Policy based clipboard access

Abstract

Disclosed are various examples for providing access to a clipboard based at least in part on one or more policies. Data is received from a client application. A permission associated with the client application is checked, the permission specifying that the client application is authorized to store data in a clipboard provided by an operating system of the computing device. In response, the data received from the client application is stored in the clipboard.

Therefore, the following is claimed: 
     
         1 . A system for providing policy-based access to a clipboard, comprising:
 a computing device comprising a processor and a memory;   an operating system stored in the memory, the operating system providing a clipboard class to access a clipboard provided by the operating system of the computing device; and   machine readable instructions stored in the memory that extend the clipboard class and, when executed by the processor, cause the computing device to at least:
 intercept a request from a client application to access the clipboard, wherein the request comprises data to be stored in the clipboard; 
 check a permission associated with the client application, wherein the permission is checked by:
 transmitting a query over a network to a management service; and 
 receiving a response from the management service, the response including an instruction to encrypt the data from the request; 
 
 generate encrypted data based on the data received from the client application using an encryption key, the encryption key being generated in response to receiving the instruction; and 
 store the encrypted data in the clipboard. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  for providing policy-based access to the clipboard, wherein the query transmitted to the management service comprises a device identifier associated with the computing device, wherein the device identifier is configured to identify the computing device as enrolled with the management service. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1  for providing policy-based access to the clipboard, wherein storing the encrypted data in the clipboard further comprises storing the encrypted data in a data buffer that replicates the clipboard. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1  for providing policy-based access to the clipboard, wherein the query further identifies a type for the data to be stored in the clipboard. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1  for providing policy-based access to the clipboard, wherein the client application is a first client application, the permission is a first permission, and the machine readable instructions further cause the computing device to at least:
 receive, from a second client application, a request for the data stored in the clipboard that was previously received from the first client application; 
 check a second permission associated with the second client application, the second permission specifying that the second client application is authorized to retrieve the data stored in the clipboard that was previously received from the first client application; 
 decrypt the encrypted data stored in the clipboard that was previously received from the first client application; and 
 send to the second client application the data. 
 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1  for providing policy-based access to the clipboard, wherein the machine readable instructions are associated with a subclass of the clipboard class associated with the operating system. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1  for providing policy-based access to the clipboard, wherein the computing device is a mobile device and the operating system is a version of an ANDROID operating system. 
     
     
         8 . A computer-implemented method for providing policy-based access to a clipboard, comprising:
 intercepting a request from a client application to access the clipboard, wherein the request comprises data to be stored in a clipboard provided by an operating system of a computing device;   checking a permission associated with the client application, wherein the permission is checked by:
 transmitting a query over a network to a management service; and 
 receiving a response from the management service, the response including an instruction to encrypt the data from the request; 
   generating encrypted data based on the data received from the client application using an encryption key, the encryption key being generated in response to receiving the instruction; and   storing the encrypted data in the clipboard.   
     
     
         9 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8  for providing policy-based access to the clipboard, wherein the query transmitted to the management service comprises a device identifier associated with the computing device, wherein the device identifier is configured to identify the computing device as enrolled with the management service. 
     
     
         10 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8  for providing policy-based access to the clipboard, wherein storing the encrypted data in the clipboard further comprises storing the encrypted data in a data buffer that replicates the clipboard. 
     
     
         11 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8  for providing policy-based access to the clipboard, wherein the query further identifies a type for the data to be stored in the clipboard. 
     
     
         12 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8  for providing policy-based access to the clipboard, wherein the client application is a first client application, the permission is a first permission, and the method further comprises:
 receiving, from a second client application, a request for the data stored in the clipboard that was previously received from the first client application 
 checking a second permission associated with the second client application, the second permission specifying that the second client application is authorized to retrieve the data stored in the clipboard that was previously received from the first client application; 
 decrypting the encrypted data stored in the clipboard that was previously received from the first client application; and 
 sending to the second client application the data. 
 
     
     
         13 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8  for providing policy-based access to the clipboard, wherein the clipboard is controlled by a subclass of a clipboard class provided by the operating system. 
     
     
         14 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8  for providing policy-based access to the clipboard, the operating system is a version of an ANDROID operating system. 
     
     
         15 . A system for providing policy-based access to a clipboard, comprising:
 a computing device comprising a processor and a memory; and   an operating system stored in the memory, the operating system providing a clipboard class to access a clipboard provided by the operating system of the computing device; and   machine readable instructions stored in the memory that extend the clipboard class and, when executed by the processor, cause the computing device to at least:
 intercept a request from a client application to access the clipboard, wherein the request comprises data to be stored in the clipboard; 
 check a permission associated with the client application, wherein the permission is checked by:
 transmitting a query over a network to a management service; and 
 receiving a response from the management service, the response including an instruction to encrypt the data from the request; 
 
 generate encrypted data based on the data received from the client application using an encryption key, the encryption key being generated in response to receiving the instruction; and 
 store the encrypted data in the clipboard. 
   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15  for providing policy-based access to the clipboard, wherein the query transmitted to the management service comprises a device identifier associated with the computing device, wherein the device identifier is configured to identify the computing device as enrolled with the management service. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16  for providing policy-based access to the clipboard, wherein storing the encrypted data in the clipboard further comprises storing the encrypted data in a data buffer that replicates the clipboard. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15  for providing policy-based access to the clipboard, wherein the query further identifies a type for the data to be stored in the clipboard. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18  for providing policy-based access to the clipboard, wherein the client application is a first client application, the permission is a first permission, and the machine readable instructions further cause the computing device to at least:
 receive, from a second client application, a request for the data stored in the clipboard that was previously received from the first client application 
 check a second permission associated with the second client application, the second permission specifying that the second client application is authorized to retrieve the data stored in the clipboard that was previously received from the first client application; 
 decrypt the encrypted data stored in the clipboard that was previously received from the first client application; and 
 send to the second client application the data. 
 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 15  for providing policy-based access to the clipboard, wherein the computing device is a mobile device and the operating system is a version of an ANDROID operating system.