Box Limited

Alok Ojha

Kechen Huang

Pal Ramanathan

Yi Zhao

Advait D Karande

Sivaramakrishnan Subramanian

David Vengerov

Sesh Jalagam

Deepak Khajuria

Jeremy Scott Spiegel

Nitya Sundareswaran

Varun Parmar

Benjamin Draffin

Yuvnesh Modi

Rena Mashintchian

Peter Loer

As a default, a global permissions model is established. The global permissions model serves for applying a first set of resource access permissions to shared content objects. Additionally, a set of context-aware access policies that govern user interactions over the shared content object is established. When a particular user requests an interaction over a shared content object, then interaction attributes associated with the request are gathered. The context-aware access policies are applied to the request by determining a set of extensible access permissions that are derived from the interaction attributes. The context-aware access policies are enforced by overriding the first set of resource access permissions with dynamically-determined access permissions. When a particular access request is denied, a response is generated in accordance with the set of extensible access permissions and the user is notified. In some cases, the access request is permitted, but only after the user provides a justification.

Context-aware content object security

Systems and methods for ransomware protection in collaboration systems. One embodiment operates in conjunction with a collaboration system that manages one or more user devices that store device-local copies of content objects in storage areas of the one or more user devices. The collaboration system is accessed by the one or more user devices to facilitate collaboration activity over the content objects. Patterns of collaboration activity are classified, and in some cases, such patterns are deemed to be indicative of ransomware. If ransomware is indicated to be running on a user device, the collaboration system is notified that a ransomware process has been detected on the user device. The collaboration system delivers a prevention policy to other user devices that interface with the collaboration system. The prevention policy is in turn enforced by the other user devices to prevent synchronization of content object changes made by the ransomware.

Ransomware remediation in collaboration environments

Various corpora of content objects and other information sources beyond the corpora of content objects are processed to identify personally identifiable information (PII). PII that is associated with a named person is codified into a first portion of a graph-oriented data structure. Also, PII that is associated with an alias that might refer to a named person is codified into a second portion of the graph-oriented data structure. A determination is made that the alias that might refer to a named person is indeed an alias that is a coreference to the named person. Based on that determination then, since the first portion of the graph and the second portion of the graph refer to the same person, then the PII of the second portion of the graph can be deemed to be PII of the same person. PII in common and/or language processing can be used to establish coreferences.

Mapping of personally-identifiable information to a person-based on traversal of a graph

Mapping of personally-identifiable information to a person based on natural language coreference resolution

Methods, systems and computer program products for content management systems. The techniques of the methods, systems and/or computer program products automatically determine activity-based content object access permissions and/or make a recommendation of activity-based content object access permissions. A machine learning model is formed from observations of user interactions over a plurality of content objects. The model is continually updated based on ongoing observation and analysis of user interaction events. When a collaborative relationship is formed between an invitor and one or more invitees, the activity-based permissions model is accessed to determine a set of access permissions to assign to the collaborative relationship. A single collaborative relationship may cover many collaboration objects. In some cases, a set of access permissions are automatically assigned to the collaborative relationship. In other cases, a set of access permissions is presented to the invitor as a recommendation. A user can accept or reject any recommendation.

Activity-based content object access permissions

A collaboration system manages a plurality of content objects that are shared by multiple users at corresponding user devices in corresponding computing environments. Policies that govern interactions over the plurality of content objects are established. A content object upload request from a first user belonging to a first enterprise is processed by the collaboration system and then the content object is shared with a second user of a second enterprise. Security characteristics pertaining to the second user, and/or the second enterprise, and/or the second user's devices are initially unknown or unverified. As such, upon receiving interaction events raised by a user device of the second user, a set of interaction attributes associated with the interaction events are gathered. One or more trust policies are applied to the interaction attributes to evaluate security conditions that correspond to the interaction events. A response is generated based on the evaluated security conditions.

Policy-based user device security checks

A cloud-based content object management system responds to download requests from user devices to provide access to synchronization code. Using the synchronization code, a user device requests, receives, and stores a user-device-local copy of a subject content object. The cloud-based content object management system determines that at least one security-related parameter pertaining to the subject content object has undergone a change and reaches a determination that the user-device-local copy of the subject content object is to be either deleted or quarantined. Upon such determination, the cloud-based content object management system forms eviction instructions and sends them to the user device, which in turn causes deletion or quarantining of the remote content object copy at the user device, while still retaining directory structure metadata that refers to the now evicted subject content object. The subject content object stored at the cloud-based content object management system is synchronized with other user devices.

Selective deletion of synchronized content object copies based on a detected change

Leakage of secure content (e.g., unauthorized dissemination of secure content) is prevented even after a user has downloaded a copy of the secure content. In a content management system, the secure content object is accessible by users who access the secure content by downloading copies. While the downloading of a copy to a user device is permitted, further dissemination is not allowed. To enforce this degree of security, the user downloads a virtual file system that is configured to store a local instance of the secure content object in a secure container of the user device. During ongoing operation of the user device, every data movement operation request associated with the local instance of the secure content object is intercepted. Logic implemented in the downloaded a virtual file system will deny any data movement operation request when a target storage location associated with the data movement operation request is other than a location in the secure container.

Secure content leakage prevention

Methods, systems and computer program products for computing system security. Techniques for classifying a potentially unauthorized user as an authorized user involve comparisons of two or more access request times that occur at different computing devices in different geographical locations. Based on those comparisons and the distance between the geographical locations of the different computing devices, a determination is made as to whether or not travel (e.g., via overland travel, via air travel, etc.) between those different geographical locations can be reasonably accomplished within a given time period. If it is determined that the required time for travel between the different geographical locations is greater than the time between the access request times&#x2014;thus suggesting a spoofing attack or other malfeasance&#x2014;then the potentially unauthorized (i.e., only potentially malfeasant) access can still be deemed as an authorizable access request by analyzing browser configurations and activity patterns of the potentially unauthorized user.

Avoiding user session misclassification using configuration and activity fingerprints

A collaboration system provides network access to a plurality of content objects. The collaboration system facilitates collaboration interactions between particular users by allowing or denying network access to the plurality of content objects based on user invitations. A computing module observes and records user-to-user or user-to-content collaboration invitations over the plurality of content objects. On an ongoing basis, a collaboration network graph is constructed and maintained, with updates to the collaboration network graph being continually applied based on observed collaboration interactions. On demand, such as upon receipt of a user request for access to a content object, the updated collaboration network graph is consulted so as to generate a then-current sharing boundary. If the user that raised the user request is within the generated then-current sharing boundary, then access to the content object is granted, otherwise further processing is invoked to determine if the user should nevertheless be granted access.

Dynamically generating sharing boundaries

Methods, systems and computer program products for managing shared content directory structure metadata stored on client devices. A method embodiment includes identifying a collaboration system that stores one or more content objects that are organized in accordance with a directory structure. Requests pertaining to the content objects are raised by processing entities running on the client device. The requests include instructions to retrieve one or more of multiple types of metadata associated with the directory elements that constitute the directory structure. Based on timing and patterns of requests pertaining to the content objects, a monitoring function detects unwanted runaway retrieval by a runaway process. To prevent further unwanted runaway retrieval of the metadata, the runaway process is blocked from continuing its pattern of unwanted (runaway) retrieval. The collaboration system is notified of characteristics of the runaway process. Some or all of the unwanted retrievals are remediated automatically.

Growing community of inventors

Newark, CA, United States of America

Alok Ojha