Providing and accessing data in a standard-compliant manner

• US 9,432,407 B1
• Filed: 12/27/2010
• Issued: 08/30/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Brandwine, Eric J., Schmidt, Stephen E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Park, Jeong S
• Application Number:
  US12/978,981
• Time in Patent Office: 2,073 Days
• Field of Search: 709/221, 379/35
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/30 for supporting lawful interception, monitoring or retaining of communications or communication related information circuit switched telephony call monitoring H04M3/2281
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/308 retaining data, e.g. retaining successful, unsuccessful communication attempts, internet access, or e-mail, internet telephony, intercept related information or call content
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/564 Enhancement of application control based on intercepted application data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/2281 Call monitoring, e.g. for law enforcement purposes; Call tracing; Detection or prevention of malicious calls

Abstract

In certain embodiments, a computer-implemented method includes receiving intercepted data associated with a first entity. The intercepted data may be intercepted in response to a request for information from a second entity. The method may include converting the intercepted data from a first format to a second format, the second format compliant with a standard for providing intercepted data to the second entity. The method may include storing, in one or more memory units, the intercepted communication data in the second format. The one or more memory units may be part of a subset of a plurality of computing resources designated for use by the first entity. The method may include storing audit data providing a record of a chain of custody of the intercepted communication data. The method may include providing access to a portion of the stored intercepted communication data in the second format to the second entity.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

one or more memory units; and

one or more processing units operable to;

access instantiation request data for establishing, from a plurality of computing resources available for use by a plurality of entities, a subset of the plurality of computing resources to be designated for use by a first entity in association with processing and storing intercepted communication data associated with the first entity in a manner compliant with a standard, wherein the standard provides a framework for providing the intercepted communication data to a second entity, the instantiation request data specifying the standard;

determine configuration data according to the accessed instantiation request data, the configuration data for configuring the subset of the plurality of computing resources designated for use by the first entity to implement functionality for complying with the standard;

configure the subset of the plurality of computing resources designated for use by the first entity according to the determined configuration data;

receive intercepted communication data associated with the first entity at the subset of the plurality of computing resources, wherein the intercepted communication data is intercepted by the first entity from a communication session and the instantiation request data specifies a type of the communication session;

convert the intercepted communication data from a first format to a second format via the subset of the plurality of computing resources, wherein the second format is compliant with the standard;

store, in the one or more memory units, the intercepted communication data in the second format, wherein the one or more memory units are part of the subset of the plurality of computing resources designated for use by the first entity;

store, in one or more memory units, audit data providing a record of a chain of custody of the intercepted communication data, the audit data associated with a conversion of the intercepted communication data from the first format to the second format; and

provide access to a portion of the stored intercepted communication data in the second format to the second entity, the second entity comprising an entity authorized to access the intercepted communication data.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the audit data is further associated with receiving the intercepted communication data, storing the intercepted communication data in the second format, and providing access to the portion of the stored intercepted communication data.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the audit data comprises one or more of the following:

timestamp information indicating when an action was performed on the intercepted communication data;

user signature information indicating a user associated with performing an action on the intercepted communication data; and

application signature information indicating an application associated with performing an action on the intercepted communication data.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the standard for providing the intercepted communication data to the second entity is provided by the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA);

the first entity comprises a communications service provider;

the second entity comprise a law enforcement agency; and

the intercepted communication data comprises data generated by one or more users of the communications service provider during the communication session, the first entity intercepting the intercepted communication data in response to a request from the law enforcement agency.

5. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising logic, the logic when executed by one or more processing units operable to perform operations comprising:

accessing instantiation request data for establishing, from a plurality of computing resources available for use by a plurality of entities, a subset of the plurality of computing resources to be designated for use by a first entity in association with processing and storing intercepted communication data associated with the first entity in a manner compliant with a standard, wherein the standard provides a framework for providing the intercepted communication data to a second entity, the instantiation request data specifying the standard;

determining configuration data according to the accessed instantiation request data, the configuration data for configuring the subset of the plurality of computing resources designated for use by the first entity to implement functionality for complying with the standard;

configuring the subset of the plurality of computing resources designated for use by the first entity according to the determined configuration data;

receiving intercepted communication data associated with the first entity at the subset of the plurality of computing resources, wherein the intercepted communication data is intercepted by the first entity from a communication session and the instantiation request data specifies a type of the communication session;

converting the intercepted communication data from a first format to a second format via the subset of the plurality of computing resources, wherein the second format is compliant with the standard;

storing, in one or more memory units, the intercepted communication data in the second format, wherein the one or more memory units are part of the subset of the plurality of computing resources designated for use by the first entity;

storing, in one or more memory units, audit data providing a record of a chain of custody of the intercepted communication data, the audit data associated with the conversion of the intercepted communication data from the first format to the second format; and

providing access to a portion of the stored intercepted communication data in the second format to the second entity, the second entity comprising an entity authorized to access the intercepted communication data.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 5, wherein the audit data further comprises one or more of the following:

timestamp information indicating when an action was performed on the intercepted communication data;

user signature information indicating a user associated with performing an action on the intercepted communication data; and

application signature information indicating an application associated with performing an action on the intercepted communication data.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 5, wherein the operations further comprise storing the intercepted communication data in the first format such that the conversion of the intercepted communication data from the first format to the second format can be reproduced at a time subsequent to storing the intercepted communication data in the second format.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 5, wherein the first format is a format in which the first entity communicates the intercepted communication data to the one or more processing units.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of the claim 5, wherein the operations further comprise preventing a user from modifying the configuration of the subset of the plurality of computing resources in a manner that is not compliant with the standard.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein the operations further comprise receiving from the first entity, prior to preventing the user from modifying the configuration of the subset of the plurality of computing resources in a manner that is not compliant with the standard, an approval of the configured subset of the plurality of computing resources designated for use by the first entity.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 5, wherein the standard for providing the intercepted communication data to the second entity is provided by the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA).

