Integrating policies from a plurality of disparate management agents
Described herein are embodiments for managing policies of a mobile device. In embodiments, a mobile device receives policy containers from a plurality of disparate management agents. Each policy container has one or more policies. Each policy corresponds to a particular category that governs various aspects of the device. The policies described herein may be device wide policies corresponding to various features on the device. The policies may also be data specific policies which dictate how data is stored on and transferred to and from the device. Once the policies are received, a determination is made as to which policy in each category is the most secure policy. The most secure policy for each category is merged to create a global policy that is applied to the mobile device.
1. A method for managing policies of a mobile device, the method comprising:
receiving, at the mobile device, a first policy container from a first management agent comprising a first policy corresponding to a password policy category;
receiving, at the mobile device, a second policy container from a second management agent comprising a second policy corresponding to the password policy category;
merging, at the mobile device, the first policy container and the second policy container to generate a global management policy comprising a most secure policy for a password length policy category determined based on a comparison of the first policy and the second policy; and
applying the global management policy to the mobile device when the mobile device connects to the first management agent and when the mobile device connects to the second management agent.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the comparison of the first policy and the second policy comprises evaluating an integer rule, and wherein the integer rule determines the most secure policy based on an enumeration of integer values associated with each of the one or more policies.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the password policy category is a category selected from a group consisting of:
a personal identification number (PIN) lock category; and
a password length category.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the password policy category is a password length category and the method further comprises:
receiving a user input of a password;
evaluating the password to determine whether the password satisfies the global management policy; and
enforcing the global management policy based on determining that the password does not satisfy the global management policy.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein enforcing the global management policy comprises providing an indication of a management agent associated with the most secure policy for the password policy category.
6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the password policy category is a password length category and the method further comprises:
receiving a third policy container from a third management agent comprising a third policy corresponding to the password policy category;
generating an updated global management policy based on determining that the third policy is a new most secure policy for the password category; and
enforcing the third policy based on determining that a password does not satisfy the updated global management policy.
7. The method of claim 3 , wherein the password policy category is a PIN lock category and the method further comprises:
automatically updating a property of the system based on the most secure policy for the PIN lock category.
8. A system configured to manage policy settings, the system comprising:
a processor; and
a memory coupled to the processor, the memory comprising computer-program instructions executable by the processor for:
receiving, by the system, a first policy container from a first management agent corresponding to a password policy category;
receiving, by the system, a second policy container from a second management agent corresponding to the password policy category;
merging, by the system, the first policy container and the second policy container to generate a global management policy comprising a most secure policy for a password length policy category determined based on a comparison of the first policy and the second policy; and
applying the same global management policy set to the system when the system connects to the first management agent and when the system connects to the second management agent.
9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the comparison of the first policy and the second policy comprises evaluating an integer rule, and wherein the integer rule determines the most secure policy based on an enumeration of integer values associated with each of the one or more policies.
10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the password policy category is a category selected from a group consisting of:
a personal identification number (PIN) lock category; and
a password length category.
11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the password policy category is a password length category and the instructions further comprise:
receiving a user input of a password;
evaluating the password to determine whether the password satisfies the global management policy; and
enforcing the global management policy based on determining that the password does not satisfy the global management policy.
12. The system of claim 11 , wherein enforcing the global management policy comprises providing an indication of a management agent associated with the most secure policy for the password policy category.
13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the password policy category is a password length category and the instructions further comprise:
receiving a third policy container from a third management agent comprising a third policy corresponding to the password policy category;
generating an updated global management policy based on determining that the third policy is a new most secure policy for the password category; and
enforcing the third policy based on determining that a password does not satisfy the updated global management policy.
14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the password policy category is a PIN lock category and the instructions further comprise:
automatically updating a property of the system based on the most secure policy for the PIN lock category.
15. A method for managing policies of a computing device, the method comprising:
receiving, at the computing device, a first policy container from a first management agent, the first policy container comprising at least a first policy corresponding to a password policy category;
receiving, at the computing device, a second policy container from a second management agent, the second policy container comprising at least a second policy corresponding to the password policy category;
generating, at the computing device, a global management policy comprising a most secure policy for a password length policy category, wherein the most secure policy is determined based at least in part on a comparison of the first policy and the second policy; and
applying the global management policy to the computing device when the computing device connects to the first management agent and when the computing device connects to the second management agent.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the comparison of the first policy and the second policy comprises evaluating an integer rule, and wherein the integer rule determines the most secure policy based on an enumeration of integer values associated with each of the one or more policies.
17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the password policy category is a category selected from a group consisting of:
a personal identification number (PIN) lock category; and
a password length category.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the password policy category is a password length category and the method further comprises:
receiving a user input of a password;
evaluating the password to determine whether the password satisfies the global management policy; and
enforcing the global management policy based on determining that the password does not satisfy the global management policy.
19. The method of claim 18 , wherein enforcing the global management policy comprises providing an indication of a management agent associated with the most secure policy for the password policy category.
20. The method of claim 17 , wherein the password policy category is a password length category and the method further comprises:
receiving a third policy container from a third management agent comprising a third policy corresponding to the password policy category;
generating an updated global management policy based on determining that the third policy is a new most secure policy for the password category; and enforcing the third policy based on determining that a password does not satisfy the updated global management policy.