Adjusting security level of mobile device based on presence or absence of other mobile devices nearby
View Patent ↗One embodiment of the present invention provides a method for adjusting security status on a mobile device, the method comprising: collecting security-related contextual information which includes information of nearby mobile devices and/or the geographic location of the intelligent mobile device; evaluating a threat level based on the collected security-related contextual information; invoking a security policy; and adjusting the security status of the mobile device based on the threat level and the security policy.
1. A method for adjusting security status on a mobile device, the method comprising:
collecting security-related contextual information which includes information of a nearby mobile device, wherein collecting the security-related contextual information further includes detecting an accelerometer trace;
evaluating a threat level based on the collected security-related contextual information, which involves determining whether the nearby mobile device is a known mobile device;
invoking a security policy; and
adjusting the security status of the mobile device based on the threat level and the security policy.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein adjusting the security status of the mobile device comprises one or more of the following operations:
increasing or lowering a user authentication requirement;
changing the order of suggested email addresses in an address auto-complete field;
suggesting that an open document be saved in a designated folder; and
imposing a set of security policies on documents in a designated folder.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein collecting the security-related contextual information further includes detecting at least one of the following:
a current time; and
a wireless network to which the mobile device is in communication with.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the collecting of security-related contextual information automatically starts when the device is turned on.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the collecting of security-related contextual information is manually started.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
maintaining a list of known mobile devices and/or known geographic locations; and
comparing the collected security-related contextual information with the list.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
allowing the mobile device user to manually input the list.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
acquiring the list using a self-training process.
9. A mobile device that self-adjusts a security status, the device comprising:
a security data collection agent that collects security-related contextual information which includes information of a nearby mobile device, wherein the security-related contextual information includes an accelerometer trace;
a threat level evaluator that evaluates a current threat level based on the collected security-related contextual information by determining whether the nearby mobile device is a known mobile device;
a security policy holder that stores a set of security policies; and
an authentication engine that adjusts the security status of the mobile device based on the threat level and the security policies.
10. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein
while adjusting the security status of the mobile device, the authentication engine is configured to perform one or more of the following operations:
increasing or lowering a user authentication requirement;
changing the order of suggested email addresses in an address auto-complete field;
suggesting that an open document be saved in a designated folder; and
imposing a set of security policies on documents in a designated folder.
11. The mobile device of claim 1 ,
wherein the security-related contextual information includes at least one of the following:
a current time; and
a wireless network to which the mobile device is in connection with.
12. The mobile device of claim 1 ,
wherein the security data collection agent starts collecting security-related information automatically when the device is turned on.
13. The mobile device of claim 1 ,
wherein the security data collection agent starts collecting security-related information when manually configured by a user.
14. The mobile device of claim 1 , further comprising:
a list of known mobile devices and/or known geographic locations.
15. The mobile device of claim 1 ,
wherein the list is manually inputted by the mobile device user.
16. The mobile device of claim 1 ,
wherein the list is acquired by the mobile device using a self-training process.
17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions which when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for adjusting security status on an intelligent mobile device, the method comprising:
collecting security-related information which includes information of a nearby mobile device, wherein collecting the security-related information further includes detecting an accelerometer trace;
evaluating a threat level based on the collected security-related contextual information, which involves determining whether the nearby mobile device is a known mobile device;
invoking a security policy; and
adjusting security status of the mobile device based on the threat level and the security policy.
18. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein adjusting the security status of the mobile device comprises performing one or more of the following operations:
increase or lowering a user authentication requirement;
changing the order of suggested email addresses in an address auto-complete field;
suggesting that an open document be saved in a designated folder; and
imposing a set of security policies on documents in a designated folder.
19. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein collecting the security-related information further includes detecting at least one of the following:
a current time; and
a wireless network to which the mobile device is in communication with.
20. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 ,
wherein the collecting of security-related contextual information automatically starts when the device is turned on.
21. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 ,
wherein the collecting of security-related contextual information is manually started.
22. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:
maintaining a list of known mobile devices and/or known geographic locations; and
comparing the collected security-related information with the list.
23. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:
allowing the mobile device user to manually input the list.
24. The computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:
acquiring the list using a self-training process.