Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Gregory Kostal

Vladimir Yarmolenko

Scott C Cottrille

Yuhui Zhong

Vinay Krishnaswamy

Krassimir Emilov Karamfilov

Pankaj Mohan Kamat

Frank Byrum

Rushmi U Malaviarachchi

Tejas Patel

Kenneth D Ray

Attila Narin

Peter David Waxman

Mayank Mehta

Charles F Rose

Ravindra Pandya

Edward Thomas Banti

Amit Fulay

Muthukrishnan Paramasivam

Chandresh Kumar Jain

Abhijat A Kanade

Vasantha K Ravula

Daniel Wade Hitchcock

Victor Boctor

Hao Zhang

Chandramouli Venkatesh

Christopher Barnes

Michael Nelte

Duncan G Bryce

Prashant Malik

Steve Bourne

Keith S Brintzenhofe

Yevgeniy Eugene Rozenfeld

James R Knibb

Thomas K Lindeman

Kumar B Parambir

Ayse Yesim Koman

Attilla Narin

Jody A Hendrix

Jason Xiaodong Hu

Sunitha Samuel

Umesh R Dhond

Jeffrey M Brown

Li Ren

Patricia Priest

Syed A Mehdi

Charles F Iii Rose

Ravindra Nath Pandya

Implementing a data protection service. One method includes receiving a request to provision a first tenant among a plurality of tenants managed by a single data protection service. A tenant is defined as an entity among a plurality of entities. A single data protection service provides data protection services to all tenants in the plurality of tenants. A first encryption key used to decrypt the first tenant's data at the data store is stored. The first encryption key is specific to the first tenant and thus cannot be used to decrypt other tenants' data at the data store from among the plurality of tenants. Rather each tenant in the plurality of tenants is associated with an encryption key, not usable by other tenants, used at the data store to decrypt data on a tenant and corresponding key basis.

Multitenant-aware protection service

The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for deriving express rights in protected content. Embodiments of the invention provide mechanisms to convert implicit rights to express rights for entities, including applications, inside and outside of an organizational (e.g., enterprise) boundary. The conversion can occur dynamically, based on the information protection policies defined by a policy administrator, granting entities express access to perform tasks on protected content.

Deriving express rights in protected content

Business to business secure mail may be provided. Consistent with embodiments of the invention, a protected message may be received. The recipient may request a token from a trust broker, submit the token to an authorization server associated with the sender, receive a user license from the authorization server; and decrypt the protected message using the user license. The protected message may restrict actions that may be taken by the recipient, such as forwarding to other users.

Business to business secure mail

The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for separating authorization identity from policy enforcement identity. Embodiments of the invention extend the consumption phase for protected information. Two identities, an authorization identity and a policy enforcement identity, are used for acquiring, issuing and enforcing usage license instead of one identity certificate. The authorization identity is used to evaluate against usage policy. The authorization identity is similar to identification information in an identity certificate. The policy enforcement identity is used to ensure the confidentiality of granted permissions and content key. The policy enforcement identity enforces a usage license on an authorization principal's (e.g., recipient's) machine. The policy enforcement identity's enforcement of a usage license is similar use of a cryptographic key in an identity certificate.

Separating authorization identity from policy enforcement identity

One embodiment includes a method which may be practiced in a computing environment where resources are distributed. The method includes acts for obtaining policy information defining restrictions on resources distributed in the computing environment. The method includes sending a request to a server for metadata about one or more resource protection policies at the server. In response to the request, metadata about one or more resource protection polices at the server is received from the server. The metadata from the server is analyzed. Based on analyzing the metadata, one or more resource protection policies stored at the client are updated.

Distribution of information protection policies to client machines

The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for a centrally accessible policy repository. Protection policies for protecting resources within an organization are stored at a central policy repository. Thus, an administrator can centrally create, maintain, and manage resource protection polices for all of the organizational units within an organization. Accordingly, resources consumed when performing these protection policy related operations is significantly reduced. Additionally, since protection policies are centrally located, there is increased likelihood of being able to consistently apply an organization's protection policies within different organizational units, even when protection policies change.

