Method and system for scanning a computer system for sensitive content

• US 9,721,106 B2
• Filed: 11/03/2014
• Issued: 08/01/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Original Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Inventors: McIlrath, Jeffry, Kaplan, Joseph E., Yuan, Jim Wangji, Gianoulakis, George P., LePenske, Eric J., Leonard, Kara
• Primary Examiner(s): King, John B
• Assistant Examiner(s): Golriz, Arya
• Application Number:
  US14/531,890
• Publication Number:
  US 20150067843A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,002 Days
• 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 21/577 Assessing vulnerabilities and evaluating computer system security
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6245 Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2143 Clearing memory, e.g. to prevent the data from being stolen

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for scanning a computer system for sensitive data. A scan manager manages a scan of files of a second computer. The scan manager receives a request to scan and identify files stored on the second computer based on at least one category of sensitive data. The scan manager receives scan report recipient information and generates a user profile based on the at least one category and the recipient information. The scan manager makes the user profile available to a category server for use in creating a scan profile defining the scan criteria and deploys a scan agent to a computer to conduct the scan based on the scan profile. When the scan is complete and upon creation of the scan report, the scan manager makes the scan report available to the intended recipients.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a memory storing instructions; and

a processor to execute the instructions to;

send, via a self-service application and to a scan server, configuration information to configure a scan for sensitive information, the configuration information including;

an indication of at least one category of sensitive information, and

an indication of at least one intended recipient of a scan report;

receive, from the scan server, a scan agent via the self-service application,

the scan agent corresponding to a scan profile,

the scan profile including a unique identifier for use in identifying

a scan result and associating the scan result with a user;

install, after receiving the scan agent, the scan agent;

receive the scan profile from a category server;

execute the scan using the scan agent according to the scan profile;

provide the scan result to the category server to be processed,

the scan result and a user profile of the user being used to generate the scan report after the scan result is processed,

the scan result being purged from the category server after being processed, and

the scan report being sent to the at least one intended recipient;

uninstall the scan agent based on the scan result being provided to the category server; and

send a message to the category server indicating that uninstalling of the scan agent is complete,

the message including the unique identifier.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the scan profile further comprises:

identification of the at least one category of sensitive information.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further to:

provide a confirmation signal to the category server,

the confirmation signal containing the unique identifier, and

the scan profile being received in response to the confirmation signal.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the self-service application comprises:

a user interface for indicating the at least one category of sensitive information and the at least one intended recipient of the scan report.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the user interface comprises:

a display of a scan history of the user.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further to:

receive a message from the self-service application indicating that the scan agent is available for download.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further to:

provide information to authenticate the user.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the information is provided to a single sign-on system.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one category of sensitive information comprises one or more of:

a mandatory category, or

an optional category.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the scan profile received from the self-service application is encrypted.

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions, the instructions comprising:

one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to;

send, via a self-service application, configuration information to configure a scan for sensitive information,

the configuration information including;

an indication of at least one category of sensitive information, and

an indication of at least one intended recipient of a scan report;

receive a scan agent with a unique identifier via the self-service application,

the unique identifier identifying a scan result, associating the scan result with a user, and establishing a correspondence between the scan agent, a scan profile, and the user;

install the scan agent after receiving the scan agent;

provide a confirmation signal, containing the unique identifier, to a category server;

receive the scan profile from the category server in response to the confirmation signal;

decrypt the scan profile;

execute the scan using the scan agent according to the scan profile;

provide the scan result to the category server to be processed,

the scan result and a user profile of the user being used to generate the scan report after the scan result is processed,

the scan result being purged from the category server after being processed, and

the scan report being sent to the at least one intended recipient;

uninstall the scan agent based on the scan result being provided to the category server; and

send a message to the category server indicating that uninstalling of the scan agent is complete,

the message including the unique identifier.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the self-service application comprises:

a user interface for indicating the at least one category of sensitive information and the at least one intended recipient of the scan report.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the user interface comprises:

a display of a scan history of the user.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the one or more instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to:

receive a message from the self-service application indicating that the scan agent is available for downloading.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the one or more instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to:

provide information authenticating the user.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the information is provided to a single sign-on system.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the at least one category of sensitive information comprises one or more of:

a mandatory category, or

an optional category.

18. A method, comprising:

providing, by a device, information authenticating a user;

sending, by the device and via an authorized self-service application, configuration information to configure a scan for sensitive information,

the configuration information including;

an indication of at least one category of sensitive information, and

an indication of at least one intended recipient of a scan report;

receiving, by the device, a scan agent with a unique identifier via the authorized self-service application,

the scan agent corresponding to a scan profile, and

the unique identifier identifying a scan result, associating the scan result with the user, and establishing a correspondence between the scan agent, the scan profile, and the user;

installing, by the device and after receiving the scan agent, the scan agent;

providing, by the device, a confirmation signal, containing the unique identifier, to a category server;

receiving, by the device, the scan profile from the category server in response to the confirmation signal;

decrypting, by the device, the scan profile;

executing, by the device, the scan with the scan agent according to the scan profile;

providing, by the device, the scan result to the category server to be processed,

the scan result and a user profile of the user being used to generate the scan report after the scan result is processed,

the scan result being purged from the category server after being processed, and

the scan report being sent to the at least one intended recipient;

uninstalling, by the device, the scan agent based on the scan result being provided to the category server; and

sending, by the device, a message to the category server indicating that uninstalling of the scan agent is complete,

the message including the unique identifier.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

displaying a scan history of the user on a user interface; and

indicating the at least one category of sensitive information and the at least one intended recipient of the scan report.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

receiving a message from the authorized self-service application indicating that the scan agent is available for downloading.

21. The method of claim 18, wherein the at least one category of sensitive information comprises one or more of:

a mandatory category, or

an optional category.

22. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

determining an error during uninstallation of the scan agent; and

attempting a manual or automatic uninstallation of the scan agent.

23. The method of claim 18, wherein providing the scan result to the category server to be processed comprises:

providing the scan result to the category server to be processed,

the scan result being checked for an error,

the error being logged based on the error being detected.