Method of customizing a standardized IT policy

• US 8,544,057 B2
• Filed: 02/27/2007
• Issued: 09/24/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Bocking, Andrew, Hardy, Michael Thomas, Roberts, Phillip, Rawlins, Rudy, Hanson, Ronald
• Primary Examiner(s): Pwu, Jeffrey
• Assistant Examiner(s): TRUONG, THONG P
• Application Number:
  US11/679,470
• Publication Number:
  US 20070204326A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,401 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 709/226, 709/223, 709/203, 713/201, 707/1, 726/1
• US Class Current: 726/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0894 Policy-based network configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/104 Grouping of entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/245 from a network towards a terminal

Abstract

A system and method are described herein for standardizing an IT policy that is used to configure devices operating on a network. An IT policy can be generated that applies to a group of users or to one or more special users without having to define and store a new IT policy for each special user. This can be achieved by specifying global and per-user IT policy rules and merging these rules as needed to produce IT policy data. The IT policy can also be used to configure settings associated with storing electronic messages on the devices.

Claims

1. A method of providing an IT policy to configure a plurality of devices associated with a group of users, the IT policy comprising a set of rules that dictate the functionality of the plurality of devices, wherein the IT policy comprises IT policy data that is customizable on a per-user basis, the method being implemented by a processor at a server and the method comprises:

checking for a change made to a global IT policy;

noting a first group of users for which the change in the global IT policy applies;

checking for at least one special user in the first group of users that have per-user IT policy rules;

generating global IT policy data based on settings in a first data structure associated with global IT policy rules that are applicable to all users within the group of users;

generating per-user IT policy data based on settings in a second data structure associated with the per-user IT policy rules that are applicable to the at least one special user within the group of users;

generating merged IT policy data for the at least one special user by merging the global IT policy data and the per-user IT policy data, the merged IT policy data being generated before being sent to the at least one special user; and

sending the merged IT policy data to the at least one special user within the group,

wherein the processor at the server is configured to define at least one of the global IT policy rules and the per-user IT policy rules to specify at least one of maximum storage size and maximum storage time for electronic messages stored on the devices based on at least one keyword used in the subject line of the electronic messages, the at least one keyword corresponding to a message type comprising at least one of personal, corporate, customer, sensitive and confidential messages.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the merging comprises overriding settings in the global IT policy data with settings in the per-user IT policy data for conflicting IT policy rules in the global and per-user IT policy data.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein both the global and per-user IT policy rules comprise grouped IT policy rules with associated sub-IT policy rules, and during the merging, the global and per-user IT policy data corresponding to sub-IT policy rules associated with one of the grouped IT policy rules are grouped together.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the method comprises storing IT policy rules in an IT policy table, the IT policy rules comprising the global IT policy rules and the per-user IT policy rules, and the method further comprises using a field in the IT policy table to indicate whether a given IT policy rule is settable on a per-user basis.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises setting at least one of the maximum storage size and maximum storage time based on folder type for folders used to store the electronic messages on the device, wherein a given folder type corresponds to a given message type.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises setting at least one of the maximum storage size and maximum storage time based on the user of the device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein if at least one of the global IT policy data and the per-user IT policy data is updated, the method further comprises sending the merged IT policy data to the corresponding users within the group to whom the updated data applies.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending comprises sending the merged IT policy data to the devices via one of a wireless connection for a wireless network, and a wired connection for a wired network.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the maximum storage size can be applied on at least one of a per message basis and a cumulative message basis for messages with the at least one keyword in the subject line.

10. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium embodying program code means executable by a processor at a server for performing a method for providing an IT policy to configure a plurality of devices associated with a group of users on a network, the IT policy comprising a set of rules that dictate the functionality of the plurality of devices, wherein the IT policy comprises IT policy data that is customizable on a per-user basis and the method comprises:

checking for a change made to a global IT policy;

noting a first group of users for which the change in the global IT policy applies;

checking for at least one special user in the first group of users that have per-user IT policy rules;

generating global IT policy data based on settings in a first data structure associated with global IT policy rules that are applicable to all users within the group of users;

generating per-user IT policy data based on settings in a second data structure associated with the per-user IT policy rules that are applicable to the at least one special user within the group of users;

generating merged IT policy data by merging the global IT policy data and the per-user IT policy data, the merged IT policy data being generated before being sent to the at least one special user;

sending the merged IT policy data to the at least one special user within the group; and

defining at least one of the global IT policy rules and the per-user IT policy rules to specify at least one of maximum storage size and maximum storage time for electronic messages stored on the devices based on at least one keyword used in the subject line of the electronic messages, the at least one keyword corresponding to a message type comprising at least one of personal, corporate, customer, sensitive and confidential messages.

11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises setting at least one of the maximum storage size and maximum storage time based on folder type for folders used to store the electronic messages on the device, wherein a given folder type corresponds to a given message type.

12. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises setting at least one of the maximum storage size and maximum storage time based on the user of the device.

13. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the maximum storage size can be applied on at least one of a per message basis and a cumulative message basis for messages with the at least one keyword in the subject line.

14. An IT policy server for providing an IT policy to configure a plurality of devices associated with a group of users on a network, the IT policy comprising a set of rules that dictate the functionality of the plurality of devices, wherein the IT policy comprises IT policy data that is customizable on a per-user basis and the IT policy server comprises:

a processor adapted to generate the IT policy data;

a network interface connected to the processor, the network interface being adapted to allow the IT policy server to communicate with the network; and

a memory unit connected to the processor, the memory unit being adapted to store applications and data related to the IT policy,

wherein, the processor is configured to check for a change made to a global IT policy, to note a first group of users for which the change in the global IT policy applies, to check for at least one special user in the first group of users that have per-user IT policy rules, to generate global IT policy data based on settings in a first data structure associated with global IT policy rules that are applicable to all users within the group of users, to generate per-user IT policy data based on settings in a second data structure associated with the per-user IT policy rules that are applicable to the at least one special user within the group of users, to generate merged IT policy data by merging the global IT policy data and the per-user IT policy data, the merged IT policy data being generated before being sent to the at least one special user, to send the merged IT policy data to the at least one special user within the group, and to define at least one of the global IT policy rules and the per-user IT policy rules to specify at least one of maximum storage size and maximum storage time for electronic messages stored on the devices based on at least one keyword used in the subject line of the electronic messages, the at least one keyword corresponding to a message type comprising at least one of personal, corporate, customer, sensitive and confidential messages.

15. The IT policy server of claim 14, wherein during merging, the IT policy server overrides settings in the global IT policy data with settings in the per-user IT policy data for conflicting IT policy rules in the global and per-user IT policy data.

16. The IT policy server of claim 14, wherein both the global and per-user IT policy rules comprise grouped IT policy rules with associated sub-IT policy rules, and during merging, the IT policy server is configured to group together global and per-user IT policy data corresponding to sub-IT policy rules associated with one of the grouped IT policy rules.

17. The IT policy server of claim 14, wherein the IT policy server is configured to store IT policy rules in an IT policy table, the IT policy rules comprise the global IT policy rules and the per-user IT policy rules, and the IT policy table comprise a field to indicate whether a given IT policy rule is settable on a per-user basis.

18. The IT policy server of claim 14, wherein the IT policy server is configured to set at least one of the maximum storage size and maximum storage time based on folder type for folders used to store the electronic messages on the device, wherein a given folder type corresponds to a given message type.

19. The IT policy server of claim 14, wherein the IT policy server is configured to set at least one of the maximum storage size and maximum storage time based on the user of the device.

20. The IT policy server of claim 14, wherein if at least one of the global IT policy data and the per-user IT policy data is updated, the IT policy server is configured to send the merged IT policy data to the corresponding users within the group to whom the updated data applies.

21. The IT policy server of claim 14, wherein the maximum storage size can be applied on at least one of a per message basis and a cumulative message basis for messages with the at least one keyword in the subject line.

22. A communications system for providing an IT policy to configure a plurality of devices associated with a group of users of the system, the IT policy comprising a set of rules that dictate the functionality of the plurality of devices, wherein the IT policy comprises IT policy data that is customizable on a per-user basis and the system comprises:

an IT policy server comprising;

a processor adapted to generate the IT policy data;

a network interface connected to the processor, the network interface being adapted to allow the IT policy server to communicate with the network; and

a memory unit connected to the processor, the memory unit being adapted to store applications and data related to the IT policy, and

a plurality of user devices connected to the network

wherein, the processor is configured to check for a change made to a global IT policy, to note a first group of users for which the change in the global IT policy applies, to check for at least one special user in the first group of users that have per-user IT policy rules, to generate global IT policy data based on settings in a first data structure associated with global IT policy rules that are applicable to all users within the group of users, to generate per-user IT policy data based on settings in a second data structure associated with the per-user IT policy rules that are applicable to the at least one special user within the group of users, to generate merged IT policy data by merging the global IT policy data and the per-user IT policy data, the merged IT policy data being generated before being sent to the at least one special user, to send the merged IT policy data to the at least one special user within the group, and to define at least one of the global IT policy rules and the per-user IT policy rules to specify at least one of maximum storage size and maximum storage time for electronic messages stored on the devices based on at least one keyword used in the subject line of the electronic messages, the at least one keyword corresponding to a message type comprising at least one of personal, corporate, customer, sensitive and confidential messages.

23. The communications system of claim 22, wherein the IT policy server is configured to set at least one of the maximum storage size and maximum storage time based on folder type for folders used to store the electronic messages on the device, wherein a given folder type corresponds to a given message type.

24. The communications system of claim 22, wherein the maximum storage size can be applied on at least one of a per message basis and a cumulative message basis for messages with the at least one keyword in the subject line.