IP Library Granted Patent US 10,057,271
Granted Patent B2
US 10,057,271 · App. 15/602,483 · Granted Aug 21, 2018

Social media login and interaction management

Inventor: Hugo Vazquez Carames (Barcelona, ES)
Assignee: SONICWALL INC.
H04L63/102G06F21/31H04L63/02H04L63/0884H04L63/10H04L63/20
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,057,271
App. No.
15/602,483
Filed
May 23, 2017
Granted
Aug 21, 2018
Kind
B2
Examiner
ZEE, EDWARD
Art Unit
2435
USPC
726/1
Abstract

A hardware or software firewall may be installed within a private network. The firewall may intercept a first set of login credentials entered into a login interface of a social media platform. The firewall then checks that the first set of login credentials are correct against a first set of reference login credentials stored in a firewall memory, and sends a second set of login credentials to the login interface of the social media platform. This allows business employees to access a corporate social media profile from a private network but not outside the private network. The firewall can also limit social media interactions using the firewall by limiting the other profiles that a user's profile can interact with (e.g., using a whitelist, blacklist, or reputation score), by limiting communication types (e.g., using a whitelist or blacklist), by imposing firewall policies, or some combination thereof.

Claims (38)

1. A system for social media interaction management, the system comprising:

a memory that stores firewall instructions;

a communication interface that receives an interaction request destined for a social media platform server from a user device that is logged into a first social media profile of the social media platform server, the interaction request identifying at least a second social media profile and a communication type; and

a processor coupled to the memory, wherein execution of the firewall instructions by the processor:

accesses a group social media profile associated with a first group,

identifies that the identified second social media profile is a trusted social media profile based on the first and the second social media profile being associated with the first group and based on information included in the group social media profile,

identifies that the identified communication type is a trusted communication type based on the first and the second social media profile being associated with the first group and based on the information included in the group social media profile, and

identifies that the interaction request is to be sent to the social media platform server based on the identification that the second social media profile is a trusted social media profile and the identification that the communication type is a trusted communication type.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a router associated with a private network, wherein the communication interface comprises a network interface of the router.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the communication interface comprises a user interface of the user device.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the communication interface further transmits the interaction request to the social media platform server based on the identification that the request is to be sent to the social media platform.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the network interface receives another interaction request identifying a third social media profile and another communication type, and wherein the processor executes further instructions to block transmission of the another interaction request to the social media platform server based on identifying that the third social media profile is not a trusted social media profile or identifying that the another communication type is not a trusted communication type.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the identified communication type is at least one of a public message transfer, a private message transfer, an instant chat message transfer, a file transfer, a real-time audio call, a real-time video call, an asynchronous audio message, an asynchronous video message, or an ephemeral message.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor identifies that the communication type is a trusted communication type by comparing the communication type to one of a predefined communication type whitelist or a predefined communication type blacklist.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor identifies that the second social media profile is a trusted social media profile by comparing the second social media profile to one of a predefined profile whitelist or a predefined profile blacklist.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor identifies that the identified second social media profile is a trusted social media profile by comparing an identified reputation score value associated with the second social media profile with a predefined minimum reputation score limit value, the communication interface receives a second interaction request destined for the social media platform server, the second interaction request associated with a third social media profile that is associated with the group, and the second interaction request is not allowed based on a second reputation score associated with the third social media profile being below the reputation score limit.

10. A method for social media interaction management, the method comprising:

receiving an interaction request destined for a social media platform server from a user device that is logged into a first social media profile of the social media platform server, the interaction request identifying at least a second social media profile and a communication type; and

executing instructions stored in memory, wherein execution of the instructions by a processor:

accesses a group social media profile associated with a first group,

identifies that the identified second social media profile is a trusted social media profile based on the first and the second social media profile being associated with the first group and based on information included in the group social media profile,

identifies that the identified communication type is a trusted communication type based on the first and the second social media profile being associated with the first group and based on the information included in the group social media profile, and

identifies that the interaction request is to be sent to the social media platform server based on the identification that the second social media profile is a trusted social media profile and the identification that the communication type is a trusted communication type.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the processor is part of a router associated with a private network.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising transmitting the interaction request to the social media platform server based on the identification that the request is to be sent to the social media platform.

13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising receiving another interaction request identifying a third social media profile and another communication type, and transmitting the another interaction request to the social media platform server based on identifying that the third social media profile is not a trusted social media profile or identifying that the another communication type is not a trusted communication type.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the identified communication type is at least one of a public message transfer, a private message transfer, an instant chat message transfer, a file transfer, a real-time audio call, a real-time video call, an asynchronous audio message, an asynchronous video message, or an ephemeral message.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the processor identifies that the communication type is a trusted communication type based on comparing the identified communication type to one of a predefined communication type whitelist or a predefined communication type blacklist.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein the processor identifies that the second social media profile is a trusted social media profile based on comparing the second social media profile to one of a predefined profile whitelist or a predefined profile blacklist.

17. The method of claim 10 , wherein the processor identifies that the second social media profile is a trusted social media profile based on comparing an identified reputation score value associated with the second social media profile with a predefined minimum reputation score limit value, the communication interface receives a second interaction request destined for the social media platform server, the second interaction request associated with a third social media profile that is associated with the group, and the second interaction request is not allowed based on a second reputation score associated with the third social media profile being below the reputation score limit.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having embodied thereon a program executable by a processor to perform a method for social media interaction management, the method comprising:

receiving an interaction request destined for a social media platform server from a user device that is logged into a first social media profile of the social media platform server, the interaction request identifying at least a second social media profile and a communication type;

accessing a group social media profile associated with a first group;

identifying that the identified second social media profile is a trusted social media profile based on the first and the second social media profile being associated with the first group and based on information included in the group social media profile;

identifying that the identified communication type is a trusted communication type based on the first and the second social media profile being associated with the first group and based on the information included in the group social media profile; and

identifying that the interaction request is to be sent to the social media platform server based on the identification that the second social media profile is a trusted social media profile and the identification that the communication type is a trusted communication type.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18 , the program further executable to transmit the interaction request to the social media platform server.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18 , further comprising instructions executable to receive another interaction request identifying a third social media profile and another communication type, and to block transmission of the interaction request to the social media platform server based on identifying that the third social media profile is not a trusted social media profile or identifying that the another communication type is not a trusted communication type.

Assignments (5)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 9, 2022
From: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.
To: SONICWALL US HOLDINGS INC.
Reel/Frame 059912/0097 →
RELEASE OF SECOND LIEN SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS Recorded Feb 2, 2022
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.
Reel/Frame 059096/0683 →
RELEASE OF FIRST LIEN SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS Recorded Feb 2, 2022
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.
Reel/Frame 059105/0479 →
FIRST LIEN PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jun 7, 2018
From: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 046327/0347 →
SECOND LIEN PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jun 7, 2018
From: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 046327/0486 →
Continuity (2)
Continuation 14815866 · Jul 31, 2015
Related Publication 20170257374A1 · Sep 7, 2017