Granted Patent B1

US 9,203,850 · App. 14/178,281 · Granted Dec 1, 2015

Abstract

Claims (56)

1. A computer-implemented method for detecting a private browsing mode, at least a portion of the method being performed by a computing device comprising at least one processor, the method comprising:

determining that a browser application is operating as a foreground application on the computing device;

detecting computing activity occurring on the computing device while the browser application is operating as the foreground application, wherein detecting the computing activity comprises determining that a level of activity inside a CPU of the computing device has exceeded a CPU activity threshold;

determining that no new entry has been made in a browser history of the browser application;

incrementing a certainty level score that identifies a level of certainty that the browser application is executing in the private browsing mode in response to the browser application operating as the foreground application, the level of activity inside the CPU exceeding the CPU activity threshold, and no new entry having been made in the browser history;

determining that the certainty level score has exceeded a certainty threshold such that the certainty level score indicates that the browser application is likely to be executing in the private browsing mode; and

performing a security action in response to determining that the browser application is likely to be executing in the private browsing mode.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the computing activity comprises selecting a sampling interval that determines how often the computing activity will be measured.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein detecting the computing activity comprises determining that network communication has occurred during the sampling interval while the browser application is operating as the foreground application.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein detecting the computing activity comprises determining that memory usage has exceeded a memory usage threshold during the sampling interval while the browser application is operating as the foreground application.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein performing the security action comprises at least one of:

notifying an administrative user that the browser application is likely to be executing in the private browsing mode;

displaying a message that the use of the private browsing mode is restricted on the computing device;

blocking execution of the browser application;

blocking network communication on the computing device.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the security action is selected to be performed based at least in part on the certainty level score relative to the certainty threshold.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the computing device comprises a mobile device.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

detecting the computing activity comprises extracting network communication data from at least one network communication of the computing device, wherein the network communication data comprises at least one of:

a destination network address of a network service with which the computing device is communicating;

a hostname of the network service;

a uniform resource identifier (URI) of the network service;

incrementing the certainty level score comprises incrementing the certainty level score based at least in part on the network communication data.

9. A system for detecting a private browsing mode, the system comprising:

a determination module, stored in a memory, that determines that a browser application is operating as a foreground application on a computing device;

an activity module, stored in the memory, that detects computing activity occurring on the computing device while the browser application is operating as the foreground application by determining that a level of activity inside a CPU of the computing device has exceeded a CPU activity threshold;

a monitoring module, stored in the memory, that determines that no new entry has been made in a browser history of the browser application;

a certainty module, stored in the memory, that:

increments a certainty level score that identifies a level of certainty that the browser application is executing in the private browsing mode in response to the browser application operating as the foreground application, the level of activity inside the CPU exceeding the CPU activity threshold, and no new entry having been made in the browser history;

determines that the certainty level score has exceeded a certainty threshold such that the certainty level score indicates that the browser application is likely to be executing in the private browsing mode;

a security module, stored in the memory, that performs a security action in response to determining that the browser application is likely to be executing in the private browsing mode; and

at least one processor configured to execute the determination module, the activity module, the monitoring module, the certainty module, and the security module.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the activity module detects the computing activity by selecting a sampling interval that determines how often the computing activity will be measured.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the activity module detects the computing activity by determining that network communication has occurred during the sampling interval while the browser application is operating as the foreground application.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the activity module detects the computing activity by determining that memory usage has exceeded a memory usage threshold during the sampling interval while the browser application is operating as the foreground application.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the security action comprises at least one of:

notifying an administrative user that the browser application is likely to be executing in the private browsing mode;

displaying a message that the use of the private browsing mode is restricted on the computing device;

blocking execution of the browser application;

blocking network communication on the computing device.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the security module selects the security action to be performed based at least in part on the certainty level score relative to the certainty threshold.

15. The system of claim 9 , wherein the computing device comprises a mobile device.

16. The system of claim 9 , wherein: the activity module extracts network communication data from at least one network communication of the computing device, wherein the network communication data comprises at least one of:

a destination network address of a network service with which the computing device is communicating;

a hostname of the network service;

a uniform resource identifier (URI) of the network service;

the certainty module increments the certainty level score based at least in part on the network communication data.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable-storage medium comprising one or more computer-readable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computing device, cause the computing device to:

determine that a browser application is operating as a foreground application on the computing device;

detect computing activity occurring on the computing device while the browser application is operating as the foreground application, wherein detecting the computing activity comprises determining that a level of activity inside a CPU of the computing device has exceeded a CPU activity threshold;

determine that no new entry has been made in a browser history of the browser application;

increment a certainty level score that identifies a level of certainty that the browser application is executing in a private browsing mode in response to the browser application operating as the foreground application, the level of activity inside the CPU exceeding the CPU activity threshold, and no new entry having been made in the browser history;

determine that the certainty level score has exceeded a certainty threshold such that the certainty level score indicates the browser application is likely to be executing in the private browsing mode; and

perform a security action in response to determining that the browser application is likely to be executing in the private browsing mode.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable-storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the one or more computer-readable instructions cause the computing device to detect the computing activity by selecting a sampling interval that determines how often the computing activity will be measured.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable-storage medium of claim 18 , wherein the one or more computer-readable instructions cause the computing device to detect the computing activity by determining that network communication has occurred during the sampling interval while the browser application is operating as the foreground application.

Assignments (6)