Apparatus and method for managing security content using virtual folder

• US 9,648,042 B2
• Filed: 04/24/2013
• Issued: 05/09/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/13/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fasoo, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Fasoo Com Co Ltd
• Inventors: Cho, Jung-Hyun
• Primary Examiner(s): HENNING, MATTHEW T
• Application Number:
  US14/439,077
• Publication Number:
  US 20150281284A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,476 Days
• Field of Search: 726 1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6281 at program execution time, where the protection is within the operating system
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46

Abstract

Provided are an apparatus and method for managing security contents using a virtual folder. The apparatus for managing security contents includes a data control unit that receives an authority policy on contents from a security content server, and stores the received authority policy in a storage means, a security processing unit that encodes or decodes the contents based on the authority policy provided from the data control unit, and a security filesystem interface unit that creates a virtual folder based on position information of a folder to be virtualized and path information of the virtual folder by driving a virtual folder creation module that is operated in a kernel mode and registers the created virtual folder in a filesystem, and provides, to the security processing unit, contents corresponding to an input and output event for contents which have been recorded or are to be recorded in the virtual folder hooked from the kernel mode and instructs the security processing unit to encode or decode the provided contents. According to the present invention, it is possible to provide contents created in different environments to a user based on authority information without any separate content conversion operation.

Claims

1. An apparatus for managing security contents comprising:

a data control unit configured to receive an authority policy on contents from a security content server, and store the received authority policy in a storage means, the data control unit including a central processing unit, and the central processing unit maintaining a session so that the function of each execution file is performed, transmitting and receiving data to and from the security content server by supporting data transmission and reception protocols, and processing communication and authority information between execution processes in which a process having a user interface for authority control, a system tray process and an integrated viewer process are included,

wherein user information is stored in the storage means based on login information received through a user authentication screen before the data control unit receives the authority policy;

a security processing unit configured to encode contents created on a first computing environment based on the authority policy provided from the data control unit, or decode contents that is required to be read, wrote, moved, copied or corrected on a second computing environment different from the first computing environment and stored in a virtual folder,

wherein a file included in the contents to be encoded or decoded is confirmed for determining whether information stored in the file is the same as information stored in the storage means; and

a security filesystem interface unit configured to create the virtual folder based on position information of a folder to be virtualized and path information of the virtual folder by driving a virtual folder creation module that is operated in a kernel mode and register the created virtual folder in a filesystem, and provide, to the security processing unit, contents corresponding to an input and output event hooked from the kernel mode for contents which have been recorded or are to be recorded in the virtual folder,

wherein the virtual folder is controlled according to authority set in the contents or the process having a user interface for authority control, and

wherein the file to be created in the virtual folder is encoded or decoded into a format of a new security file before the security processing unit encodes and decodes.

2. The apparatus for managing security contents of claim 1, wherein the contents are contents to be received from or transmitted to a file sharing server that provides file sharing services.

3. The apparatus for managing security contents of claim 1, wherein the security filesystem interface unit provides, when an event for recording of the contents recorded in the virtual folder on the first computing environment is hooked from the kernel mode, contents corresponding to the hooked event to the security processing unit, and instructs the security processing unit to encode the provided contents, the security processing unit encodes the contents corresponding to the hooked event based on the authority policy acquired from the data control unit, and provides the encoded contents to the security filesystem interface unit, and the security filesystem interface unit changes an extension of the contents corresponding to the hooked event to an extension indicating that the corresponding contents have been encoded, and then records the changed extension in the virtual folder.

4. The apparatus for managing security contents of claim 1, wherein the security filesystem interface unit provides, when an event for reading of the contents recorded in the virtual folder is hooked from the kernel mode on the second computing environment, contents corresponding to the hooked event to the security processing unit and instructs the security processing unit to decode the provided contents, and the security processing unit decodes the contents corresponding to the hooked event based on the authority policy acquired from the data control unit, and provides the decoded contents to the security filesystem interface unit.

5. The apparatus for managing security contents of claim 4, wherein the data control unit confirms authority of a user who requests reading of the contents corresponding to the hooked event based on the authority policy stored in the storage means, and the security filesystem interface unit provides, when the authority of the user is authenticated from the data control unit, the contents corresponding to the hooked event to the security processing unit, and instructs the security processing unit to decode the provided contents.

6. The apparatus for managing security contents of claim 1, wherein the security filesystem interface unit creates a usage history including at least one of browsing, copy, and correction for each of the contents recorded in the virtual folder, and the data control unit transmits the usage history to the security content server by a user'"'"'s command or at a predetermined period.

7. The apparatus for managing security contents of claim 6, wherein the security filesystem interface unit acquires, when providing of the usage history of the contents recorded in the virtual folder is requested from the user, the usage history from the security content server and outputs the acquired usage history to the user.

8. The apparatus for managing security contents of claim 1, wherein the data control unit includes a central processing unit that receives the authority policy from the security content server, and transmits, to the security content server, a usage history including at least one of browsing, copy, and correction for each of the contents recorded in the virtual folder created by the security filesystem interface unit, an IPC communication unit that manages communication between processes executed by the data control unit, the security processing unit, and the security filesystem interface unit, and a policy management unit that stores and manages, in the storage means, the authority policy received from the security content server and policy information that has been set directly by a user with respect to each content or the virtual folder, reads the authority policy from the storage means in response to a request for providing of the authority policy from the security processing unit, and provides the read authority policy to the security processing unit.