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 5, wherein the first entity comprises a communications service provider and the intercepted communication data comprises data generated by one or more users of the communications service provider during the communication session.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 5, wherein the communication session comprises one or more of the following:

a telecommunications session;

a broadband session; and

a voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) session.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 5, wherein:

the second entity comprise a law enforcement agency; and

the first entity intercepts the intercepted communication data in response to a request from the law enforcement agency.

15. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

accessing instantiation request data for establishing, from a plurality of computing resources available for use by a plurality of entities, a subset of the plurality of computing resources to be designated for use by a first entity in association with processing and storing intercepted communication data associated with the first entity in a manner compliant with a standard, wherein the standard provides a framework for providing the intercepted communication data to a second entity, the instantiation request data specifying the standard;

determining configuration data according to the accessed instantiation request data, the configuration data for configuring the subset of the plurality of computing resources designated for use by the first entity to implement functionality for complying with the standard;

configuring the subset of the plurality of computing resources designated for use by the first entity according to the determined configuration data;

receiving intercepted communication data associated with the first entity at the subset of the plurality of computing resources, wherein the intercepted data is intercepted by the first entity from a communication session and the instantiation request data specifies a type of the communication session;

converting the intercepted communication data from a first format to a second format via the subset of the plurality of computing resources, wherein the second format is compliant with the standard;

storing, in one or more memory units, the intercepted communication data in the second format, wherein the one or more memory units are part of the subset of the plurality of computing resources designated for use by the first entity;

storing, in one or more memory units audit data providing a record of a chain of custody of the intercepted communication data, the audit data associated with the conversion of the intercepted communication data from the first format to the second format; and

providing access to a portion of the stored intercepted communication data in the second format to the second entity, the second entity comprising an entity authorized to access the intercepted communication data.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the audit data is associated with receiving the intercepted data, storing the intercepted data in the second format, and providing access to the portion of the stored intercepted data.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein the audit data comprises one or more of the following:

timestamp information indicating when an action was performed on the intercepted data;

user signature information indicating a user associated with performing an action on the intercepted data; and

application signature information indicating an application associated with performing an action on the intercepted data.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein providing access to the portion of the stored intercepted data in the second format to the second entity comprises copying the portion of the stored intercepted data in the second format from the one or more memory units to another one or more memory units that are part of another subset of the computing resources designated for use by the second entity.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein providing access to the portion of the stored intercepted data in the second format to the second entity comprises authorizing one or more users of the second entity to access a portion of the one or more memory units on which the intercepted data in the second format is stored.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein providing access to the portion of the stored intercepted data in the second format to the second entity comprises:

removing one or more storage media storing the intercepted data in the second format; and

delivering the one or more storage media to the second entity.

21. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising storing the intercepted data in the first format such that the conversion of the intercepted data from the first format to the second format can be reproduced at a time subsequent to storing the intercepted data in the second format.

22. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising generating a report providing one or more of:

a summary of at least a portion of the stored intercepted data in the second format; and

an audit history determined from at least a portion of the audit data.

23. The computer-implemented method of the claim 15, further comprising preventing a user from modifying the configuration of the subset of the plurality of computing resources in a manner that is not compliant with the standard.

24. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the standard for providing the intercepted data to the second entity is provided by the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA).

25. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the first entity comprises a communications service provider and the intercepted data comprises intercepted communication data generated by one or more users of the communications service provider during a communication session.

26. The computer-implemented method of claim 25, wherein the communication session comprises one or more of the following:

a telecommunications session;

a broadband session; and

a voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) session.

27. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein:

the second entity comprise a law enforcement agency; and

the first entity intercepts the intercepted data in response to a request from the law enforcement agency.

28. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the first format is a format in which the first entity communicates the intercepted data to the subset of the plurality of computing resources.

29. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein a second subset of the plurality of computing resources available for use by the plurality of entities have been designated for use by a second entity that is distinct from the first entity.

30. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising making, in response to a termination event, the subset of the plurality of computing resources available for use by any of the plurality of entities.

31. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein:

the subset of the plurality of computing resources designated for use by the first entity comprises a first amount of resources; and

the method further comprises modifying the first subset of the plurality of computing resources designated for use by the first entity to include a different second amount of computing resources, wherein modifying the subset of the plurality of computing resources comprises one or more of;

adding a portion of the plurality of the computing resources available for use by the plurality of entities to the subset of the plurality of computing resources designated for use by the first entity; and

returning a portion of the subset of the plurality of computing resources designated for use by the first entity to the plurality of computing resources available for use by the plurality of entities.