Patent · US Active

Selective blocking of network access for third party applications based on file content

US11171959B2 · kind B2 · utility

3Cited by
0References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateAug 3, 2018
Grant dateNov 9, 2021
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 24, 2040

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L63/20
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A system that implements a software tool for data leak prevention whenever a protected document containing sensitive or encrypted content is opened by a document-management application having capability to directly access an Internet Protocol (IP) network, such as the Internet, without using the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP). The application is selectively blocked from accessing the Internet whenever a protected document is opened by the application. The application may be, for example, the Microsoft® Word or the Adobe® Acrobat® Reader. The software tool restores the network access for the application once the protected document is no longer open in the application. Even though one application is blocked from accessing the IP network, the software tool allows another application to access the network so long as a non-protected document is opened by the other application. Thus, application-specific, selective blocking of network access is accomplished by the software tool based on document content.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.