Document registration

• US 20050127171A1
• Filed: 03/30/2004
• Published: 06/16/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: McAfee, LLC
• Original Assignee: McAfee, Inc. (McAfee, LLC)
• Inventors: de la Iglesia, Erik, Ahuja, Ratinder Paul Singh, Lowe, Rick, Howard, Matthew
• Granted Patent: US 7,814,327 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/382
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/606 by securing the transmission between two devices or processes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6209 to a single file or object, e.g. in a secure envelope, encrypted and accessed using a key, or with access control rules appended to the object itself
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/645 using a third party
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/85 interconnection devices, e.g. bus-connected or in-line devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/18 Legal services

Abstract

A document accessible over a network can be registered. A registered document, and the content contained therein, cannot be transmitted undetected over and off of the network. In one embodiment, the invention includes maintaining a plurality of stored signatures, each signature being associated with one of a plurality of registered documents, intercepting an object being transmitted over a network, calculating a set of signatures associated with the intercepted object, and comparing the set of signatures with the plurality of stored signatures. In one embodiment, the invention can further include detecting registered content from the registered document being contained in the intercepted object, if the comparison results in a match of at least one of the signatures in the set of signatures with one or more of the plurality of stored signatures.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

maintaining a plurality of stored signatures, each signature being associated with one of a plurality of registered documents;

intercepting an object being transmitted over a network;

calculating a set of signatures associated with the intercepted object; and

comparing the set of signatures with the plurality of stored signatures.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein each registered document is associated with a user that registered the document.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising, if the comparison results in a match of at least one of the signatures in the set of signatures with one or more of the plurality of stored signatures, then detecting registered content from the registered document being contained in the intercepted object.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising alarming the user that registered the registered the registered document in response to detecting the registered content.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising halting delivery of the intercepted object.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising prompting the user that registered the registered document for permission to deliver the intercepted object, receiving permission from the user, and completing delivery of the intercepted object in response to receiving permission.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein calculating the set of signatures of the intercepted document comprises calculating a plurality of hashes over one or more portions of the intercepted object.

8. An apparatus comprising:

a network interface module to connect the apparatus to a network;

a signature database to store a first set of signatures, the first set of signatures being associated with a registered document;

an object capture module to intercept an object being transmitted over the network; and

a registration module comprising a registration engine to generate a second set of signatures, the second set of signatures being associated with the intercepted object, and a search engine to compare the second set of signatures with the first set of signatures.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the first set of signatures stored in the signature database is associated a user who requested registration of the registered document.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the registration module detects registered content from the registered document being transmitted over the network if the search engine matches one or more signatures in the second set of signatures with one or more signatures in the first set of signatures.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the registration module further comprises a notification module to generate an alert for the user who requested registration of the registered document in response to detecting registered content from the registered document being transmitted over the network.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising an object store module to store the intercepted object.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the registration module halts delivery of the intercepted object from the object store module to its destination in response to detecting registered content from the registered document being transmitted over the network.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the registration module allows completion of the delivery of the intercepted object from the object store module to its destination in response to receiving permission from the user who requested registration of the registered document.

15. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the registration engine generates the second set of signatures by calculating a plurality of hashes various portions of the intercepted object.

16. A machine-readable medium storing a sequence of instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

maintaining a plurality of stored signatures, each signature being associated with one of a plurality of registered documents;

intercepting an object being transmitted over a network;

calculating a set of signatures associated with the intercepted object; and

comparing the set of signatures with the plurality of stored signatures.

17. The machine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein each registered document is associated with a user that registered the document.

18. The machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the instruction further cause the processor to detect registered content from the registered document being contained in the intercepted object, if the comparison results in a match of at least one of the signatures in the set of signatures with one or more of the plurality of stored signatures.

19. The machine-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to halt delivery of the intercepted object.

20. The machine-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to send an alert to the user that registered the registered the registered document in response to detecting the registered content.

21. The machine-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to prompt the user that registered the registered document for permission to deliver the intercepted object, and to deliver the intercepted object if permission is given.