Administration of protection of data accessible by a mobile device

• US 7,526,800 B2
• Filed: 07/21/2004
• Issued: 04/28/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Novell Incorporated (Open Text Corporation)
• Inventors: Wright, Michael, Mims, Robert, Jacobson, Sterling K., Nault, Gabe, Smith, Merrill, Boucher, Peter, Wood, Jonathan
• Primary Examiner(s): Simitoski; Michael J
• Application Number:
  US10/897,060
• Publication Number:
  US 20050055578A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,742 Days
• Field of Search: 713/153, 726/1, 726/11, 379/15.03, 379/29.01, 379/32.01, 379/201.12, 455/25
• US Class Current: 726/11
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/554 involving event detection and direct action
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/604 Tools and structures for managing or administering access control systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6218 to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2111 Location-sensitive, e.g. geographical location, GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2141 Access rights, e.g. capability lists, access control lists, access tables, access matrices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4604 LAN interconnection over a backbone network, e.g. Internet, Frame Relay
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0272 Virtual private networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/045 wherein the sending and receiving network entities apply hybrid encryption, i.e. combination of symmetric and asymmetric encryption cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements using a plurality of keys or algorithms H04L9/14
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0492 by using a location-limited connection, e.g. near-field communication or limited proximity of entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/105 Multiple levels of security
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/166 at the transport layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/12 Detection or prevention of fraud
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/30 : Security of mobile devices; Security of mobile applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/63 : Location-dependent; Proximity-dependent
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 : Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 : Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

The protection of data on a client mobile computing device by a server computer system such as within an enterprise network or on a separate mobile computing device is described. Security tools are described that provide different security policies to be enforced based on a location associated with a network environment in which a mobile device is operating. Methods for detecting the location of the mobile device are described. Additionally, the security tools may also provide for enforcing different policies based on security features. Examples of security features include the type of connection, wired or wireless, over which data is being transferred, the operation of anti-virus software, or the type of network adapter card. The different security policies provide enforcement mechanisms that may be tailored based upon the detected location and/or active security features associated with the mobile device. Examples of enforcement mechanisms are adaptive port blocking, file hiding and file encryption.

Claims

1. In a mobile computing device, a computer-implemented system for providing protection of data accessible by a mobile computing device comprising:

a location detection module for detecting a location associated with the network environment in which the mobile device is operating;

a policy setting module being communicatively coupled with the location detection module for communication of the detected location and being communicatively coupled over a network to a policy management module, the policy setting module configured to determine at least a connection type, a network class, and a hardware brand of a network adapter on the mobile device and a current security policy from one or more security policies received from the policy management module, the current policy being set as a function of which of a plurality of pre-defined locations the detected location appears, the pre-defined locations being set by the policy management module, and further being set as a function of the connection type, the network class, and the hardware brand of the network adapter on the mobile device; and

a policy enforcement control module being communicatively coupled with the policy setting module for communication of the current security policy to be enforced, the enforcement control module comprising one or more enforcement mechanism modules for enforcing the current security policy.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the policy setting module sends an update request to the policy management module, the update request requesting any new versions of the one or more security policies.

3. The system of claim 1 further comprising

a security features module for determining whether one or more security features have an activity status of inactive or active in a communication session between the mobile device and another computer;

and

the policy setting module having a communication interface with the security features module for communication of the activity status of the one or more security features, the policy setting module determining the current security policy from the one or more security policies received from the policy management module based upon criteria further including the activity status of the one or more security features.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein at least one of the security features is a security software program.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the policy selling module when setting the current policy periodically or responsive to a notification message reads from memory a location indicator representative of a stored said detected location.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the connection type is one from the group of:

wired and wireless.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the network class is one from the group of:

a type of mobile communications system, a type of wireless communications system, 802.3, 802.15, 802.16, a variation of 802.11 and 3G.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the location detection module continuously detects the location in which the mobile device is operating;

responsive to a new location being detected, notifying the policy setting module via a communication interface of the new detected location;

responsive to the notification of the new detected location, the policy setting module determining whether the current security policy is to be changed to another policy; and

responsive to the change in policy being indicated, automatically making the other policy the current security policy; and

responsive to the other policy being made the current security policy, the policy enforcement module automatically enforcing the other policy as the current policy.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the location detection module determines location by comparing a criterion of operation of the mobile device to a set of criteria associated with locations.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the location detection module monitors at least one criterion of operation of the mobile device for the current location and compares the criterion to that associated with locations.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the location detection module monitors criteria of operation of the mobile device for a current location and compares the criteria to that associated with locations.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the criteria of operation of the mobile device are a weighted average of one or more network parameters.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein location detection module creates a weighted average of one or more network parameters for each location.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein the location detection module determines whether there is more than one location in a set of possible locations that match the criteria of operation of the mobile device, and sets the location to the current detected location if there is not more than one location.

15. The system of claim 11 wherein the location detection module determines whether there is more than one location in a set of possible locations that match the criteria of operation of the mobile device, and sends a notification to the policy setting module to change the security policy to a default setting.

16. The system of claim 1 wherein the location detection module sends a notification to the policy setting module if criteria of operation of the mobile device for the current location are different from criteria associated with a location set by the policy setting module.

17. The system of claim 1 wherein the location detection module sends a notification to the policy setting module to change the security policy to that for a second location if criteria of operation of the mobile device for the current location match criteria associated with the second location.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the policy management module designates the mobile computing device applicable to a particular class of users.