IN-LINE FILTERING OF INSECURE OR UNWANTED MOBILE DEVICE SOFTWARE COMPONENTS OR COMMUNICATIONS

• US 20160050226A1
• Filed: 09/28/2015
• Published: 02/18/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CA, Inc. (d/b/a CA Technologies) (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Appthority Incorporated (Gen Digital Inc.)
• Inventors: Bettini, Anthony John, Watkins, Kevin, Guerra, Domingo J., Price, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 9,531,744 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/577 Assessing vulnerabilities and evaluating computer system security
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/033 Test or assess software
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0227 Filtering policies mail message filtering H04L51/212
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0245 Filtering by information in the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/105 Multiple levels of security
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1433 Vulnerability analysis
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1441 Countermeasures against malicious traffic countermeasures against attacks on cryptographic mechanisms H04L9/002
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416

Abstract

Techniques for in-line filtering of insecure or unwanted mobile components or communications (e.g., insecure or unwanted behaviors associated with applications for mobile devices (“apps”), updates for apps, communications to/from apps, operating system components/updates for mobile devices, etc.) for mobile devices are disclosed. In some embodiments, in-line filtering of apps for mobile devices includes intercepting a request for downloading an application to a mobile device; and modifying a response to the request for downloading the application to the mobile device. In some embodiments, the response includes a notification that the application cannot be downloaded due to an application risk policy violation.

Claims

1. (canceled)

2. A system, comprising:

a hardware processor of an inline filtering device for in-line filtering of applications for mobile devices, the hardware processor configured to;

intercept a request for downloading an application to a mobile device;

cache or quarantine the application at the inline filtering device pending determination of a result of a risk analysis of the application based on an application risk policy, wherein the application is blocked from completing a transfer to the mobile device while it is cached or quarantined at the inline filtering device; and

modify a response to the request for downloading the application to the mobile device based on the result of the risk analysis of the application based on the application risk policy; and

a memory coupled to the hardware processor and configured to provide the hardware processor with instructions.

3. The system recited in claim 2, wherein the response includes a notification that the application cannot be downloaded due to a violation of the application risk policy.

4. The system recited in claim 2, wherein the hardware processor is further configured to:

filter traffic in-line from the mobile device to the Internet;

determine that the filtered traffic from the mobile device includes the request for downloading the application to the mobile device; and

determine the response to the application request based on the application risk policy, wherein the application risk policy is configured for an enterprise, and wherein the mobile device is associated with the enterprise.

5. The system recited in claim 2, wherein the hardware processor is further configured to:

determine the response based on an application risk assessment for the application, wherein the application risk assessment is based at least in part on a behavior associated with the application.

6. The system recited in claim 2, wherein the hardware processor is further configured to:

determine the application associated with the request violates the application risk policy based on a behavioral analysis of the application.

7. A system, comprising:

a hardware processor of an inline filtering device for in-line filtering of applications for mobile devices, the hardware processor configured to;

perform in-line filtering of traffic from a mobile device to the Internet;

identify an application request from the in-line filtering of traffic from the mobile device to the Internet, wherein the application request includes a request to download an application to the mobile device;

cache or quarantine the application at the inline filtering device pending determination of a result of a risk analysis of the application based on an application risk policy, wherein the application is blocked from completing a transfer to the mobile device while it is cached or quarantined at the inline filtering device; and

modify a response to the application request that is communicated to the mobile device based on the result of the risk analysis of the application based on the application risk policy; and

a memory coupled to the hardware processor and configured to provide the hardware processor with instructions.

8. The system recited in claim 7, wherein the modified response includes a notification that the application cannot be downloaded due to a violation of the application risk policy.

9. The system recited in claim 7, wherein the hardware processor is further configured to:

determine the response to the application request based on the application risk policy.

10. The system recited in claim 7, wherein the hardware processor is further configured to:

determine the response to the application request based on the application risk policy, wherein the application risk policy includes an application risk profile based on behavior associated with the application.

11. The system recited in claim 7, wherein the hardware processor is further configured to:

intercept application requests from a plurality of mobile devices.

12. A method, comprising:

performing in-line filtering of traffic from a mobile device to the Internet using a hardware processor of an inline filtering device for in-line filtering of applications for mobile devices;

identifying an application request from the in-line filtering of traffic from the mobile device to the Internet, wherein the application request includes a request to download an application to the mobile device;

caching or quarantining the application at the inline filtering device pending determination of a result of a risk analysis of the application based on an application risk policy, wherein the application is blocked from completing a transfer to the mobile device while it is cached or quarantined at the inline filtering device; and

modifying a response to the application request that is communicated to the mobile device based on the result of the risk analysis of the application based on the application risk policy.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the modified response includes a notification that the application cannot be downloaded due to a violation of the application risk policy.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

determining the response to the application request based on the application risk policy.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

determining the response to the application request based on the application risk policy, wherein the application risk policy includes an application risk profile based on behavior associated with the application.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

intercepting application requests from a plurality of mobile devices.

17. A system, comprising:

a hardware processor of an inline filtering device for in-line filtering of insecure or unwanted mobile device communications for mobile devices, the hardware processor configured to;

intercept a communication from a mobile device at the in-line filtering device;

determine whether the communication from the mobile device includes an application search request from the mobile device to a public application market or a private application market;

throttle the communication at the inline filtering device pending determination of a result of a risk analysis based on an application risk policy for mobile device communications associated with the mobile device, wherein the application risk policy for mobile device communications associated with the mobile device includes at least one rule that is associated with or matches at least in part information included in the application search request, and wherein the communication is blocked from completing a transfer of a response to the communication to the mobile device while it is throttled at the inline filtering device; and

modify a response to the application search request to filter one or more applications listed in the response based on the application risk policy, wherein the modified response includes a notification that the one or more applications responsive to the application search request were removed from the response; and

a memory coupled to the hardware processor and configured to provide the hardware processor with instructions.

18. The system recited in claim 17, wherein the determination that the communication from the mobile device includes an insecure or unwanted mobile device communication is based on the application risk policy associated with the mobile device.

19. The system recited in claim 17, wherein the hardware processor is further configured to:

block the communication from the mobile device if it is determined that the communication from the mobile device is an insecure or unwanted mobile device communication based on the application risk policy for mobile device communications.

20. The system recited in claim 17, wherein the modified response further includes a listing of one or more reasons for the removal of the one or more applications based on the application risk policy.