Compiling information obtained by combinatorial searching

• US 8,489,593 B2
• Filed: 06/15/2012
• Issued: 07/16/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/08/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Malik, Dale W.
• Primary Examiner(s): FILIPCZYK, MARCIN R
• Application Number:
  US13/524,074
• Publication Number:
  US 20120255024A1
• Time in Patent Office: 396 Days
• Field of Search: 707/705, 707724-730, 707/796, 707/999.003, 707/999.006, 726/25, 726/26
• US Class Current: 707/729
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6245 Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching

Abstract

Some embodiments, among others, include a search for sensitive information. Once a result of the search has been obtained, a score is assigned to the obtained result in accordance with a predefined criterion.

Claims

1. A computer-readable memory storing code that when executed causes a processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:

processing a search for publicly-available sensitive information of an individual on an internet, the publicly-available sensitive information comprising a plurality of items of personal information associated with the individual, the plurality of items of personal information comprising at least a first item of personal information associated with the individual, a second item of personal information associated with the individual, and a third item of personal information associated with the individual, wherein the plurality of items of personal information include at least three items selected from a group consisting of a name, an email address, a telephone number, a street address, and a social security number;

obtaining results of the search for publicly-available sensitive information comprising a list of documents containing at least one of the plurality of items of personal information;

assigning an individual score for each of the plurality of items of personal information from the results, the individual score for a particular item of personal information being based on a number of occurrences within the results which contain the particular item of personal information;

assigning combinatorial scores for particular combinations of items of personal information from the results, wherein a particular combination of items contained within a single document listed in the results is assigned a greater combinational score than the particular combination of items being contained collectively across multiple documents listed in the results having a common link with one another, wherein the common link is one of the items of personal information being contained in the multiple documents; and

determining a level of security risk that exists to the individual based on the publicly-available sensitive information of the individual that was obtained from the results of the search, the level of security risk indicated from a plurality of different levels of security risks based on the individual score and the combinatorial scores assigned to the results of the search, wherein an increasing number of occurrences of items of personal information in the results increases the level of security risk,

wherein the level of security risk comprises a member from a group consisting of;

a level of risk for identity theft, a level of risk for a privacy breach, and a level of risk for receiving spam.

2. The computer-readable memory of claim 1, wherein a first combinatorial score is assigned to the publicly-available sensitive information, the first combinatorial score being a function of an individual first score for the first item of personal information and an individual second score for the second item of personal information.

3. The computer-readable memory of claim 1, wherein occurrence of an individual item in a result of the search is weighted less than an occurrence of a combination of items in the result of the search.

4. The computer-readable memory of claim 1, wherein the determining the security risk that exists to the individual includes determining a likelihood of a privacy breach and classifying the likelihood as the level of risk.

5. The computer-readable memory of claim 1, wherein the search for the publicly-available sensitive information comprises a search of variants of the items of personal information.

6. A method comprising:

processing a search, via at least one computer, for publicly-available sensitive information of an individual on an internet, the publicly-available sensitive information comprising a plurality of items of personal information associated with the individual, the plurality of items of personal information comprising at least a first item of personal information associated with the individual, a second item of personal information associated with the individual, and a third item of personal information associated with the individual, wherein the plurality of items of personal information include at least three items selected from a group consisting of a name, an email address, a telephone number, a street address, and a social security number;

obtaining, via the at least one computer, search results of the search for publicly-available sensitive information comprising a list of documents containing at least one of the plurality of items of personal information;

assigning an individual score for each search result in the list of documents, the individual score for a particular search result being based on a number of occurrences within the search results which contain a particular item in the list of documents;

assigning, via the at least one computer, combinatorial scores for particular combinations of items of personal information from the search results, wherein a particular combination of items contained within a single document listed in the search results is assigned a greater combinational score than the particular combination of items being contained collectively across multiple documents listed in the search results having a common link with one another, wherein the common link is one of the items of personal information being contained in the multiple documents; and

determining, by the at least one computer, a level of security risk that exists to the individual based on the publicly-available sensitive information of the individual that was obtained from the search results of the search, the level of security risk indicated from a plurality of different levels of security risks based on the individual score and the combinatorial scores assigned to the search results of the search, wherein an increasing number of occurrences of items of personal information in the search results increases the level of security risk,

wherein the level of security risk comprises a member from a group consisting of;

a level of risk for identity theft, a level of risk for a privacy breach, and a level of risk for receiving spam.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein a first combinatorial score is assigned to the publicly-available sensitive information, the first combinatorial score being a function of an individual first score for the first item of personal information and an individual second score for the second item of personal information.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein occurrence of an individual item in a result of the search result is weighted less than an occurrence of a combination of items in the search result of the search.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the determining the security risk that exists to the individual includes determining a likelihood of a privacy breach and classifying the likelihood as the level of risk.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the search for the publicly-available sensitive information comprises a search of variants of the plurality of items of personal information.

11. A system comprising:

a processor; and

memory for storing code that when executed causes the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising;

processing a search for publicly-available sensitive information of an individual on an internet, the publicly-available sensitive information comprising a plurality of items of personal information associated with the individual, the plurality of items of personal information comprising at least a first item of personal information associated with the individual, a second item of personal information associated with the individual, and a third item of personal information associated with the individual, wherein the search for the publicly-available sensitive information comprises a search of variants of the plurality of items of personal information, wherein the plurality of items of personal information include at least three items selected from a group consisting of a name, an email address, a telephone number, a street address, and a social security number;

obtaining results of the search for the publicly-available sensitive information comprising a list of documents containing at least one of the plurality of items of personal information;

assigning an individual score for each document in the list of documents, the individual score for a particular document being based on a number of occurrences within the results which contain the particular document;

assigning combinatorial scores for particular combination of items of personal information from the results, wherein a particular combination of items contained within a single document in the list of documents is assigned a greater combinational score than the particular combination of items being contained collectively across multiple documents listed in the list of documents having a common link with one another, wherein the common link is one of the plurality of items of personal information being contained in the multiple documents; and

determining a level of security risk that exists to the individual based on the publicly-available sensitive information of the individual that was obtained from the results of the search, the level of security risk indicated from a plurality of different levels of security risks based on the individual score and the combinatorial scores assigned to the results of the search,

wherein an increasing number of occurrences of the plurality of items of personal information in the results increases the level of security risk, and

wherein the level of security risk comprises a member from a group consisting of;

a level of risk for identity theft, a level of risk for a privacy breach, and a level of risk for receiving spam.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise assigning a first combinatorial score to the publicly-available sensitive information, the first combinatorial score being a function of an individual first score for the first item of personal information and an individual second score for the second item of personal information.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise weighing an occurrence of an individual item in a result of the search less than an occurrence of a combination of items in the result of the search.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise determining a likelihood for identity theft and classifying the likelihood as the level of risk.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise determining a likelihood of a privacy breach and classifying the likelihood as the level of risk.