System and method for developing, updating, and using user device behavioral context models to modify user, device, and application state, settings and behavior for enhanced user security

• US 8,655,307 B1
• Filed: 11/27/2012
• Issued: 02/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lookout Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Lookout Incorporated
• Inventors: Mahaffey, Kevin Patrick, Richardson, David Luke, Buck, Brian James, Walker, Samuel Alexander, Mandal, Ayan Kanti, Senapati, Devesh
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Mahendra
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mapa, Michael
• Application Number:
  US13/686,028
• Time in Patent Office: 448 Days
• Field of Search: 455/405, 455571-574, 455/13.4, 455/69, 455/522, 4553431-3436, 713/300, 713320-321
• US Class Current: 455/405
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3212 Monitoring battery levels, e.g. power saving mode being initiated when battery voltage goes below a certain level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 Threshold monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0212 managed by the network, e.g. network or access point is master and terminal is slave
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0258 controlling an operation mode according to history or models of usage information, e.g. activity schedule or time of day
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0277 according to available power supply, e.g. switching off when a low battery condition is detected
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/005 Transmission of information for alerting of incoming communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/53 based on regulatory allocation policies
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Security is enhanced for a user of a mobile device by monitoring and controlling resource usage. Usage information associated with a mobile device is collected. The collected information is used to build a usage model for a user of the mobile device that describes a set of contexts in which the mobile device is used. User activity on the device is monitored and the model is consulted to determine a first time after which it will be acceptable for a battery of the mobile device to fall below a threshold charge level. Based on the monitored activity, a prediction of a second time is made for when the battery will fall below the threshold charge level. If the second time is before or a predetermined amount of time before the first time, usage of the battery is reduced, else, usage of the battery is not reduced.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

obtaining, by a server, context information including usage information and location information of a mobile communication device;

analyzing, by the server, the collected context information to determine a first time and a first place when and where it will be acceptable for a battery of the mobile communication device to fall below a threshold charge level;

examining, by the server, current usage information for the mobile communication device to predict a second time at which the battery will fall below the threshold charge level;

examining, by the server, the context information for the mobile communication device to predict a place where the mobile communication device will be at the second time; and

if the second time is at least a predetermined amount of time before the first time and if the predicted place at the second time is different than the first place, reducing usage of the battery by transmitting instructions from the server to the mobile communication device to change a setting on the mobile communication device from a first value to a second value, wherein the mobile communication device consumes less of the battery when the setting is at the second value than when the setting is at the first value.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the behavior information is collected by the server.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the reducing the usage of the battery comprises:

receiving at the mobile communication device an instruction from the server to disable one or more services on the mobile communication device.

4. The method of claim 1 comprising:

not reducing the usage of the battery if the second time is a predetermined amount of time after the first time.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein the first time is associated with the mobile communication device being in a specific context, and the reducing usage of the battery comprises:

reducing usage of the battery if the second time is at least a predetermined amount of time before the first time, and if the second time is before a starting time of the specific context.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the specific context comprises an indication that the battery of the mobile communication device is charged during the specific context.

5. A method comprising:

determining, by a server, using context information including usage information and location information of a mobile communication device, a first time and a first place when and where it will be acceptable for a battery of the mobile communication device to fall below a threshold charge level;

predicting, by the server, a second time at which the battery will fall below the threshold charge level; and

predicting, by the server, using the context information, a place where the mobile communication device will be at the second time; and

if the second time is at least a predetermined amount of time before the first time and if the predicted place is not the same as the first place, reducing usage of the battery by transmitting instructions from the server to the mobile communication device to change a setting on the mobile communication device from a first value to a second value, wherein the mobile communication device consumes less of the battery when the setting is at the second value than when the setting is at the first value.

6. The method of claim 5 comprising:

not reducing the usage of the battery if the second time is at least a predetermined amount of time after the first time.

7. The method of claim 5 comprising:

interpolating between a first data point and a second data point to predict the second time, wherein the first data point corresponds to a first charge level of the battery that is recorded at a third time, and the second data point corresponds to a second charge level of the battery that is recorded at a fourth time.

8. The method of claim 5 wherein the reducing the usage of the battery comprises:

automatically reducing the usage of the battery.

9. The method of claim 5 comprising:

before the reducing the usage of the battery, prompting a user of the mobile communication device with a suggestion on how to reduce the usage of the battery.

10. The method of claim 5 comprising:

before the reducing the usage of the battery, prompting a user of the mobile communication device for permission to reduce the usage of the battery.

11. The method of claim 5 wherein the reducing the usage of the battery comprises at least one of dimming a brightness of a screen of the mobile communication device, disabling Wi-Fi network connectivity on the mobile communication device, disabling Bluetooth connectivity on the mobile communication device, starting an application on the mobile communication device, closing an application on the mobile communication device, or disabling a global positioning system (GPS) receiver on the mobile communication device.

12. The method of claim 5 wherein when the battery falls below the threshold charge level, the mobile communication device automatically shuts down.

