Managing secured files in designated locations

• US 7,729,995 B1
• Filed: 07/22/2002
• Issued: 06/01/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intellectual Ventures I LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Guardian Data Storage LLC
• Inventors: Supramaniam, Senthilvasan, Alain, Rossmann, Ouye, Michael Michio, Zuili, Patrick, Humpich, Serge, Lee, Chang-Ping, Garcia, Denis Jacques Paul, Hilderbrand, Hal, Vainstein, Klimenty, Ryan, Nicholas Michael, Huang, Weiqing
• Primary Examiner(s): Elisca; Pierre E
• Application Number:
  US10/201,756
• Time in Patent Office: 2,871 Days
• Field of Search: 705/71, 705/64, 705/67
• US Class Current: 705/71
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/00 Accessing, addressing or allocating within memory systems or architectures digital input from, or digital output to record carriers, e.g. to disk storage units, G06F3/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/14 Protection against unauthorised use of memory or access to memory
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/00 Security arrangements for protecting computers, components thereof, programs or data against unauthorised activity
• 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 21/6227 where protection concerns the structure of data, e.g. records, types, queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2111 Location-sensitive, e.g. geographical location, GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2137 Time limited access, e.g. to a computer or data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2141 Access rights, e.g. capability lists, access control lists, access tables, access matrices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3674 involving authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/382 insuring higher security of transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3829 involving key management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/04 for providing a confidential data exchange among entities communicating through data packet networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/105 Multiple levels of security
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/12 Applying verification of the received information cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for data integrity or data verification H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

Techniques for managing files in a designated location are disclosed. An example of the designated location is a folder, a directory, a repository, a device, or a storage place. A set of access rules is applied to a designated location such that all files in the designated location shall have substantially similar security. As a result, secured files can be easily created and managed with respect to the designated location and users with access privilege to the designated location can access most of the files, in not all, in the designated location.

Claims

1. A method for managing files stored in a designated storage location, the method comprising:

identifying the designated storage location, wherein the designated storage location is one or more of a computing device, a storage device, a computer readable medium, or a memory, wherein the designated storage location is known to at least one requestor, wherein the requester is one or more of a user, a group of users, a software agent, or a client machine associated with a requester;

determining access rules for the designated storage location, wherein the designated storage location is accessible by the at least one requestor, and wherein the designated storage location is remote from a location at which the at least one requestor attempts to access the files; and

applying the access rules to the designated storage location such that the files stored in the designated storage location have substantially similar security.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the access rules includes receiving input through a graphic user interface that is configured to display providing preferences to control restrictive access to data.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising storing parameters determining the access rules in a data file associated with the designated storage location.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein applying the access rules further comprises:

retrieving the data file when a file is ready to be stored in the designated storage location; and

formulating the access rules for the file with respect to the parameters in the data file.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising expressing the access rules in a markup language.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein expressing the access rules in a markup language includes expressing the access rules in Extensible Access Control Markup Language.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein expressing the access rules includes expressing the access rules using a markup language that is selected from the group consisting of Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML), Extensible Markup Language (XML) and Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML).

8. The method of claim 4, wherein retrieving the data file includes retrieving a data file that includes a header, the header further including security information as to who and how the data file can be accessed and an encrypted data portion.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein retrieving the data file includes retrieving a data file that contains security information includes the access rules.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising encrypting the access rules in the security information with a key associated with a user who has placed the data file in the designated storage location.

11. The method of claim 3, wherein applying the access rules comprises:

creating the data file; and

associating the data file with the designated storage location.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the designated storage location identifies one of (i) a folder, (ii) a directory, (iii) a repository, (iv) a device, or (v) a storage place within the computing device, the storage device, the computer readable medium, or the memory.

13. A tangible computer readable medium having computer program code stored thereon, that in response to execution by a computing device, causes the computing device to manage secured files stored in a designated storage location by a method, the method comprising:

identifying the designated storage location, wherein the designated storage location is one or more of a computing device, a storage device, a computer readable medium, or a memory, wherein the designated storage location is known to at least one requestor, wherein the requestor is one or more of a user, a group of users, a software agent, or a client machine associated with a requestor;

determining access rules for the designated storage location, wherein the designated storage location is accessible by the at least one requestor, and wherein the designated storage location is remote from a location at which the at least one requestor attempts to access the files; and

applying the access rules to the designated storage location such that the files stored in the designated storage location have substantially similar security.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the computer program code is configured to cause presentation of a graphic user interface, wherein the graphic user interface is further configured to enable determination of the access rules.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the computer program code is configured to cause parameters determining the access rules to be stored in a data file associated with the designated storage location.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein applying the access rules further comprises:

retrieving the data file when a file is ready to be stored in the designated storage location; and

formulating the access rules for the file with respect to the parameters in the data file.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the computer program code is configured to express the access rules in a markup language.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the computer program code is configured to express the access rules in Extensible Access Control Markup Language.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the computer program code is configured to express the access rules in a markup language that is selected from the group consisting of HTML, XML and SGML.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the data file includes a header including security information as to who and how the file can be accessed and an encrypted data portion.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 20, wherein the security information includes the access rules.

22. The computer readable medium of claim 21, wherein the access rules in the security information are encrypted with a key associated with a user who has placed the file in the designated storage location.

23. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein applying the access rules comprises:

creating the data file; and

associating the data file with the designated storage location.

24. A computer implemented method for managing files stored in a designated storage location, comprising:

creating the designated storage location in a store, wherein the store comprises one or more computing devices, storage devices, computer readable media, or memories;

determining, by a computer, access rules for the designated storage location accessible, wherein the access rules specify one or more designated requestors permitted to access the files in the designated storage location, wherein the one or more designated requestors are one or more of a user, a group of users, a software agent, or a client machine associated with a requestor;

applying the access rules to the designated storage location such that the files stored in the designated storage location have substantially similar security, wherein the access rules are stored in a data file associated with the designated storage location, wherein the designated storage location is remote from a location at which the one or more designated s requestors attempt to access the files; and

associating the files in the designated storage location with respective security information controlling restrictive access thereto, wherein the respective security information in the files includes respective instances of the access rules.

25. The computer implemented method of claim 24, wherein determining access rules includes specifying the access rules in a markup language.

26. The computer implemented method of claim 24, further comprising encrypting the access rules in the security information of one of the files in the designated storage location with a key associated with a requestor who placed the file in the designated storage location.