Method and device for classifying and processing data in instant messaging system

• US 8,484,748 B2
• Filed: 12/14/2009
• Issued: 07/09/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tencent Technology Company Limited (Tencent Holdings Limited)
• Original Assignee: Tencent Technology Company Limited (Tencent Holdings Limited)
• Inventors: Yang, Jie, Wei, Ran
• Primary Examiner(s): Flynn, Nathan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vaughan, Michael R
• Application Number:
  US12/637,253
• Publication Number:
  US 20100095385A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,303 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 726/28
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32

Abstract

The embodiment of this invention provides a method for classifying and processing data in an instant messaging system, which includes: classifying the data of every service included in the instant messaging system into confidential data and non-confidential data; obtaining and processing the non-confidential data of every service after a first authentication is passed successfully; and obtaining and processing the confidential data of every service after a second authentication is passed successfully. The embodiment of this invention also provides a device for classifying and processing data in an instant messaging system. According to the embodiment of the present invention, the security requirements of the instant messaging system are met, and the user is facilitated to use various services provided by the instant messaging system.

Claims

1. A method for classifying and processing data in an instant messaging system, comprising:

classifying the data of every service included in the instant messaging system into confidential and non-confidential portions of the data based on at least one of (i) a number of times that the data of a service included in the instant messaging system has been accessed, (ii) time that the data of a service included in the instant messaging system is generated, or (iii) whether the data of a service included in the instant messaging system has been accessed, wherein the every service is a non-instant-messaging service;

responsive to a user requesting access to the data, obtaining and processing the non-confidential portion of the data of every service after a first authentication of the user of the instant messaging system is passed successfully, wherein the obtaining and processing the non-confidential portion of the data of every service after the first authentication of the user is passed successfully comprises inputting an instant messaging password used by the user to initiate instant messaging prior to classifying the data; and

responsive to the user request to access to the data, obtaining and processing the confidential portion of the data of every service after a second authentication of the user is passed successfully after the process of obtaining and processing the non-confidential portion of the data of every service after the first authentication is passed successfully, wherein the obtaining and processing the confidential portion of the data of every service after the second authentication of the user is passed successfully comprises inputting a separate password corresponding to one service included in the instant messaging system, wherein the separate password is different from the instant messaging password.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the process of classifying the data of every service included in the instant messaging system into the confidential and non-confidential portions of the data comprises:

calculating the number of times that each data of the service included in the instant messaging system has been accessed; and

classifying the data as the confidential portion of the data if the number of times that it has been accessed exceeds a predetermined value, and classifying the data as the non-confidential portion of the data otherwise.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising:

resetting a confidential-data-or-not flag of the non-confidential portion of the data, and setting the confidential-data-or-not flag of the confidential portion of the data, wherein the confidential-data-or-not flag is used for indicating whether the data is the confidential or non-confidential portion of the data.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the process of obtaining and processing the non-confidential portion of the data of every service comprises:

determining, according to the confidential-data-or-not flag of each data of the service, whether the data of the service is the non-confidential portion of the data; and

obtaining and processing the data if the data is the non-confidential portion of the data.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the process of obtaining and processing the confidential portion of the data of every service comprises:

determining, according to the confidential-data-or-not flag of each data of the service, whether the data of the service is the confidential portion of the data; and

obtaining and processing the data if the data is the confidential portion of the data.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the process of classifying the data of every service included in the instant messaging system into the confidential and non-confidential portions of the data comprises:

obtaining time that each data of the service included in the instant messaging system is generated; and

classifying the data as the non-confidential portion of the data if the time that it is generated is later than a predetermined time, and classifying the data as the confidential portion of the data otherwise.

7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising:

resetting a confidential-data-or-not flag of the non-confidential portion of the data, and setting the confidential-data-or-not flag of the confidential portion of the data, wherein the confidential-data-or-not flag is used for indicating whether the data is the confidential or non-confidential portion of the data.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the process of obtaining and processing the non-confidential portion of the data of every service comprises:

determining, according to the confidential-data-or-not flag of each data of the service, whether the data of the service is the non-confidential portion of the data; and

obtaining and processing the data if the data is the non-confidential portion of the data.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the process of obtaining and processing the confidential portion of the data of every service comprises:

determining, according to the confidential-data-or-not flag of each data of the service, whether the data of the service is the confidential portion of the data; and

obtaining and processing the data if the data is the confidential portion of the data.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the process of classifying the data of every service included in the instant messaging system into confidential and non-confidential portions of the data comprises:

determining whether the data of the service included in the instant messaging system has been accessed; and

classifying the data as the non-confidential portion of the data if the data has not been accessed, and classifying the data as the confidential portion of the data otherwise.

