Systems and methods for securing social media for users and businesses and rewarding for enhancing security

Abstract

The disclosed system and method enhances security of people, organizations, and other entities that use what has been termed “social media.” Recent trends have shown that information posted to social media may cause tremendous damage to individuals and other entities. This includes information that was posted deliberately or unintentionally, including social security numbers, financial data and other sensitive information. Further, information that previously may have been viewed as innocuous, such as location data, has caused harm on certain occasions and may need to be protected. The disclosed system provides a novel method of screening, identifying, and preventing certain information from being posted on social media and other public locations. In addition, the disclosed system and method improves security by motivating people to use security software by offering rewards for its use.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system, comprising:
 one or more non-transitory storage medium configured to provide stored computer-readable instructions, the one or more non-transitory storage mediums coupled to one or more processors, the one or more processors configured to executed the computer-readable instructions to cause the one or more processors to:   establish a connection to a network configured to provide an access to social media services;   receive a request to share data via the social media services associated with a social media service provider;   intercept the request before the data is shared via the social media services;   scan the data for one or more specified characteristics;   determine whether the data comprises the one or more specified characteristics; and   in response to determining that the data comprises the one or more specified characteristics, process the request based at least on one or more rules.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the system is internal or external to the network managed by the social media service provider. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the system comprises one or more virtual machines. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the system comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) network address that resides internally on the network associated with the social media service provider. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to transmit Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model layer 3 level transmission. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the social media services are provided the social media service provider or a third party working with the social media service provider. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the system is implemented on an application-level firewall. 
     
     
         8 . A system, comprising:
 one or more non-transitory storage medium configured to provide stored computer-readable instructions, the one or more non-transitory storage mediums coupled to one or more processors, the one or more processors configured to executed the computer-readable instructions to cause the one or more processors to:   establish a connection to a network configured to provide an access to social media services;   receive a request from a client device to share data via the social media services associated with a social media service provider;   intercept the request before the data is shared via the social media services;   scan the data for one or more specified characteristics;   determine whether the data comprises the one or more specified characteristics;   in response to determining that the data comprises the one or more specified characteristics, flag the data; and   transmit the flag to the client device.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the system is internal or external to the network managed by the social media service provider. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the system comprises one or more virtual machines. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the system comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) network address that resides internally on the network associated with the social media service provider. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to transmit Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model layer 3 level transmission. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the social media services are provided the social media service provider or a third party working with the social media service provider. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the system is implemented on an application-level firewall. 
     
     
         15 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that upon execution cause one or more processors to perform acts comprising:
 receiving, by way of a social media server application programming interface (API), a request to share data via social media services associated with a social media service provider;   intercepting the request before the data is shared via the social media services;   scanning the data for one or more specified characteristics;   determining whether the data comprises the one or more specified characteristics; and   in response to determining that the data comprises the one or more specified characteristics, rendering a modified view of the data via the social media services.   
     
     
         16 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 15 , wherein the acts further comprise performing at least one of textual analysis, image analysis, sound analysis, video analysis, and contextual analysis. 
     
     
         17 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 15 , wherein the acts further comprise:
 relaying the request to a remote server.   
     
     
         18 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 15 , wherein the acts further comprise:
 transmitting a notification to a client device based at least on one or more rules.   
     
     
         19 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 15 , wherein the acts further comprise:
 scanning the data on a scheduled basis.   
     
     
         20 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 15 , wherein the one or more specified characteristics are based at least on social media service provider. 
     
     
         21 . A system, comprising:
 one or more non-transitory storage medium configured to provide stored computer-readable instructions, the one or more non-transitory storage mediums coupled to one or more processors, the one or more processors configured to executed the computer-readable instructions to cause the one or more processors to:   establish a connection to a network to provide an access to social media services associated with a social media service provider, wherein the connection adds a network address of the system, the network address associated with the social media service provider;   receive a request via the network from a client device to share data via the social media services supported by an infrastructure managed by the social media service provider;   intercept the request before the data is shared via the social media services;   analyze the data for one or more specified characteristics;   determine whether the data comprises the one or more specified characteristics; and   in response to determining that the data comprises the one or more specified characteristics, perform one or more predetermined actions.