Unified Application Container for Secure Mobile Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current mobile device management and application management solutions face challenges in securely managing multiple user personas on a single device, particularly in blurring the lines between personal and business data, leading to privacy concerns and data security risks due to the need for users to juggle multiple devices and authenticate separately for each container instance.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that groups multiple application containers as a single logical container, allowing them to share state and executable code without explicit messaging protocols, enabling seamless navigation and management through a master container that proxies meta-data and management commands to slave containers, thus presenting a unified secure workspace.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple application containers are managed as separate entities with distinct authentication, then data security and privacy control are improved, but device complexity and user operation difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple application containers into a single unified container instance. Instead of running separate container processes for each application, the system consolidates them into one shared container that hosts multiple applications, thereby reducing overall system complexity while maintaining security boundaries through virtualization.
Solution Approach 2:
The unified container is designed to serve multiple functions by hosting and managing multiple applications simultaneously. This multi-functional container provides authentication, security policies, and resource management for all contained applications through a single instance, eliminating the need for separate management infrastructure for each application.
2Reliability
If separate authentication is required for each container instance, then data privacy and security control are improved, but user convenience and operation speed deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple authentication mechanisms into a single unified authentication process. When a user authenticates to the unified container, the authentication credentials are shared across all applications within the container, eliminating the need for repeated authentication while maintaining security through the container's isolated environment.
3Reliability
If explicit messaging protocols are used for inter-container communication, then communication reliability is improved, but system complexity and development effort increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates the need for explicit inter-container messaging protocols by merging multiple applications into a single container. Applications within the unified container can communicate through standard inter-process communication mechanisms provided by the host operating system, removing the complexity of implementing and maintaining custom messaging protocols between separate container instances.
4Reliability
If multiple devices are used for personal and business purposes, then data separation and security are improved, but device portability and user convenience deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges personal and business applications into a single unified container on a single device. The container provides logical separation and security policies for different application types while allowing them to coexist on the same physical device, thereby maintaining data separation without requiring multiple separate devices.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method, computer readable medium and computer device for managing applications. The method comprises: configuring a first application to execute in a process on the computing device, wherein the first application comprises a first application run-time configured to implement one or more security functions for the first application; configuring a second application to execute in the process on the computing device, wherein the second application comprises a second application run-time configured to implement one or more security functions for the second application; and configuring the second application to delegate to the first application, via a class loader of the first application, handling of a request for configuration settings from the second application run-time, such that, when executing, the second application run-time implements the one or more security functions for the second application based on one or more configuration settings defined in first meta data stored in association with the first application.