System and method to force a mobile device into a secure state
First Claim
1. A method of forcing a mobile device into a secure state, comprising:
- receiving at least one request from at least one software application operating on the mobile device to obtain at least one content protection ticket;
issuing at least one content protection ticket by an operating system of the mobile device in response to the at least one request if the mobile device is unlocked, and deferring issuance of the at least one content protection ticket if the mobile device is locked;
waiting for a trigger, wherein the trigger is to be used as an indication to force the mobile device into a secure state;
determining that the trigger has occurred;
in response to determining that the trigger has occurred, revoking all content protection tickets previously obtained from the operating system of the mobile device by the at least one software application operating on the mobile device and immediately unreferencing sensitive objects referenced by the at least one software application, wherein revoking a content protection ticket for a software application prevents the software application from accessing sensitive data associated with the sensitive objects;
in response to revoking all content protection tickets for the at least one software application, performing secure garbage collection upon the sensitive objects, wherein the secure garbage collection obliterates the sensitive data associated with the sensitive objects by wiping the sensitive data associated with the sensitive objects from memory to render the sensitive data unreadable; and
causing the mobile device to enter the secure state, in which the mobile device cannot be accessed without authorization.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments relate to systems and methods for implementation on a mobile device to force the mobile device into a secure state upon detection or determination of a triggering event. Once it is determined that a triggering event has occurred, each application operating on the mobile device is caused to immediately unreference sensitive objects and a secure garbage collection operation is performed upon the unreferenced sensitive objects to render data associated therewith unreadable. The mobile device is then caused to enter a secure state, in which the mobile device cannot be accessed without authorization. A microprocessor within the mobile device is configured to determine the existence of the triggering event according to a configuration data structure and to perform the secure garbage collection.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A method of forcing a mobile device into a secure state, comprising:
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receiving at least one request from at least one software application operating on the mobile device to obtain at least one content protection ticket; issuing at least one content protection ticket by an operating system of the mobile device in response to the at least one request if the mobile device is unlocked, and deferring issuance of the at least one content protection ticket if the mobile device is locked; waiting for a trigger, wherein the trigger is to be used as an indication to force the mobile device into a secure state; determining that the trigger has occurred; in response to determining that the trigger has occurred, revoking all content protection tickets previously obtained from the operating system of the mobile device by the at least one software application operating on the mobile device and immediately unreferencing sensitive objects referenced by the at least one software application, wherein revoking a content protection ticket for a software application prevents the software application from accessing sensitive data associated with the sensitive objects; in response to revoking all content protection tickets for the at least one software application, performing secure garbage collection upon the sensitive objects, wherein the secure garbage collection obliterates the sensitive data associated with the sensitive objects by wiping the sensitive data associated with the sensitive objects from memory to render the sensitive data unreadable; and causing the mobile device to enter the secure state, in which the mobile device cannot be accessed without authorization. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A system for operation on a mobile device, wherein the mobile device includes memory for storing at least one object used by a software application operating on the mobile device to access sensitive data stored on the mobile device, the system comprising:
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a computer-readable storage medium for storing a configuration data structure to store information about a triggering event, wherein the triggering event is used as an indication to force the mobile device into a secure state; a garbage collection module for execution on the mobile device having a data access pathway to the configuration data structure and the memory; and a processor executing the garbage collection module and having access to the memory, the processor being configured to receive at least one request from at least one software application operating on the mobile device to obtain at least one content protection ticket, and issue at least one content protection ticket by an operating system of the mobile device in response to the at least one request if the mobile device is unlocked, and deferring issuance of the at least one content protection ticket if the mobile device is locked; the processor being further configured to revoke all content protection tickets previously obtained from the operating system of the mobile device by the at least one software application operating on the mobile device and immediately unreference sensitive objects referenced by the at least one software application in response to a determination that the triggering event has occurred based on the information stored in the configuration data structure, wherein revoking a content protection ticket for a software application prevents the software application from accessing sensitive data associated with the sensitive objects, the processor being further configured to perform a secure garbage collection with respect to the sensitive objects in response to revoking all content protection tickets for the at least one software application, wherein the secure garbage collection obliterates the sensitive data associated with the sensitive objects by wiping the sensitive data associated with the sensitive objects from memory to render the sensitive data unreadable, and to cause the mobile device to enter the secure state in which the mobile device cannot be accessed without authorization. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A mobile device comprising:
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a microprocessor configured to execute a software application that handles sensitive data and to access a configuration data structure storing information about a triggering event, wherein the triggering event is used as an indication to force the mobile device into a secure state; heap memory for storing at least one object used by the software application to access the sensitive data; and a garbage collection module executable by the microprocessor and having a data access pathway to the heap memory; wherein the microprocessor is configured to receive at least one request from at least one software application operating on the mobile device to obtain at least one content protection ticket, and issue at least one content protection ticket by an operating system of the mobile device in response to the at least one request if the mobile device is unlocked, and defer issuance of the at least one content protection ticket if the mobile device is locked; wherein the microprocessor is configured to revoke all content protection tickets previously obtained from the operating system of the mobile device by the at least one software application operating on the mobile device and immediately unreference sensitive objects in response to a determination by the microprocessor that the triggering event has occurred, wherein revoking a content protection ticket for a software application prevents the software application from accessing sensitive data associated with the sensitive objects, and wherein the microprocessor is further configured to cause the garbage collection module to perform a secure garbage collection in respect of the sensitive objects in response to revoking all content protection tickets for the at least one software application, wherein the secure garbage collection obliterates the sensitive data associated with the sensitive objects by wiping the sensitive data associated with the sensitive objects from memory to render the sensitive data unreadable, and wherein the microprocessor is further configured to cause the mobile device to enter the secure state following performance of the secure garbage collection. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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Specification