Securing Data on Untrusted Devices

Abstract

One example method for securing data on untrusted devices includes the steps of identifying, by a first process, a command in a command queue, the command from a second process and comprising an action on secure data; determining whether the command is permitted based on the action and a user credential; and responsive to determining the command is not permitted, removing, by the first process, the command from the command queue.

That which is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 identifying, by a first process, a command in a command queue, the command from a second process and indicating an action on secure data;   determining whether the command is permitted based on the action and a user credential; and   responsive to determining the command is not permitted, removing, by the first process, the command from the command queue.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein identifying the command comprises identifying an entry in the command queue associated with a secure storage location, and identifying the software application based on the entry. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein identifying the entry comprises identifying a path on a computer-readable medium for the secure storage location or a process identifier of a software application accessing the secure data. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the secure storage location comprises a separately-mountable partition of a computer-readable medium. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the secure data comprises data stored within a secure storage location, and wherein identifying the command comprises identifying an entry in the command queue associated with a process identifier of a process accessing the secure data. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the command queue comprises an operating system command queue. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the command queue comprises an application server command queue. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the command queue comprises a virtual machine command queue. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, responsive to determining the command is permitted, not removing the command from the command queue. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the command comprises at least one of a save command, a save as command, an open command, a move command, a rename command, a print command, a copy command, a cut command, a paste command, an email command, a screenshot command, a rename command, or a share command. 
     
     
         11 . A device comprising:
 a non-transitory computer-readable medium;   a processor in communication with the non-transitory computer readable medium, the processor configured to:
 monitor, by a first process, a command queue to identify commands from other processes, at least one of the commands indicating an action on secure data; 
 access one or more access rules to determine whether the at least one command is permitted; and 
 responsive to a determination the command is not permitted, remove the command from the command queue. 
   
     
     
         12 . The device of  claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 identify an entry in the command queue associated with a secure storage location, and   identify the software application based on the entry, to identify the command.   
     
     
         13 . The device of  claim 12 , wherein the processor is further configured to identify a path on a computer-readable medium for the secure storage location to identify the entry. 
     
     
         14 . The device of  claim 12 , wherein the secure storage location comprises a separately-mountable partition of a computer-readable medium. 
     
     
         15 . The device of  claim 11 , wherein the secure data comprises data stored within a secure storage location, and wherein the processor is further configured to identify an entry in the command queue associated with a process identifier of a process accessing the secure data to identify the command. 
     
     
         16 . The device of  claim 11 , wherein the command queue comprises an operating system command queue. 
     
     
         17 . The device of  claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to not remove the command from the command queue if the command is permitted. 
     
     
         18 . The device of  claim 11 , wherein the command comprises at least one of a save command, a save as command, an open command, a move command, a rename command, a print command, a copy command, a cut command, a paste command, an email command, a screenshot command, a rename command, or a share command. 
     
     
         19 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program code, the program code comprising monitoring software executable by a processor, the monitoring software configured to:
 monitor a command queue to identify commands from other processes;   identify a command indicating an action on secure data;   transmit a request to determine whether the command is permitted; and   responsive to a response to the request indicating that the command is not permitted, remove the command from the command queue.   
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein the program code further comprises program code for access rules software executable by a processor, the access rules software configured to:
 access an access rules data store, the access rules data store configured to store one or more rules associated with commands or user credentials;   receive requests to determine whether commands associated with the requests are permitted;   determine whether the commands are permitted based on the respective request and the one or more rules; and   transmit a response message to the respective request.