Distribution of security policies for small to medium-sized organizations
View Patent ↗A security policy distribution system encapsulates parameters for a security policy and instructions for applying the parameters to a corresponding security program into a self-contained configuration file. When the self-contained configuration file is executed on behalf of a computer, the corresponding security program on the computer is updated with the parameters, thus distributing the security policy to the computer.
1. A method, comprising:
providing a configuration procedure for an antivirus program to determine which parameters of a security policy have changed;
creating a self-contained configuration file based on the changed security policy parameters and underlying security programs that are affected by the changed security policy parameters;
determining which of the underlying security programs are affected based on the determined changed security policy parameters;
encapsulating the changed parameters and execution instructions associated with the affected programs to create the self-contained configuration file;
providing the self-contained configuration file in an e-mail to be communicated over a network from a server to a client device for subsequent installation at the client device, wherein a login script, which was previously modified on the client device, is provided to search for updated self-contained configuration files as part of a client login procedure, and wherein detection of the updated self-contained configuration files results in an application of particular parameters of the updated self-contained configuration files being applied against corresponding security software of the client device to replicate the security policy, and wherein the self-contained configuration file includes a first instruction that renders the self-contained configuration file unusable by the client device after a certain period of time, and wherein the self-contained configuration file includes a second instruction for deleting the self-contained configuration file once it is executed; and
receiving an error message if the self-contained configuration file is not installed on the client device.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the self-contained configuration file is downloadable from a first computer to a second computer for execution.
3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
storing the self-contained configuration file in a database.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein a policy script that executes a subsequent self-contained configuration file is provided as part of an operating system task schedule.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the self-contained configuration file is one of an executable file, a registry file, and an extensible markup language file.
6. Computer executable instructions embodied in non-transitory computer readable media for execution in conjunction with a processor, the instructions being configured for performing operations, comprising:
providing a configuration procedure for an antivirus program to determine which parameters of a security policy have changed;
creating a self-contained configuration file based on the changed security policy parameters and underlying security programs that are affected by the changed security policy parameters;
determining which of the underlying security programs are affected based on the determined changed security policy parameters;
encapsulating the changed parameters and execution instructions associated with the affected programs to create the self-contained configuration file;
providing the self-contained configuration file in an e-mail to be communicated over a network from a server to a client device for subsequent installation at the client device, wherein a login script, which was previously modified on the client device, is provided to search for updated self-contained configuration files as part of a client login procedure, and wherein detection of the updated self-contained configuration files results in an application of particular parameters of the updated self-contained configuration files being applied against corresponding security software of the client device to replicate the security policy, and wherein the self-contained configuration file includes a first instruction that renders the self-contained configuration file unusable by the client device after a certain period of time, and wherein the self-contained configuration file includes a second instruction for deleting the self-contained configuration file once it is executed; and
receiving an error message if the self-contained configuration file is not installed on the client device.
7. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 6 , the operations further comprising:
storing the self-contained configuration file in a database.
8. A system comprising:
a processor;
a memory coupled to the processor through a bus, wherein the system is configured to: provide a configuration procedure for an antivirus program to determine which parameters of a security policy have changed;
create a self-contained configuration file based on the changed security policy parameters and underlying security programs that are affected by the changed security policy parameters;
determine which of the underlying security programs are affected based on the determined changed security policy parameters;
encapsulate the changed parameters and execution instructions associated with the affected programs to create the self-contained configuration file;
provide the self-contained configuration file in an e-mail to be communicated over a network from a server to a client device for subsequent installation at the client device, wherein a login script, which was previously modified on the client device, is provided to search for updated self-contained configuration files as part of a client login procedure, and wherein detection of the updated self-contained configuration files results in an application of particular parameters of the updated self-contained configuration files being applied against corresponding security software of the client device to replicate the security policy, and wherein the self-contained configuration file includes a first instruction that renders the self-contained configuration file unusable by the client device after a certain period of time, and wherein the self-contained configuration file includes a second instruction for deleting the self-contained configuration file once it is executed; and
receive an error message if the self-contained configuration file is not installed on the client device.
9. The system of claim 8 further comprising a network interface coupled to the processor through the bus.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the self-contained configuration file is determined to be uncontaminated before applying certain parameters of the security policy to the antivirus program.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein certain parameters of the security policy include parameters that have changed since a previous self-configuration file was created.
12. The method of claim 4 , wherein the self-contained configuration file is manually stored on the server.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the application of the parameters of the security policy to the antivirus program installed on the client device is performed as a background task.
14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
storing the self-contained configuration file on the server for subsequent downloading by a plurality of devices.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the self-contained configuration file can be propagated between the client device and a peer client device in order to replicate the security policy at the peer client device.
16. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 6 , wherein a policy script that executes a subsequent self-contained configuration file is provided as part of an operating system task schedule.
17. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 6 , wherein the self-contained configuration file is one of an executable file, a registry file, and an extensible markup language file.
18. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 6 , wherein the application of the parameters of the security policy to the antivirus program installed on the client device is performed as a background task.
19. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 6 , the operations further comprising:
storing the self-contained configuration file on the server for subsequent downloading by a plurality of devices.
20. The non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 6 , wherein the self-contained configuration file can be propagated between the client device and a peer client device in order to replicate the security policy at the peer client device.