11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising:

resetting a confidential-data-or-not flag of the non-confidential portion of the data, and setting the confidential-data-or-not flag of the confidential portion of the data, wherein the confidential-data-or-not flag is used for indicating whether the data is the confidential or non-confidential portion of the data.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the process of obtaining and processing the non-confidential portion of the data of every service comprises:

determining, according to the confidential-data-or-not flag of each data of the service, whether the data of the service is the non-confidential portion of the data; and

obtaining and processing the data if the data is the non-confidential portion of the data.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein the process of obtaining and processing the confidential portion of the data of every service comprises:

determining, according to the confidential-data-or-not flag of each data of the service, whether the data of the service is the confidential portion of the data; and

obtaining and processing the data if the data is the confidential portion of the data.

14. A device for classifying and processing data in an instant messaging system, comprising:

a data classifying unit, adapted to classify the data of every service included in the instant messaging system into confidential and non-confidential portions of the data based on at least one of (i) a number of times that the data of a service included in the instant messaging system has been accessed, (ii) time that the data of a service included in the instant messaging system is generated, or (iii) whether the data of a service included in the instant messaging system has been accessed, wherein the every service is a non-instant-messaging service;

a non-confidential data obtaining unit, adapted to obtain, when the service is activated, responsive to a user requesting access to the data, the non-confidential portion of the data of the service after a first authentication of the user of the instant messaging system is passed successfully, wherein the obtaining the non-confidential portion of the data of the service after the first authentication of the user is passed successfully comprises inputting an instant messaging password used by the user to initiate instant messaging prior to classifying the data;

a second authentication unit, adapted to implement, responsive to the user requesting access to the data, a second authentication of the user, and to send confirmation information used for indicating that the second authentication is passed successfully after the second authentication is passed successfully; and

a confidential data obtaining unit, adapted to obtain the confidential portion of the data of the service after receiving the confirmation information used for indicating that the second authentication is passed successfully sent from the second authentication unit, wherein the implementing and obtaining the confidential portion of the data of service after the second authentication of the user is passed successfully comprises inputting a separate password corresponding to the service included in the instant messaging system, wherein the separate password is different from the instant messaging password,

wherein the data classifying unit, the non-confidential data obtaining unit, the second authentication unit, and the confidential data obtaining unit are implemented by a processor and memory.

15. The device according to claim 14, further comprising:

a times-having-been-accessed calculating unit, adapted to calculate the number of times that each data of the service included in the instant messaging system has been accessed, and send a result of the calculation to the data classifying unit,

wherein the data classifying unit is adapted to classify the data as the confidential portion of the data if the number of times that it has been accessed exceeds a predetermined value, and to classify the data as the non-confidential portion of the data otherwise.

16. The device according to claim 15, wherein the data classifying unit is further adapted to reset a confidential-data-or-not flag of the non-confidential portion of the data, and to set the confidential-data-or-not flag of the confidential portion of the data, wherein the confidential-data-or-not flag is used for indicating whether the data is the confidential or non-confidential portion of the data;

the non-confidential data obtaining unit is adapted to determine the non-confidential portion of the data of the service according to the confidential-data-or-not flag; and

the confidential data obtaining unit is adapted to determine the confidential portion of the data of the service according to the confidential-data-or-not flag.

17. The device according to claim 14, further comprising:

a determining unit, adapted to determine whether the data of the service included in the instant messaging system has been accessed, and send a result of the determination to the data classifying unit,

wherein the data classifying unit is adapted to classify the data as the confidential portion of the data if the data has been accessed, and to classify the data as the non-confidential portion of the data if the data has not been accessed.

18. The device according to claim 17, wherein the data classifying unit is further adapted to reset a confidential-data-or-not flag of the non-confidential portion of the data, and to set the confidential-data-or-not flag of the confidential portion of the data, wherein the confidential-data-or-not flag is used for indicating whether the data is the confidential or non-confidential portion of the data;

the non-confidential data obtaining unit is adapted to determine the non-confidential portion of the data of the service according to the confidential-data-or-not flag; and

the confidential data obtaining unit is adapted to determine the confidential portion of the data of the service according to the confidential-data-or-not flag.

19. The device according to claim 14, further comprising:

a data generation time obtaining unit, adapted to obtain time that each data of the service included in the instant messaging system is generated, and to send the obtained time that the data is generated to the data classifying unit,

wherein the data classifying unit is adapted to classify the data as the non-confidential portion of the data if the time that it is generated is later than a predetermined time, and to classify the data as the confidential portion of the data otherwise.

20. The device according to claim 19, wherein the data classifying unit is further adapted to reset a confidential-data-or-not flag of the non-confidential portion of the data, and to set the confidential-data-or-not flag of the confidential portion of the data, wherein the confidential-data-or-not flag is used for indicating whether the data is the confidential or non-confidential portion of the data;

the non-confidential data obtaining unit is adapted to determine the non-confidential portion of the data of the service according to the confidential-data-or-not flag; and

the confidential data obtaining unit is adapted to determine the confidential portion of the data of the service according to the confidential-data-or-not flag.