Policy Server Third-Party Rule Validation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electronic activity monitoring and control systems are device-based, requiring multiple tailored solutions for various devices and data types, and often lack comprehensive security plans that consider diverse user interactions across platforms, making it difficult to manage and monitor electronic activities effectively.
Innovation Solution
A policy service using a policy server that collects rules from managers and allows third-party rule submissions for modifying policies, validating these rules to ensure legitimacy, and applying them to managed devices to control and monitor electronic activity, allowing or blocking activities based on compliance with defined policies.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If device-based control mechanisms are used to monitor and control electronic activity, then security control is achieved at individual devices, but the system complexity increases when managing multiple devices and platforms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal policy management system that can control and monitor electronic activity across multiple device types (smartphones, PCs, tablets, set-top boxes) and platforms through a single centralized policy server. The policy engine evaluates rules against electronic activity regardless of the source device, providing multi-functional security control that reduces the need for device-specific solutions and lowers overall system complexity.
2Reliability
If multiple tailored solutions are created for each data type and device, then specific security needs are addressed, but the time and resources required to manage these solutions increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple tailored security solutions into a single unified policy management system. The policy server consolidates rule management for various data types (video, chat, instant messages, news feeds, music) and device types into one centralized location. Managers can create, modify, and enforce policies across all devices through a single interface, significantly reducing the time and resources needed to manage security compared to maintaining separate solutions for each device and data type.
3Adaptability or versatility
If third party rule submissions are allowed to modify policies, then the flexibility and adaptability of security policies improve, but the risk of illegitimate or malicious rules increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a validation service as an intermediary between third-party rule submissions and policy enforcement. When a third party submits a rule, the validation service evaluates it to ensure legitimacy before the rule can modify policies. This mediator layer maintains policy flexibility by allowing third-party contributions while protecting the system from malicious or illegitimate rules through automated validation checks.
4Reliability
If comprehensive validation of third party rules is performed, then the security against malicious rules is enhanced, but the processing time and system resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The validation service performs partial validation of third-party rules by checking for obvious legitimacy criteria without requiring exhaustive analysis of every rule. The validation focuses on essential security checks (such as verifying the submitting entity's authorization and basic rule structure) rather than comprehensive analysis, achieving sufficient rule legitimacy verification while minimizing validation time and resource consumption.
Data Source
AI summary
Concepts and technologies are disclosed herein for monitoring and controlling electronic activity. A policy service can be called for policies for controlling electronic activity occurring at one or more managed devices. The policies can include a number of rules, each of which can include a number of variables. The rules can be defined by a manager device and/or received from third parties. Third party rule submissions can be validated. If electronic activity at the managed device deviates from a rule, the manager device can be notified and the electronic activity can be blocked. The manager device can update the policy and/or issue exceptions, if desired.