IP Library Granted Patent US 12,587,528
Granted Patent B2
US 12,587,528 · App. 18/665,625 · Granted Mar 24, 2026

Data masking

Inventors: Ofer Ben-Noon (Tel Aviv, IL); Ohad Bobrov (Tel Aviv, IL); Omri Bushari (Wolfenbüttel, DE)
Assignee: Palo Alto Networks, Inc.
H04L63/10G06F21/16G06F21/554G06F21/6245H04L63/105H04L63/1433H04L63/205H04L67/1396H04L67/535G06F2221/034G06F2221/2141H04L67/306
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,587,528
App. No.
18/665,625
Granted
Mar 24, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A method of controlling access to a digital resource of a group of digital resources, the method comprising: receiving a request from a user via a computer browser for access to a digital resource of a group of digital resources; determining if the user has authorization to access a first portion of the resource but not a second portion of the resource; and configuring the browser to redact the resource by locally masking or deleting the second portion at a user interface of the computer which presents the resource to the user without affecting data defining the resource at a source from which the resource is downloaded to provide the requested access.

Claims (61)

1 . A method of controlling access to a resource of a group of digital resources, the method comprising:

receiving a request from a user via a browser for access to a digital resource of a group of digital resources;

determining whether the user has authorization to access a first portion of the resource but not a second portion of the resource; and

configuring the browser to, when the user is determined not to have authorization to access the second portion,

redact the resource by locally masking or deleting the second portion at a user interface of the browser which presents the resource to the user without affecting data defining the resource at a source from which the resource is downloaded to provide the requested access;

receive a request from the user to access the second portion;

vet the request, wherein vetting the request comprises,

determining a first current assessment of a confidentiality level for material in the second portion at a time of the vetting;

determining a second current assessment of a clearance level of the user at the time of the vetting;

determining a magnitude of change to the first current assessment and the second current assessment compared to previous assessments that would allow the user access to the second portion; and

determining whether to undo the redaction responsive to the magnitude of the changes; and

based on successful vetting, undo the redaction.

2 . The method of claim 1 wherein configuring the browser comprises hooking a renderer of the browser to executable instructions that execute to mask or delete the second portion.

3 . The method of claim 2 wherein the executable instructions when executed do not change at least one of Hypertext Markup Language file of the source of the resource, Cascading Style Sheets, a Document Object Model tree generated by the renderer, and JavaScript associated with the Hypertext Markup Language file.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the user does not have authorization to access the second portion comprises determining a confidentiality level for the second portion and using the confidentiality level to determine that the user does not have authorization.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the user does not have authorization to access the second portion comprises determining a clearance level for the user and using the clearance level to determine that the user does not have authorization.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the magnitude of the changes comprises:

determining a difference between a first previous assessment of the confidentiality level that supported the redaction and the first current assessment of the confidentiality level; and

determining a difference between a second previous assessment of the user clearance level that supported the redaction and the second current assessment of the user clearance level.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the resource comprises at least one of a textual material, an image, audio material, and video material and wherein the second portion comprises at least a portion of at least one of the textual material, the image, the audio material, and the video material.

8 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium having program code stored thereon, the program code comprising instructions to control access to a resource of a group of digital resources, wherein the instructions to control access to the resource of the group of digital resources comprise instructions to:

receive a request from a user via a browser for access to a digital resource of a group of digital resources;

determine whether the user has authorization to access a first portion of the resource but not a second portion of the resource; and

configure the browser to, when the user is determined not to have authorization to access the second portion,

redact the resource by locally masking or deleting the second portion at a user interface of the browser which presents the resource to the user without affecting data defining the resource at a source from which the resource is downloaded to provide the requested access;

receive a request from the user to access the second portion;

vet the request, wherein the instructions to vet the request comprise instructions to,

determining a first current assessment of a confidentiality level for material in the second portion at a time of the vetting;

determining a second current assessment of a clearance level of the user at the time of the vetting;

determining a magnitude of changes to the first current assessment and the second current assessment compared to previous assessments that would allow the user access to the second portion; and

determining whether to undo the redaction responsive to the magnitude of the changes; and

based on successful vetting, undo the redaction.

