Apparatus, method, and computer program for providing document security

• US 9,727,748 B1
• Filed: 05/02/2012
• Issued: 08/08/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/03/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: Open Invention Network LLC
• Inventors: Yaeger, Marc Todd
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Luu
• Assistant Examiner(s): Malinowski, Walter
• Application Number:
  US13/462,258
• Time in Patent Office: 1,924 Days
• Field of Search: 726 28, 726 3, 726 27
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• 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 21/6245 Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources

Abstract

An apparatus, method, and a computer program are provided to secure one or more sections of a document. For example, one or more sections of the document may be converted into secured content. The secured content may then be removed from the document, and replaced with replacement content in the document. This may prevent a viewer with no privileges from viewing secured content.

Claims

1. A computer program embodied on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the computer program configured to cause a processor to:

convert one or more sections of a document into at least one secured word;

remove the at least one secured word from the document;

perform a periodic check to determine whether communication with a secure storage layer is established to provide user interface security and if the periodic check shows established communication, the secured word is at least one of encrypted, compressed and transmitted and received, decompressed and decrypted;

replace the at least one secured word with at least one replacement word in the document, wherein the at least one replacement word is camouflaged to resemble at least one unsecured general word, wherein if the periodic check does not show established communication and communication fails to be established the document displays unsecured content and alternative content to camouflage an intent of an author associated with the document and wherein the document appears as an unsecured document, the secured content having been removed from the document;

receive a request to access to the document from a user;

determine if the user is authorized;

display at least one unsecured word and the at least one replacement word in the document when a user is unauthorized; and

display at least one unsecured word and the at least one secured word in the document when a user is authorized.

2. The computer program of claim 1, wherein the computer program is further configured to cause the processor to receive a selection of the one or more sections to be secured from an author of the at least one word.

3. The computer program of claim 1, wherein the computer program is further configured to cause the processor to compress and encrypt the at least one secured word when the at least one secured word is removed.

4. The computer program of claim 3, wherein the computer program is further configured to cause the processor to transmit the compressed and encrypted at least one secured word to a remote database.

5. The computer program of claim 1, wherein the computer program is further configured to cause the processor to determine whether a user is authorized to view the at least one secured word in the document based on viewing privileges pre-assigned to the user.

6. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

converting, by a processor, one or more sections of a document into at least one secured word;

removing, by the processor, the at least one secured word from the document;

performing a periodic check to determine whether communication with a secure storage layer is established to provide user interface security and if the periodic check shows established communication, the secured word is at least one of encrypted, compressed and transmitted and received, decompressed and decrypted;

replacing, by the processor, the at least one secured word with at least one replacement word in the document, wherein the at least one replacement word is camouflaged to resemble at least one unsecured general word, wherein if the periodic check does not show established communication and communication fails to be established the document displays unsecured content and alternative content to camouflage an intent of an author associated with the document, wherein the document appears as an unsecured document, the secured content having been removed from the document;

receiving a request to access to the document from a user;

determining if the user is authorized;

displaying at least one unsecured word and the at least one replacement word in the document when a user is unauthorized; and

displaying at least one unsecured word and the at least one secured word in the document when a user is authorized.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, further comprising:

receiving a selection of the one or more sections to be secured from an author of the at least one word.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, further comprising:

compressing and encrypting the at least one secured word when the at least one secured word is removed; and

transmitting the compressed and encrypted at least one secured word to a remote database for storage.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, further comprising:

determining whether a user is authorized to view the at least one secured word in the document based on viewing privileges pre-assigned to the user.

10. An apparatus, comprising:

physical memory comprising computer program instructions; and

a processor coupled to the physical memory, wherein

the computer program instructions, when executed, are configured to cause the processor to;

convert one or more sections of a document into at least one secured word;

remove the at least one secured word from the document;

perform a periodic check to determine whether communication with a secure storage layer is established to provide user interface security and if the periodic check shows established communication, the secured word is at least one of encrypted, compressed and transmitted and received, decompressed and decrypted;

replace the at least one secured word with at least one replacement word in the document, wherein the at least one replacement word is camouflaged to resemble at least one unsecured general word, wherein if the periodic check does not show established communication and communication fails to be established the document displays unsecured content and alternative content to camouflage an intent of an author associated with the document, wherein the document appears as an unsecured document, the secured content having been removed from the document;

receive a request to access to the document from a user;

determine if the user is authorized;

display at least one unsecured word and the at least one replacement word in the document when a user is unauthorized; and

display at least one unsecured word and the at least one secured word in the document when a user is authorized.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processor is configured to determine whether a user is authorized to view the at least one secured word in the document based on viewing privileges pre-assigned to the user.