Trust verification in copy and move operations

• US 8,572,755 B2
• Filed: 03/29/2005
• Issued: 10/29/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Odins-Lucas, Zeke B., Fortiner, Samuel, Silbey, Marc A
• Primary Examiner(s): Najjar, Saleh
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pan, Joseph
• Application Number:
  US11/092,177
• Publication Number:
  US 20060225137A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,136 Days
• Field of Search: 713/1, 713/2, 713/188, 713/194, 380/200, 380/201, 380/255, 380/277, 726/2, 726/25, 726/27, 709/225, 709/226
• US Class Current: 726/27
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/51 at application loading time, e.g. accepting, rejecting, starting or inhibiting executable software based on integrity or source reliability

Abstract

When using a clipboard or drag-and-drop interface of a graphical computer interface, a source application includes trust information along with data that is proffered to a target application. The target application conditions its acceptance of such data based on the trust information.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

composing a data object by a source application on a computer, the data object indicating text or a picture, the text or the picture designated by a user via a copy or cut operation on the text or the picture, the copy or cut operation performed via the source application;

evaluating, by the source application, the data object;

associating, by the source application, trust information with the data object, the trust information including a flag indicating whether the text or the picture designated by the user was obtained from the Internet, the trust information further including a value that is associated with a scale of values and which indicates a level of trust associated with the text or the picture;

receiving, by the source application, a request from the user to paste the text or the picture to a target application; and

prompting, by the source application, the user for confirmation before pasting the text or the picture to the target application responsive to receiving the request from the user to paste the text or the picture when the flag indicates that the text or the picture was obtained from the Internet.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the data object includes the text or the picture designated by the user.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the data object references the text or the picture designated by the user.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the trust information further includes an additional flag indicating whether the text or the picture designated by the user was obtained from a trusted source.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the trust information indicates a relative level of trust corresponding to the source of the text or the picture designated by the user.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising conditioning pasting of the text or the picture designated by the user to the target application, based on the trust information.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the source application and the target application are different applications on the computer.

8. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the request from the user to paste the text or the picture to the target application is received when the text or the picture is selected and graphically dragged to a graphical area of the target application.

9. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the request from the user to paste the text or the picture to the target application is received when a command to paste the text or the picture to the target application is selected.

10. A method for use in conjunction with a transfer service of a computer having a graphical user interface, wherein said transfer service facilitates data transfer in response to user actions, the method comprising:

receiving a data object from the transfer service, the data object composed at a source application of the computer and indicating (a) text or a picture, designated by a user, via a copy or cut operation on the text or the picture performed at the source application and (b) trust information regarding the text or the picture as evaluated and included by the source application, the trust information including;

a flag indicating whether the text or the picture was obtained from the Internet; and

a value that is associated with a scale of values and which indicates a level of trust associated with the text or the picture;

receiving a request from the user to paste the text or the picture to a target application; and

prompting the user for confirmation before pasting the text or the picture responsive to receiving the request from the user to paste the text or the picture when the flag indicates that the text or the picture was obtained from the Internet.

11. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein the data object includes the text or the picture.

12. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein the data object references the text or the picture.

13. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein the trust information further includes an additional flag indicating whether the text or the picture was obtained from a trusted source.

14. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein the trust information indicates a relative level of trust corresponding to the source of the text or the picture.

15. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein the request from the user to paste the text or the picture to the target application is received when the text or the picture is selected and graphically dragged to a graphical area of the target application.

16. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein the request from the user to paste the text or the picture to the target application is received when a command to paste the text or the picture to the target application is selected.

17. One or more computer-readable storage media containing instructions that are executable to cause a computer to perform actions comprising:

composing a data object at a source application on the computer, the data object indicating text or a picture, the text or the picture designated by a user via a copy or cut operation on the text or the picture performed via the source application;

evaluating the data object by the source application;

including trust information in the data object by the source application, the trust information including a flag indicating whether the text or the picture was obtained from the Internet, the trust information further including a value that is associated with a scale of values and which indicates a level of trust associated with the text or the picture;

receiving, by the source application, a request from the user to paste the text or the picture to a target application; and

prompting, by the source application, the user for confirmation before pasting the text or the picture to the target application responsive to receiving the request from the user to paste the text or the picture when the flag indicates that the text or the picture was obtained from the Internet.

18. One or more computer-readable storage media as recited in claim 17, the actions further comprising allowing the user to paste the text or the picture to the target application by graphically dragging the text or the picture to a graphical area of the target application.

19. One or more computer-readable storage media as recited in claim 17, wherein the trust information further includes an additional flag indicating whether the text or the picture was obtained from a trusted source.

20. One or more computer-readable storage media as recited in claim 17, wherein the trust information indicates a relative level of trust corresponding to the source of the text or the picture.