13. A method comprising:

determining, by a server, using context information including usage information and location information of a mobile communication device, a first time and a first place when and where it will be acceptable for a battery of the mobile communication device to fall below a threshold charge level;

storing a plurality of data points, each data point corresponding to a specific charge level of the battery measured at a specific time;

predicting, by the server, using the stored plurality of data points, a second time at which the battery will fall below the threshold charge level;

predicting, by the server, using the context information, a place where the mobile communication device will be at the second time;

determining, by the server, that the second time is at least a predetermined amount of time before the first time; and

if the second time is at least a predetermined amount of time before the first time and the predicted place at the second time is different than the first place, reducing usage of the battery by transmitting instructions from the server to the mobile communication device to change a setting on the mobile communication device from a first value to a second value, wherein the mobile communication device consumes less of the battery when the setting is at the second value than when the setting is at the first value.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the reducing the usage of the battery comprises:

substituting services provided by a first application program currently running on the mobile communication device with services provided by a second application program not currently running on the mobile communication device, wherein the second application program consumes less of the battery than the first application program.

15. The method of claim 13 comprising:

before the reducing the usage of the battery, prompting a user of the mobile communication device to change a setting of the mobile communication device from a first value to a second value.

16. The method of claim 13 comprising:

before the reducing the usage of the battery, prompting a user of the mobile communication device for permission to change a setting of the mobile communication device;

receiving the permission; and

upon receipt of the permission, changing the setting.

17. The method of claim 13 wherein the reducing the usage of the battery comprises:

storing a location of the mobile communication device;

intercepting a request from an application program for a current location of the mobile communication device;

retrieving the stored location; and

providing the stored location to the application program in response to the request, wherein the location of the mobile communication device is stored on the mobile communication device before the intercepting the request from the application program.

18. A method comprising the steps of:

on a mobile communications device having an activity monitor component, collecting by the activity monitor component context information including a plurality of activities associated with usage of the mobile communications device and location information of the mobile communications device, and receiving at the mobile communications device a plurality of activity policies from a server;

on the mobile communication device, analyzing the context information collected by the activity monitor component to estimate a first time and a first place when and where the mobile communications device battery will fall below a predetermined charge level;

on the mobile communication device, subsequent to the estimation of the first time and the first place, collecting by the activity monitor component current context information about the mobile communications device;

on the mobile communications device, using the current context information collected by the activity monitor component, estimating a second time and a place when and where the mobile communications device battery will fall below the predetermined charge level based upon current context information; and

,

if the estimated second time is a predetermined amount of time before the first estimated time and if the estimated place at the second time is different than the first place, then employing an activity policy manager on the mobile communications device to implement at least one activity policy on the mobile communications device to reduce battery usage by changing a setting on the mobile communication device from a first value to a second value, wherein the mobile communication device consumes less of the battery when the setting is at the second value than when the setting is at the first value, such that upon re-estimating in view of the implemented at least one activity policy, the estimated second time is the same as or later than the estimated first time.

19. A method comprising the steps of:

on a mobile communication device, using context information including usage information and location information of a mobile communication device, determining an original battery glide path projection with a first battery exhaustion point and a first battery exhaustion place;

on the mobile communication device, at a time subsequent to the determination of the original battery glide path projection, determining a current battery glide path projection with a second battery exhaustion point and a place; and

if the second battery exhaustion point is more than a predetermined amount of time before the first battery exhaustion point, and before an earliest acceptable exhaustion point, and if the place at the second battery exhaustion point is different than the first place, then, on the mobile communication device, employing an activity policy manager to cause a reduction in battery usage by changing a setting on the mobile communication device from a first value to a second value, wherein the mobile communication device consumes less of the battery when the setting is at the second value than when the setting is at the first value, the reduction in battery usage sufficient to allow a third battery exhaustion point to occur at the same time or later than the first exhaustion point, wherein the first battery exhaustion point is after the earliest acceptable exhaustion point.

20. A method comprising the steps of:

on a mobile communications device, using context information including usage information and location information of a mobile communication device, determining a first projected battery exhaustion point and a first projected battery exhaustion place;

on the mobile communication device, at a time subsequent to the determination of the first projected battery exhaustion point, determining a second projected battery exhaustion point and a place based upon information about the battery and about the then-current context information of the mobile communication device; and

if the second projected battery exhaustion point is more than a predetermined amount of time before the first projected battery exhaustion point, and before an earliest acceptable exhaustion point, and if the place at the second projected battery exhaustion point is different than the first battery exhaustion place, then, on the mobile communication device, employing an activity policy manager to cause a reduction in battery usage by changing a setting on the mobile communication device from a first value to a second value, wherein the mobile communication device consumes less of the battery when the setting is at the second value than when the setting is at the first value, the reduction in battery usage sufficient to allow a third battery exhaustion point to occur at the same time or later than the first projected battery exhaustion point, wherein the first projected battery exhaustion point is after the earliest acceptable exhaustion point.