Conditional window capture

• US 8,701,013 B2
• Filed: 11/06/2009
• Issued: 04/15/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Absolute Software Corporation
• Original Assignee: Absolute Software Corporation
• Inventors: Cox, Trevor, Loveland, Damien, Sitter, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Bashore, William
• Assistant Examiner(s): NABI, REZA U
• Application Number:
  US12/614,365
• Publication Number:
  US 20100115417A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,621 Days
• Field of Search: 715/740
• US Class Current: 715/740
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/305 by remotely controlling device operation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/50 Monitoring users, programs or devices to maintain the integrity of platforms, e.g. of processors, firmware or operating systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/88 Detecting or preventing theft or loss
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/66 with means for preventing unauthorised or fraudulent calling verifying user identity or authority in secret or secure digital communications H04L9/32

Abstract

A device, method, system and computer readable medium are disclosed for the remote, intelligent capture of screenshots and keystrokes which can subsequently be transmitted with reduced bandwidth requirements.

Claims

1. A method performed by an electronic host device to facilitate recovery thereof when the electronic host device is stolen, the method comprising:

capturing, in a memory of the electronic host device, a sequence of screen displays corresponding to a window displayed on a display of the electronic host device, each screen display captured in response to an action performed by a user of the electronic host device;

generating a compressed representation of the sequence of screen displays, said compressed representation comprising

a first representation of a first screen display of the sequence at a first image resolution, and

a second representation of one or more subsequent screen displays of the sequence at a second image resolution,

wherein the first image resolution of the first representation is higher than the second image resolution of the second representation; and

transmitting the compressed representation of the sequence of screen displays over a network from the electronic host device to a monitoring system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method comprises generating and transmitting the compressed representation concurrently with the capture of the screen displays.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the compressed representation comprises:

in response to capturing the first screen display of said sequence, transmitting a representation of the first screen display to the monitoring system; and

subsequently, in response to capturing a second screen display of said sequence, comparing the second screen display to the first screen display to determine whether any differences exist that should be communicated to the monitoring system.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting the compressed representation is performed in response to closure of said window.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising, by execution of instructions by the electronic host device, logging, and transmitting to the monitoring system, keystrokes detected on the electronic host device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of transmitting the compressed representation is performed while the window is open, in response to a file containing the captured screen displays reaching a threshold size.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed in response to the electronic host device receiving, over a network, a message generated in response to a reported theft of the electronic host device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed in response to detection of a threshold number of unsuccessful password entry attempts on the electronic host device.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising, by execution of instructions by the electronic host device, transmitting location information to the monitoring system, said location information reflecting a current location of the electronic host device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said capturing, generating, comparing and transmitting steps are performed by the electronic host device under control of executable instructions that run on the electronic host device in a stealth mode.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the executable instructions comprise a module that is operative to begin running on the electronic host device at startup, before an operating system of the electronic host device begins running.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein capturing the sequence of screen displays comprises:

detecting a click or keystroke action performed by the user;

determining whether the click or keystroke action caused the window to become closed; and

in response to determining that the click or keystroke action did not cause the window to become closed, generating a screen capture corresponding to the click or keystroke action.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

detecting a subsequent click or keystroke action that causes the window to become closed; and

in response to determining that the subsequent click or keystroke action caused the window to become closed, initiating said transmission of the compressed representation.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein capturing the sequence of screen displays comprises:

detecting a click event;

in response to the click event, capturing attributes of said window, said attributes including window screen position and dimension attributes; and

using the attributes to generate a screen capture of the window.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

maintaining multiple open files on the electronic host device, each of which corresponds to a different respective window of a plurality of windows that are concurrently open on the electronic host device; and

each time an event occurs that causes one of said concurrently open windows to change, updating the respective open file with a representation of a change that occurred.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein each screen display in the sequence is captured in response to a respective user action performed on the electronic host device by a user whose actions are being monitored by executable software that runs on the electronic host device in a stealth mode.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium which stores executable instructions that direct an electronic host device to perform a method for facilitating recovery of the electronic host device when the electronic host device is stolen, the method comprising:

capturing, in a memory of the electronic host device, a sequence of screen displays corresponding to a window displayed on a display of the electronic host device, each screen display captured in response to an action performed by a user of the electronic host device;

generating a compressed representation of the sequence of screen displays, said compressed representation comprising

a first representation of a first screen display of the sequence at a first image resolution, and

a second representation of one or more subsequent screen displays of the sequence at a second image resolution,

wherein the first image resolution of the first representation is higher than the second image resolution of the second representation; and

transmitting the compressed representation of the sequence of screen displays over a network from the electronic host device to a monitoring system.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the executable instructions direct the electronic host device to perform said capturing, generating and transmitting steps in a stealth mode, and wherein each screen display in the sequence is captured in response to a respective user action performed by a user whose actions on the electronic host device are being monitored.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the executable instructions direct the electronic host device to capture the sequence of screen displays by a process that comprises:

detecting a user action performed on the electronic host device;

determining whether the detected user action caused the window to become closed; and

in response to determining that the detected user action did not cause the window to become closed, generating a screen capture corresponding to the user action.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the process further comprises:

detecting a subsequent user action that causes the window to become closed; and

in response to determining that the subsequent user action caused the window to become closed, initiating said transmission of the compressed representation.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the executable instructions direct the electronic host device to capture the sequence of screen displays by a process that comprises:

detecting a click event;

in response to the click event, capturing window screen position and window dimension attributes of the window; and

using the window screen position and window dimension attributes to generate a screen capture of the window.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the executable instructions direct the electronic host device to capture screen displays by a process that comprises:

maintaining multiple open files on the electronic host device, each of which corresponds to a different respective window of a plurality of windows that are concurrently open on the electronic host device; and

each time an event occurs that causes one of said concurrently open windows to change, updating the respective open file with a representation of the changed window.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein generating the compressed representation comprises comparing individual screen displays of said sequence to identify redundant information.

24. A system for facilitating the recovery of a stolen electronic host device, the system comprising:

a host electronic device comprising an interface for connection to a communications network, a processor and a memory, said host electronic device being connected to a communications network and configured to;

a. capture, in the memory of the electronic host device, a sequence of screen displays corresponding to a window displayed on a display of the electronic host device, each screen display captured in response to an action performed by a user of the electronic host device;

b. generate a compressed representation of the sequence of screen displays, said compressed representation comprising

a first representation of a first screen display of the sequence at a first image resolution, and

a second representation of one or more subsequent screen displays of the sequence at a second image resolution,

wherein the first image resolution of the first representation is higher than the second image resolution of the second representation; and

c. transmit the compressed representation of the sequence of screen displays over a network from the electronic host device to a monitoring system; and

a monitoring system comprising an interface for connection to a communications network, a processor and a memory, said monitoring system being connected to a communications network and configured to receive and store the compressed representation in the memory of the monitoring system.