Robotic Workforce Discovery for Unauthorized Bot Remediation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing robotic process automation (RPA) technologies are often implemented in an uncontrolled and haphazard manner, leading to unauthorized bots being deployed without proper authorization, which poses security and compliance risks due to non-compliant and insecure use of hardware and digital assets.
Innovation Solution
A system is developed to automatically discover unauthorized bots in an organization's computing environment using bot discovery agents, determine their presence, and initiate remediation workflows to enforce centralized enterprise control, including detection, authorization, and remediation of unauthorized bots.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If users implement automation in any way that seems appropriate to them without centralized control, then automation flexibility and ease of operation are improved, but security risks and compliance issues worsen due to unauthorized bots
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-defining authorized bot templates and policies before users deploy bots. The centralized management system pre-establishes security frameworks and compliance rules, allowing users to deploy bots quickly while maintaining security through pre-approved configurations rather than requiring post-deployment security checks.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a centralized management system as an intermediary between users and bot deployment. This intermediary layer provides user-friendly bot creation interfaces while simultaneously enforcing security policies and compliance rules, thus mediating between ease of operation and security requirements.
2Reliability
If centralized control and monitoring of all bots is implemented, then security and compliance are improved, but system complexity and management overhead worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments bot management into multiple components: centralized policy definition, automated discovery agents, template-based bot creation, and monitoring systems. This segmentation allows the complexity to be distributed across manageable modules rather than concentrated in a single complex system, making the overall solution more implementable and maintainable.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements self-service mechanisms where discovery agents automatically detect and report unauthorized bots, and the system automatically remediates issues by blocking or deleting unauthorized bots without requiring manual intervention. This automation reduces the operational complexity of maintaining centralized control.
3Productivity
If automated discovery and remediation of unauthorized bots is implemented, then response time and productivity are improved, but false positives and operational errors may increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms where discovery agents continuously monitor the computing environment, report findings to the centralized management system, and receive instructions for remediation. This feedback loop allows for verification and correction of detection accuracy while maintaining rapid response through automation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system takes partial action by first identifying and reporting potential unauthorized bots for review before automatically remediating them. This partial automation approach allows for verification of detection accuracy while still providing rapid response, reducing false positives through manual review of borderline cases.
Data Source
AI summary
In an embodiment, a method includes receiving bot presence data from a bot discovery agent executing in a computing environment. The method also includes determining, based on the bot presence data, whether an unauthorized bot is present in the computing environment. The method also includes, responsive to a determination, based on the bot presence data, that an unauthorized bot is present in the computing environment, automatically initiating a remediation workflow relative to the unauthorized bot.