SOCIAL-GRAPH AWARE POLICY SUGGESTION ENGINE

• US 20150381662A1
• Filed: 06/28/2014
• Published: 12/31/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: McAfee, LLC
• Original Assignee: McAfee, LLC
• Inventors: Nair, Jayakrishnan K., Hunt, Simon, Venkateswaran, Prasanna
• Granted Patent: US 9,860,281 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/205 involving negotiation or determination of the one or more network security mechanisms to be used, e.g. by negotiation between the client and the server or between peers or by selection according to the capabilities of the entities involved negotiation of communication capabilities H04L69/24

Abstract

Systems, devices and methods are disclosed to assist in configuring devices and policies to protect a regional network (e.g., home network) and its users. Users on the network are monitored to determine appropriate configuration settings and preferences by utilizing a combination of internally configured information and externally gathered information for each user. For example, externally gathered information may include information obtained about a user from one or more social media Internet sites. Automatically obtained information may be used to provide or augment policy information such that a user'"'"'s preference relative to internet content (e.g., content blocking software configuration) may be achieved without requiring an administrator to individually prepare each users security profile and configuration.

Claims

1. A machine-readable medium on which are stored instructions, comprising instructions that when executed, cause a programmable device to:

identify a user within a first social network;

collect properties corresponding to the user in the first social network;

request a set of security policies from a security policy provider responsive to the collected properties; and

receive a set of recommended security policies from the security policy provider.

2. The machine-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the programmable device to:

identify a user within a second social network;

collect properties corresponding to the user in the second social network; and

aggregate the properties corresponding to the user in the first social network and the properties corresponding to the user in the second social network,

wherein the instructions to request a set of security policies comprise instructions that when executed cause the programmable device to request the set of security policies from the security policy provider responsive to the aggregated properties.

4. The machine-readable medium of claim 1, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the programmable device to:

configure a computer security software responsive to the recommended set of security policies.

5. The machine-readable medium of claim 4, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the programmable device to:

modify the recommended set of security policies based on received modifications.

6. The machine-readable medium of claim 5, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the programmable device to:

send the modified recommended set of security policies and the collected properties to the security policy provider.

7. A security appliance, comprising:

a processor;

a memory, coupled to the processor; and

software, stored on the memory, comprising instructions that when executed cause the processor to;

identify a user within a first social network;

collect properties corresponding to the user in the first social network;

request a set of security policies from a security policy provider responsive to the collected properties;

receive a set of recommended security policies from the security policy provider; and

configure the security appliance to enforce the recommended set of security policies.

3. The machine-readable medium of claim 11, further comprising instructions that when executed cause the programmable device to:

identify a device associated with the user; and

identify a security software installed on the device,

wherein the instructions that when executed cause the programmable device to request a set of security policies comprise instructions that when executed cause the programmable device to;

request a set of security policies from the security policy provider responsive to the collected properties and the identified security software.

8. The security appliance of claim 7, wherein the software further comprises instructions that when executed cause the processor to:

identify a device associated with the user connected to an external network via the security appliance;

identify a security software installed on the device; and

wherein the instructions that when executed cause the processor to request a set of security policies comprise instructions that when executed cause the processor to;

request a set of security policies from the security policy provider responsive to the collected properties and the identified security software.

9. The security appliance of claim 8, wherein the software further comprises instructions that when executed cause the processor to:

send instructions to the security software installed on the device that when executed cause the device to configure the security software to comply with the recommended set of security policies.

10. The security appliance of claim 7, wherein the software further comprises instructions that when executed cause the processor to:

receive modifications to the recommended set of security policies; and

send the modifications to the security policy provider.

11. The security appliance of claim 7, wherein the software further comprises instructions that when executed cause the processor to:

identify a user within a second social network;

collect properties corresponding to the user in the second social network; and

aggregate the properties corresponding to the user in the first social network and the properties corresponding to the user in the second social network,

wherein the instructions to request a set of security policies comprise instructions that when executed cause the processor to request the set of security policies from the security policy provider responsive to the aggregated properties.

12. A security policy provider system, comprising:

a processor;

memory, coupled to the processor; and

software, stored on the memory, comprising instructions that when executed cause the processor to;

receive properties corresponding to a user of a programmable device;

receive a request for security policies;

determine a recommended set of security policies response to the received properties; and

send the recommended set of security policies responsive to the request.

13. The security policy provider system of claim 12, wherein the properties comprise properties corresponding to a user within a social network.

15. The security policy provider system of claim 12, wherein the properties identify a security software installed on the programmable device.

16. The security policy provider system of claim 15, wherein the recommended set of security policies comprise policies for configuring the security software.

14. The security policy provider system of claim 113, wherein the recommended set of security policies comprise settings for configuring interaction with the social network.

17. A method of configuring a security gateway appliance, comprising:

identifying a user within a social network;

collecting properties corresponding to the user in the social network;

requesting a set of security policies from a security policy provider responsive to the collected properties; and

receiving a set of recommended security policies from the security policy provider.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

identifying a device associated with the user connected to an external network via the security gateway appliance; and

identifying a security software installed on the device,

wherein requesting a set of security policies comprises requesting a set of security policies responsive to the collected properties and the identified security software.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

sending configuration instructions to the security software responsive to the set of recommended security policies.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

receiving modifications to the set of recommended security policies; and

sending the modifications to the security policy provider.

21. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

configuring a security gateway appliance responsive to the recommended set of security policies.

22. The method of claim 17,

wherein identifying a user within a social network comprises:

identifying the user within a plurality of social networks,

wherein collecting properties corresponding to the user in the social network comprises;

collecting properties corresponding to the user in each of the plurality of social networks; and

aggregating the properties, and

wherein requesting a set of security policies comprises;

requesting a set of security policies from the security policy provider responsive to the aggregated properties.