9. An apparatus for managing security contents comprising:

a storage means that stores an authority policy on contents received from a security content server and a security content management program for managing security contents; and

a processor that performs security management on the contents by executing the security content management program,

wherein the security content management program includes a data control module that stores the authority policy received from the security content server in the storage means, and

wherein user information is stored in the storage means before the receiving the authority policy based on login information received through a user authentication screen;

a security processing module that encodes contents created on a first computing environment based on the authority policy provided from the data control module or decode contents that is required to be read, wrote, moved, copied or corrected on a second computing environment different from the first computing environment and stored in a virtual folder,

wherein a file included in the contents is confirmed for determining whether information stored in the file is the same as information stored in the storage means after the providing contents; and

a security filesystem interface module that creates the virtual folder based on position information of a folder to be virtualized and path information of the virtual folder by driving a virtual folder creation module that is operated in a kernel mode, registers the created virtual folder in a filesystem, and provides, to the security processing module, contents corresponding to an input and output event hooked from the kernel mode for contents which have been recorded or are to be recorded in the virtual folder,

wherein the virtual folder is controlled according to authority set in the contents or the process having a user interface for authority control, and

wherein the file to be created in the virtual folder is encoded or decoded into a format of a new security file.

10. The apparatus for managing security contents of claim 9, wherein the contents are contents to be received from or transmitted to a file sharing server that provides file sharing services.

11. The apparatus for managing security contents of claim 9, wherein the security filesystem interface module provides, when an event for recording of the contents recorded in the virtual folder on the first computing environment is hooked from the kernel mode, contents corresponding to the hooked event to the security processing module, and instructs the security processing module to encode the provided contents, the security processing module encodes the contents corresponding to the hooked event based on the authority policy acquired from the data control module, and provides the encoded contents to the security filesystem interface module, and the security filesystem interface module changes an extension of the contents corresponding to the hooked event to an extension indicating that the corresponding contents have been encoded, and then records the changed extension in the virtual folder.

12. The apparatus for managing security contents of claim 9, wherein the security filesystem interface module provides, when an event for reading of the contents recorded in the virtual folder is hooked from the kernel mode on the second computing environment, contents corresponding to the hooked event to the security processing module and instructs the security processing module to decode the provided contents, and the security processing module decodes the contents corresponding to the hooked event based on the authority policy acquired from the data control module, and provides the decoded contents to the security filesystem interface module.

13. The apparatus for managing security contents of claim 9, wherein the security filesystem interface module creates a usage history including at least one of browsing, copy, and correction for each of the contents recorded in the virtual folder, and the data control module transmits the usage history to the security content server by a user'"'"'s command or at a predetermined period.

14. The apparatus for managing security contents of claim 13, wherein the security filesystem interface module acquires, when providing of the usage history of the contents recorded in the virtual folder is requested from the user, the usage history from the security content server and outputs the acquired usage history to the user.

15. A method for managing security contents comprising:

(a) receiving an authority policy on contents from a security content server, and storing the received authority policy in a storage means,

wherein user information is stored in the storage means before the receiving the authority policy based on login information received through a user authentication screen;

(b) creating a virtual folder based on position information of a folder to be virtualized and path information of the virtual folder by driving a virtual folder creation module that is operated in a kernel mode, and registering the created virtual folder in a filesystem,

wherein a file to be created in the virtual folder is encoded or decoded into a format of a new security file; and

(c) hooking an input and output event for contents which have been recorded or are to be recorded in the virtual folder from the kernel mode on a first computing environment, providing contents corresponding to the hooked input and output event to a security processing unit, and instructing the security processing unit to encode the provided contents on a first computing environment or decode the provided contents on a second computing environment different from the first computing environment,

wherein the file included in the contents is confirmed for determining whether information stored in the file is the same as information stored in the storage means after the providing contents.

16. The method for managing security contents of claim 15, wherein the contents are contents to be received from or transmitted to a file sharing server that provides file sharing services.

17. The method for managing security contents of claim 15, wherein the (c) hooking of the input and output event for contents includes encoding, when an event for recording of the contents recorded in the virtual folder is hooked from the kernel mode, contents corresponding to the hooked event based on the authority policy stored in the storage means, and changing an extension of the contents corresponding to the hooked event to an extension indicating that the corresponding contents have been encoded, and then recording the changed extension in the virtual folder.

18. The method for managing security contents of claim 15, wherein the (c) hooking of the input and output event for contents includes decoding, when an event for reading of the contents recorded in the virtual folder is hooked from the kernel mode, contents corresponding to the hooked event based on the authority policy stored in the storage means.

19. The method for managing security contents of claim 15, further comprising:

(d) creating a usage history including at least one of browsing, copy, and correction for each of the contents recorded in the virtual folder; and

(e) transmitting the usage history to the security content server by a user'"'"'s command or at a predetermined period.

20. A computer-readable recording medium that records a program for executing, in a computer, the method for managing security contents described in claim 15.