Passive compliance violation notifications

• US 9,721,112 B2
• Filed: 09/29/2014
• Issued: 08/01/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AirWatch LLC (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AirWatch LLC (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Tse, Kar Fai, Stuntebeck, Erich Peter
• Primary Examiner(s): Armouche, Hadi
• Assistant Examiner(s): HOLMES, ANGELA R
• Application Number:
  US14/500,031
• Publication Number:
  US 20160092685A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,037 Days
• Field of Search: 726 1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6218 to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2111 Location-sensitive, e.g. geographical location, GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2149 Restricted operating environment

Abstract

Disclosed are various embodiments for passive compliance violation notifications. In one embodiment, it is detected that that a policy violation with respect to use of a client device has occurred. It is then determined that the policy violation may be passive. A user notification of the policy violation is generated by the client device in response to determining that the policy violation may be passive. The frequency and/or intensity of this notification may depend upon an extent of the policy violation. If the policy violation is later determined to be active, additional actions may be performed, such as disabling access to or removing managed resources on the client device.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying a program executable in at least one computing device, the program being configured to monitor and restrict usage of a mobile device as part of an enterprise mobility management system, comprising:

code that monitors usage of one or more enterprise applications on the mobile device according to compliance rules established remotely at the enterprise mobility management system, the compliance rules being defined as one or more policies and sent to the mobile device from the enterprise mobility management system;

code that determines that a policy violation with respect to use of the mobile device under management by the enterprise mobility management system has occurred;

code that determines whether the policy violation is a passive violation;

code that causes a user notification of the policy violation to be generated by the mobile device and displayed on a screen of the mobile device that violated the policy in response to determining that the policy violation is the passive violation;

code that, after causing the user notification to be generated, determines that the policy violation has increased in severity to an active violation;

code that determines whether an active violation remedial action associated with the active violation can be bypassed;

code that initiates the active violation remedial action in response to determining that the policy violation is the active violation and cannot be bypassed, the active violation remedial action being defined by the enterprise mobility management system; and

code that bypasses the active violation remedial action based on a request from the user when the active violation can be bypassed.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the action comprises removing or disabling access to a managed resource on the mobile device.

3. A method for monitoring and restricting usage of a mobile device as part of an enterprise mobility management system, comprising:

monitoring usage of one or more enterprise applications on the mobile device according to compliance rules established remotely at the enterprise mobility management system, the compliance rules being defined as one or more policies and sent to the mobile device from the enterprise mobility management system;

detecting, using the mobile device under management, that a policy violation with respect to use of the mobile device under management by the enterprise mobility management system has occurred;

determining, by the mobile device, that the policy violation is a passive violation based at least in part on an extent of the policy violation;

causing a user notification to be generated by the mobile device and displayed on a screen of the mobile device that violated the policy in response to determining that the policy violation is the passive violation;

after causing the user notification to be generated, determining that the policy violation has increased in severity to an active violation;

determining whether an active violation remedial action associated with the active violation can be bypassed;

initiating the active violation remedial action in response to determining that the policy violation is the active violation and cannot be bypassed, the active violation remedial action being defined by the enterprise mobility management system; and

bypassing the active violation remedial action based on a request from the user when the active violation can be bypassed.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the passive violation remedial action comprises at least one of:

an audio user notification or a vibration user notification.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the passive violation remedial action comprises an alarm notification by the mobile device, wherein at least one of:

a frequency of the alarm notification or an intensity of the alarm notification depends at least in part on the extent of the policy violation.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein detecting that the policy violation has occurred further comprises detecting that a managed resource of the mobile device is being accessed outside of a predefined period of time.

7. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

determining, by the mobile device, that the policy violation is an active violation after the passive violation remedial action has been generated; and

initiating, by the mobile device, an active violation remedial action.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein initiating the active violation remedial action further comprises initiating a removal of a managed resource from the mobile device.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein initiating the active violation remedial action further comprises restricting access by the mobile device to at least one of:

a managed application or managed data.

10. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

receiving, by the mobile device, a user confirmation that the policy violation is intentional; and

sending, by the mobile device, an administrative notification of the intentional policy violation.

11. The method of claim 3, wherein detecting that the policy violation has occurred further comprises:

determining, by the mobile device, a current location of the mobile device; and

determining, by the mobile device, that the current location is within a first threshold of a geofence.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

determining, by the mobile device, an updated location of the mobile device after the user notification has been generated;

determining, by the mobile device, that the current location is within a second threshold of the geofence, the second threshold being nearer to the geofence than the first threshold; and

determining, by the mobile device, that the policy violation is an active policy violation in response to determining that the updated location is within the second threshold of the geofence; and

initiating, by the mobile device, an active violation remedial action.

13. A system for monitoring and restricting usage of a mobile device as part of an enterprise mobility management system, comprising:

a mobile device; and

an enterprise management system executed in part in the mobile device, the enterprise mobility management system comprising;

logic that monitors usage of one or more enterprise applications on the mobile device according to compliance rules established at a remote server from the mobile device, the compliance rules being defined as one or more policies and sent to the mobile device from the remote server;

logic that detects that a policy violation with respect to use of the mobile device has occurred;

logic that determines an extent of the policy violation;

logic that causes a user notification to be presented on the mobile device, wherein at least one characteristic associated with the user notification is based at least in part on the policy violation being a passive violation;

logic that, after causing the user notification to be generated, determines that the policy violation has increased in severity to an active violation;

logic that determines whether an active violation remedial action associated with the active violation can be bypassed;

logic that initiates the active violation remedial action in response to determining that the policy violation is the active violation and cannot be bypassed, the active violation remedial action being defined by the enterprise mobility management system; and

logic that bypasses the active violation remedial action based on a request from the user when the active violation can be bypassed.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one characteristic comprises at least one of:

a frequency of the user notification or an intensity of the user notification.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least one characteristic comprises whether the user notification references a passive violation remedial action or an active violation remedial action.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the extent of the policy violation corresponds to a proximity of the mobile device to a geofence boundary.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the policy violation corresponds to use of a prohibited component of the mobile device within a geofence boundary.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the policy violation corresponds to use of a managed application of the mobile device outside of a predefined period of time.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein the enterprise mobility management system further comprises:

logic that, in response to causing the user notification to be presented, determines that the extent of the policy violation has increased; and

logic that initiates an action in response to determining that the extent of the policy violation has increased.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the action comprises removal of a managed resource from the mobile device.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the action comprises disabling access to a managed resource by the mobile device.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein the action comprises sending a notification of the policy violation to an administrator.