9 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the instructions to configure the browser comprise instructions to hook a renderer of the browser to executable instructions that execute to mask or delete the second portion.

10 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the executable instructions when executed do not change at least one of a Hypertext Markup Language file of the source of the resource, Cascading Style Sheets, a Document Object Model tree generated by the renderer, and JavaScript associated with the Hypertext Markup Language file.

11 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the instructions to determine that the user does not have authorization to access the second portion comprise instructions to determine a confidentiality level for the second portion and use the confidentiality level to determine that the user does not have authorization.

12 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the instructions to determine that the user does not have authorization to access the second portion comprise instructions to determine a clearance level for the user and use the clearance level to determine that the user does not have authorization.

13 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the instructions to vet the request further comprise instructions to:

determine a difference between a first previous assessment of the confidentiality level that supported the redaction and the first current assessment of the confidentiality level; and

determine a difference between a second previous assessment of the user clearance level that supported the redaction and the second current assessment of the user clearance level.

14 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the resource comprises at least one of a textual material, an image, audio material, and video material and wherein the second portion comprises at least a portion of at least one of the textual material, the image, the audio material, and the video material.

15 . An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a machine-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that are executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to control access to a resource of a group of digital resources, wherein the instructions to control access to the resource of the group of digital resources comprise instructions executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to,

receive a request from a user via a browser for access to a digital resource of a group of digital resources;

determine whether the user has authorization to access a first portion of the resource but not a second portion of the resource; and

configure the browser to, when the user is determined not to have authorization to access the second portion,

redact the resource by locally masking or deleting the second portion at a user interface of the browser which presents the resource to the user without affecting data defining the resource at a source from which the resource is downloaded to provide the requested access;

receive a request from the user to access the second portion;

vet the request, wherein the instructions to vet the request comprise instructions executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to,

determine a first current assessment of a confidentiality level for material in the second portion at a time of the vetting;

determine a second current assessment of a clearance level of the user at the time of the vetting;

determine a magnitude of changes to the first current assessment and the second current assessment compared to previous assessments that would allow the user access to the second portion; and

determine whether to undo the redaction responsive to the magnitude of the changes; and

based on successful vetting, undo the redaction.

16 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the instructions to configure the browser comprise instructions executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to hook a renderer of the browser to executable instructions that execute to mask or delete the second portion.

17 . The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the executable instructions when executed do not change at least one of a Hypertext Markup Language file of the source of the resource, Cascading Style Sheets, a Document Object Model tree generated by the renderer, and JavaScript associated with the Hypertext Markup Language file.

18 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the instructions to determine that the user does not have authorization to access the second portion comprise instructions executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to determine a confidentiality level for the second portion and use the confidentiality level to determine that the user does not have authorization.

19 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the instructions to determine that the user does not have authorization to access the second portion comprise instructions executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to determine a clearance level for the user and use the clearance level to determine that the user does not have authorization.

20 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the instructions to vet the request further comprise instructions executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:

determine a difference between a first previous assessment of the confidentiality level that supported the redaction and the first current assessment of the confidentiality level; and

