;

accessing a self-service application to configure a scan for sensitive information, configuration comprising;

providing an indication of at least one category of sensitive information, and

providing an indication of at least one intended recipient of a scan report;

receiving a scan agent from the self-service application, the scan agent corresponding to a scan profile identified with a user;

receiving the corresponding scan profile from a category server;

executing the scan using the scan agent according to the scan profile;

providing scan results to the category server; and

confirming uninstallation of the scan agent with the category server.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the scan profile comprises:

identification of the at least one category of sensitive information, and

a unique identifier establishing the correspondence between the scan profile, the scan agent, and the user.

35. The system of claim 32, wherein the operations further comprise providing a confirmation signal containing a unique identifier to the category server, and wherein the corresponding scan profile is received in response to the heartbeat signal.

36. The system of claim 32, wherein the self-service application comprises a user interface for indicating the at least one category of sensitive information and the at least one intended recipient of a scan report.

37. The system of claim 36, wherein the user interface comprises a display of the scan history of the user.

38. The system of claim 32, wherein the operations further comprise receiving a message from the self-service application indicating that the scan agent is available for downloading.

39. The system of claim 32, wherein the operations further comprise providing information authenticating the user.

40. The system of claim 39, wherein the information is provided to a single sign-on system.

41. The system of claim 32, wherein the at least one category comprises one or more of a mandatory category or an optional category.

42. The system of claim 32, wherein the scan profile received from the self-service application is encrypted and the operations further comprise decrypting the scan profile.

43. A non-transitory computer readable medium containing instructions for managing a scan of a computer for sensitive data, that when executed by one or more processors of a computer cause the computer to perform the operations comprising:

accessing a self-service application to configure a scan for sensitive information, configuration comprising;

providing an indication of at least one category of sensitive information, and

providing an indication of at least one intended recipient of a scan report;

receiving a scan agent with a unique identifier from the self-service application, the unique identifier establishing a correspondence between the scan agent, a scan profile, and a user;

providing a confirmation signal containing the unique identifier to the category server;

receiving, encrypted, the corresponding scan profile from a category server in response to the confirmation signal and decrypting the scan profile;

executing the scan using the scan agent according to the scan profile;

providing scan results to the category server; and

confirming uninstallation of the scan agent with the category server.

44. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 43, wherein the self-service application comprises a user interface for indicating the at least one category of sensitive information and the at least one intended recipient of a scan report.

45. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 44, wherein the user interface comprises a display of the scan history of the user.

46. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 43, wherein the operations further comprise receiving a message from the self-service application indicating that the scan agent is available for downloading.

47. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 43, wherein the operations further comprise providing information authenticating the user.

48. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 47, wherein the information is provided to a single sign-on system.

49. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 43, wherein the at least one category comprises one or more of a mandatory category or an optional category.

50. A computer-implemented method for managing a scan of a computer for sensitive data:

providing information authenticating a user using an I/O device;

accessing, using a processor, an authorized self-service application to configure a scan for sensitive information, configuration comprising using the I/O device to provide an indication of at least one category of sensitive information and an indication of at least one intended recipient of a scan report;

receiving a scan agent with a unique identifier from the self-service application using the I/O device, the unique identifier establishing a correspondence between the scan agent, a scan profile, and a user;

providing a confirmation signal containing the unique identifier to the category server using the I/O device;

receiving, encrypted, the corresponding scan profile from a category server in response to the confirmation signal using the I/O device and decrypting the scan profile using the processor;

executing the scan with the scan agent according to the scan profile using the processor.

51. The computer-implemented method of claim 50, wherein the self-service application comprises a user interface for displaying of the scan history of the user and indicating the at least one category of sensitive information and the at least one intended recipient of a scan report.

52. The computer-implemented method of claim 50, wherein the operations further comprise receiving a message from the self-service application indicating that the scan agent is available for downloading.

53. The computer-implemented method of claim 50, wherein the at least one category comprises one or more of a mandatory category or an optional category.

54. The computer-implemented method of claim 50, further comprising confirming uninstallation of the scan agent with the category server using the processor.

55. The computer-implemented method of claim 50, further comprising providing scan results to the category server using the I/O device.