Centrally accessible policy repository

The secure application of content protection policies to content. The secure application of content protection polices is accomplished by having an enforcement mechanism monitor policy application points to detect the transfer of content. The enforcement mechanism accesses the content and a determination is made to protect the content. A usage policy is then identified by the enforcement mechanism to apply to the content and the usage policy is then applied to the content, resulting in a usage policy for the content.

Automatic application of information protection policies

The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for pre-performing operations for accessing protected content. Cryptographic user key pairs can be pre-generated and distributed in response to a variety of different events prior to provisioning client machine for accessing protected content. Usage licenses can be pre-generated and allocated prior to requests for usage licenses. Usage licenses can be pre-obtained for client machines prior to client machines access protected content. Pre-performed operations can be performed in response to detected events, such as, for example, reduced resource consumption in a Digital Rights Management system.

Pre-performing operations for accessing protected content

Systems and methods for providing digital rights management services are disclosed. Such a system includes a service program that provides a processing framework for performing a digital rights management service, such as publishing or licensing rights managed digital content. A plurality of plug-in components are provided, each of which performs a respective task associated with the digital rights management service. The plug-in components are integrated into the processing framework according to predefined sets of interface rules.

Secure server plug-in architecture for digital rights management systems

An improved certificate issuing system may comprise a certificate translation engine for translating incoming certificates and certificate requests from a first format into a second format. A certificate issuing engine may then operate on incoming requests in the common format. The issuing engine can issue certificates to clients according to its certificate issuing policy. The policy may be expressed as data in a policy expression language that can be consumed at runtime, which provides for flexible and efficient changing of issuing policy. Issued certificates can be translated back into a format that is consumed by the requesting client. Such translation can be performed by the translation engine prior to delivery of certificates to requesting clients.

Format-agnostic system and method for issuing certificates

An improved certificate issuing system may comprise a novel arrangement for expressing certificate issuing policy. The policy may be expressed in a human-readable policy expression language and stored for example in a file that is consumed by a certificate issuing system at runtime. The policy may thus be easily changed by altering the digital file. Certain techniques are also provided for extending the capabilities of the certificate issuing system so it may apply and enforce new policies.

Extendable data-driven system and method for issuing certificates

A key management interface that allows for different key protection schemes to be plugged into a digital rights management system is disclosed. The interface exposes the functionality of signing data, decrypting data encrypted using a public key, and re-encrypting data encrypted using the public key exported by the interface to a different authenticated principal (i.e., a different public key). Thus, a secure interface can be provided such that the data does not enter or leave the interface in the clear. Such an interface exports private key operations of signing and decryption, and provides security and authentication for the digital asset server in licensing and publishing. During publishing, a client can encrypt asset keys such that only a specified entity can decrypt it, using a plug-in, for example, that implements the aforementioned interface. During licensing, the license issuing entity can use the interface to decrypt keys for assets and to sign licenses and rights labels such that the asset is protected and consumable by a host digital rights management platform. The interface thus provides an abstraction for key operations.

Systems and methods for providing secure server key operations

A Digital Rights Management (DRM) system has a plurality of DRM servers performing DRM functionality and an entering DRM-E server is enrolled into the system by an enrolling DRM-R server such that the entering DRM-E server is to be trusted within the system. The DRM-E server sends an enrollment request to the DRM-R server including a proffering identification and a public key (PU-E). The DRM-R server validates the proffering identification, and, if the request is to be honored, generates a digital enrollment certificate with (PU-E) for the DRM-E server to enroll such DRM-E server into the DRM system. The now-enrolled DRM-E server with the generated enrollment certificate is able to employ same to issue DRM documents within the DRM system.

Enrolling / sub-enrolling a digital rights management (DRM) server into a DRM architecture

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Kirkland, WA, United States of America

Gregory Kostal