determine a difference between a second previous assessment of the user clearance level that supported the redaction and the second current assessment of the user clearance level.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 24, 2025
From: TALON CYBER SECURITY LTD.
To: PALO ALTO NETWORKS, INC.
Reel/Frame 069993/0831 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 20, 2024
From: BEN-NOON, OFER; BOBROV, OHAD; BUSHARI, OMRI
To: TALON CYBER SECURITY LTD.
Reel/Frame 067788/0220 →
Continuity (3)
Continuation In Part PCTIL2023050652 · Jun 22, 2023
Provisional Application 63354896 · Jun 23, 2022
Related Publication 20250016167A1 · Jan 9, 2025
References Cited (61)
US 9497205B1 · Claudatos et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 10552639B1 · Buzbee et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 11010476B2 · Wilczynski et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 11290429B1 · Ashley et al. · 2022 [cited by applicant]
US 11388167B2 · Boodaei · 2022 [cited by applicant]
US 11582316B1 · Danyi et al. · 2023 [cited by applicant]
US 11949707B1 · Syme et al. · 2024 [cited by applicant]
US 12277246B1 · Manton et al. · 2025 [cited by applicant]
US 12299119B2 · Ko et al. · 2025 [cited by applicant]
US 20080159146A1 · Claudatos et al. · 2008 [cited by applicant]
US 20080162135A1 · Claudatos et al. · 2008 [cited by applicant]
US 20130227714A1 · Gula et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 20140129920A1 · Sheretov · 2014 [cited by examiner]
US 20150047034A1 · Burnham et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20150149558A1 · Mendez · 2015 [cited by examiner]
US 20160019002A1 · Kurtin · 2016 [cited by examiner]
US 20160080397A1 · Bacastow et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20160286410A1 · O'Malley · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20170186019A1 · Loeb et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20170353496A1 · Pai et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20180075058A1 · Boutnara · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180191770A1 · Nachenberg et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180219849A1 · Jones · 2018 [cited by examiner]
US 20180351979A1 · Mandrychenko et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180373578A1 · Bridges et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180375877A1 · Jakobsson et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20200151348A1 · Chauhan · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 20200250323A1 · Remington · 2020 [cited by examiner]
US 20200265112A1 · Fox et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20200293684A1 · Harris et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20210026982A1 · Amarendran et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 20210194888A1 · Bhaskar S · 2021 [cited by examiner]
US 20210250333A1 · Negrea et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 20210409446A1 · Di Mattia · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 20220067216A1 · Bokade · 2022 [cited by examiner]
US 20220188438A1 · Lewin et al. · 2022 [cited by applicant]
US 20220309183A1 · Jose · 2022 [cited by examiner]
US 20220358234A1 · Shank · 2022 [cited by examiner]
US 20220382902A1 · Panikkar · 2022 [cited by examiner]
US 20230140559A1 · Bendersky et al. · 2023 [cited by applicant]
US 20230262053A1 · Nilgiri · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 20230267219A1 · Perumalla et al. · 2023 [cited by applicant]
US 20240012941A1 · Goradia et al. · 2024 [cited by applicant]
US 20240039918A1 · Ben-Noon et al. · 2024 [cited by applicant]
US 20240045953A1 · Ben-Noon et al. · 2024 [cited by applicant]
US 20240193539A1 · Leu et al. · 2024 [cited by applicant]
US 20240378314A1 · Chawla et al. · 2024 [cited by applicant]
US 20250094593A1 · Smith et al. · 2025 [cited by applicant]
US 20250150512A1 · Ben-Noon et al. · 2025 [cited by applicant]
US 20250181681A1 · Ben-Noon et al. · 2025 [cited by applicant]
WO 2018213457A1 · 2018 [cited by applicant]
WO 2025015927A1 · 2025 [cited by applicant]
PCT Application PCT/IL2023/050652, International Preliminary Report on Patentability, mailed Jan. 2, 2025, 12 pages. [cited by applicant]
PCT Application PCT/IL2023/050652, International Search Report & Written Opinion mailed Nov. 28, 2023, 17 pages. [cited by applicant]
U.S. Appl. No. 18/487,087, Non-Final Office Action mailed May 8, 2025, 9 pages. [cited by applicant]
U.S. Appl. No. 18/487,085, Non-Final Office Action mailed Jun. 27, 2025, 14 pages. [cited by applicant]
U.S. Appl. No. 18/665,654, Non-Final Office Action mailed Sep. 26, 2025, 7 pages. [cited by applicant]
U.S. Appl. No. 18/487,085, Notice of Allowance mailed Oct. 16, 2025, 11 pages. [cited by applicant]
U.S. Appl. No. 18/487,087, Final Office Action mailed Nov. 3, 2025, 9 pages. [cited by applicant]
U.S. Appl. No. 18/665,630, Non-Final Office Action, mailed Nov. 5, 2025, 14 pages. [cited by applicant]
U.S. Appl. No. 18/665,647, Non-Final Office Action mailed Nov. 3, 2025, 10 pages. [cited by applicant]