Using smart groups for computer-based security awareness training systems
This disclosure describes embodiments of an improvement to the static group solution because all the administrator needs to do is specify the criteria they care about. Unlike static groups, where the administrator needs to keep track of the status of individual users and move them between static groups as their status changes, smart groups allows for automatic identification of the relevant users at the moment that action needs to be taken. This feature automates user management for the purposes of enrollment in either phishing and training campaigns. Because the smart group membership is determined as the group is about to be used for something, the smart group membership is always accurate and never outdated. The query that determines the smart group membership gets run at the time when you are about to do a campaign or perform some other action that needs to know the membership of the smart group.
1. A method comprising:
establishing, by a server, a group comprising criteria for identifying one or more users from a plurality of users, the group configured to resolve members of the group based at least on the one or more users matching the criteria responsive to and at a time of executing the group;
execute, by the server, the group by querying information about the plurality of users to identify which one or more users of the plurality of users match the criteria of the group;
identifying, by the server, as members of the group the one or more users resulting from the query until the group is executed again; and
using, by the server responsive to an indication to use the group, the identified one or more users as members of the group; and
re-executing, by the server, the group by re-querying information about the plurality of users to identify which one or more users of the plurality of users match the criteria of the group at a time of the re-query and identifying as members of the group the one or more users resulting from the re-query.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving, by the server, a request to establish the group with criteria specified by an administrative user.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving, by the server, a request for a list of membership of the group.
4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising executing, by the server, the group responsive to the request.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising establishing, by the server, a unique identifier for the group.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying, by the server, a subset of the plurality of the users that match the criteria of the group.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication to use the group comprises a request to take an action with respect to the group.
8. The method of claim 7 , where the action comprises generating a report associated with the identified one or more users that are members of the group.
9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the action comprises providing to the identified one or more users that are members of the group one of a simulated phishing campaign or computer-based security awareness training.
10. A system comprising:
one or more processors, coupled to physical memory and configured to:
establish a group comprising criteria for identifying one or more users from a plurality of users, wherein the group is configured to resolve members of the group based at least on the one or more users of the plurality of users matching the criteria responsive to and at a time of executing the group;
wherein the one or more processors are configured to:
execute the group by querying information about the plurality of users to identify which one or more users of the plurality of users match the criteria of the group;
identify as members of the group the one or more users resulting from the query until the group is executed again; and
use, responsive to an indication to use the group, the identified one or more users as members of the group;
re-execute the group by re-querying information about the plurality of users to identify which one or more users of the plurality of users match the criteria of the group at a time of the re-query and identify as members of the group the one or more users resulting from the re-query.
11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive a request to establish the group with criteria specified by an administrative user.
12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to receive a request for a list of membership of the group.
13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to execute the group responsive to the request.
14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to establish a unique identifier for the group.
15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to identify a subset of the plurality of the users that match the criteria of the group.
16. The system of claim 10 , wherein the indication to use the group comprises a request to take an action with respect to the group.
17. The system of claim 16 , where the action comprises generating a report associated with the identified one or more users that are members of the group.
18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the action comprises providing to the identified one or more users that are members of the group one of a simulated phishing campaign or computer-based security awareness training.
19. A system comprising:
one or more processors, coupled to physical memory and configured to:
establish a group comprising criteria for identifying one or more users from a plurality of users;
resolve members of the group based at least on the one or more users of the plurality of users matching the criteria responsive to and at a time of execution of the group;
re-execute the group by re-querying information about the plurality of users to identify which one or more users of the plurality of users match the criteria of the group at a time of the re-query and identify as members of the group the one or more users resulting from the re-query; and
use, responsive to an indication to use the group, the identified one or more users as members of the group.