IP Library Granted Patent US 9,967,271
Granted Patent B2
US 9,967,271 · App. 15/691,875 · Granted May 8, 2018

Method and system for detecting restricted content associated with retrieved content

Inventors: Fraser Howard (Finstock, GB); Paul Baccas (Oxford, GB); Vanja Svajcer (Oxford, GB); Benjamin John Godwood (Chipping Norton, GB); William James McCourt (Oxfordshire, GB)
Assignee: Sophos Limited
H04L63/1416G06F21/567H04L63/102H04L63/12H04L63/145H04L63/1433H04L63/1441H04L63/20G06F2221/034G06F2221/2115
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,967,271
App. No.
15/691,875
Granted
May 8, 2018
Kind
B2
Abstract

In embodiments of the present invention improved capabilities are described for detecting restricted content associated with retrieved content. The method and system may include receiving a client request for content, saving contextual information from the client request, presenting retrieved content in response to the client request, and presenting the contextual information from the client request, and retrieved content, to a scanning facility. The scanning facility may utilize the contextual information from the client request to aid in the detection of restricted content associated with retrieved content.

Claims (33)

1. A method for operating a scanning facility executing on processing circuitry, the method comprising:

receiving a request for content from a client at the scanning facility, the request including an outbound network request from the client with a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) including a domain for the URI;

saving contextual information from the request at the scanning facility, wherein the contextual information includes, in at least a portion of the URI, an alphanumeric pattern associated with malware;

examining the request for compliance with a management policy at the scanning facility;

retrieving a content item responsive to the request at the scanning facility; and

analyzing, with the scanning facility, the contextual information from the request and the content item responsive to the request to detect whether the content item includes restricted content based on the management policy.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the alphanumeric pattern includes one or more of a known alphanumeric string within the client request and a sequence of alphanumeric strings in a series of client requests.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein access to the URI directs a user to another web page.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein analyzing includes analyzing header information for the content item responsive to the request to detect whether the content item includes restricted content from a list of restrictions in the management policy.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising executing the scanning facility on the client.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising executing the scanning facility on a remote threat management facility.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising, when the content item includes restricted content, blocking the restricted content from the client.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising, when the content item includes restricted content, performing a remedial action on the client in response to the restricted content.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein contextual information includes path information in the request.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the contextual information includes a registered domain name for an organization.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the contextual information includes header information in the request.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the contextual information includes data indicating a source of the request.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the contextual information includes header information for the content item retrieved in response to the request.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the contextual information includes a plurality of network addresses for a prior sequence of client requests.

15. A computer program product comprising computer executable code embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium that, when executing on a scanning facility, performs the steps of:

receiving a request for content from a client at the scanning facility, the request including an outbound network request from the client with a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) including a domain for the URI;

saving contextual information from the request at the scanning facility, wherein the contextual information includes, in at least a portion of the URI, an alphanumeric pattern associated with malware;

examining the request for compliance with a management policy at the scanning facility;

retrieving a content item responsive to the request at the scanning facility; and

analyzing, with the scanning facility, the contextual information from the request and the content item responsive to the request to detect whether the content item includes restricted content based on the management policy.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the alphanumeric pattern includes one or more of a known alphanumeric string within the client request and a sequence of alphanumeric strings in a series of client requests.

17. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the contextual information further includes a changed portion of the request relative to other requests.

18. The computer program product of claim 17 wherein access to the URI directs a user to another web page.

19. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein analyzing includes analyzing header information for the content item responsive to the request to detect whether the content item includes restricted content from a list of restrictions in a management policy.

20. A system comprising:

one or more hardware processors;

a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions executable by the one or more hardware processors; and

a scanning facility configured to receive a request for content from a client, the request including an outbound network request from the client with a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) including a domain for the URI, the scanning facility further configured to save contextual information from the request including, in at least a portion of the URI, an alphanumeric pattern associated with malware, to examine the request for compliance with a management policy at the scanning facility, to retrieve a content item responsive to the request, and to analyze the contextual information from the request and the content item responsive to the request to detect whether the content item includes restricted content based on the management policy.

Assignments (5)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS AT R/F 053476/0681 Recorded Mar 9, 2021
From: OWL ROCK CAPITAL CORPORATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: SOPHOS LIMITED
Reel/Frame 056469/0815 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT FIRST LIEN Recorded Jul 6, 2020
From: SOPHOS LIMITED
To: GOLDMAN SACHS BANK USA, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 053124/0350 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT SECOND LIEN Recorded Jul 6, 2020
From: SOPHOS LIMITED
To: OWL ROCK CAPITAL CORPORATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 053476/0681 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 6, 2017
From: HOWARD, FRASER; BACCAS, PAUL OLIVER; SVAJCER, VANJA; GODWOOD, BENJAMIN JOHN; MCCOURT, WILLIAM JAMES
To: SOPHOS PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY
Reel/Frame 043772/0526 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Sep 6, 2017
From: SOPHOS PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY
To: SOPHOS LIMITED
Reel/Frame 043777/0511 →
Continuity (8)
Continuation 15429755 · Feb 10, 2017
Continuation 15176202 · Jun 8, 2016
Continuation 15176291 · Jun 8, 2016
Continuation 14838973 · Aug 28, 2015
Continuation 14838973 · Aug 28, 2015
Continuation 14168321 · Jan 30, 2014
Continuation 12055586 · Mar 26, 2008
Related Publication 20170366565A1 · Dec 21, 2017