Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Microsoft Corporation

Robert P Reichel

Praerit Garg

Richard Bruce Ward

Kedarnath Atmaram Dubhashi

Bhalchandra Pandit

James W Kelly

Jeffrey B Hamblin

Paul J Leach

Scott Field

John E Brezak

Pradyumna K Misra

Michael M Swift

Anne C Hopkins

Robert George Atkinson

Keith Stuart Kaplan

Thomas Jay Miller

Murli D Satagopan

Peter T Brundrett

John J Lambert

Donald J Hacherl

Brian D Andrew

Robert M Price

Jianrong Gu

Bryan William Tuttle

Gary D Kimura

Michael R Seaman

David S Montague

Vishnu A Patankar

Jim E Thatcher

Keith S Kaplan

Peter Brundrett

Brian Andrew

Thomas J Miller

Improved intrusion detection and/or tracking methods and systems are provided for use across various computing devices and networks. Certain methods, for example, form a substantially unique audit identifier during each authentication/logon process. One method includes identifying one or more substantially unique parameters that are associated with the authentication/logon process and encrypting them to form at least one audit identifier that can then be generated and logged by each device involved in the authentication/logon process. The resulting audit log file can then be audited along with similar audit log files from other devices to track a user across multiple platforms.

Enhanced computer intrusion detection methods and systems

The restriction of particular resources includes providing a digital signature for unauthorized resources based on a structure-related parameter of the resource. Thus, attempts at circumventing recognition of such resource will likely result in altering the overall functionality of the resource. Further, such digital signatures are encoded in a critical file required for loading of a resource, thus ensuring that the identity of the resource is considered before execution thereof. Enforcement of the resource restriction includes generating a verification signature for a resource that requests loading. The verification signature is compared to the signature coded into the critical file, and a positive match results in the resource being blocked from loading.

Application identification and license enforcement

A dynamic authorization callback mechanism is provided that implements a dynamic authorization model. An application can thus implement virtually any authorization policy by utilizing dynamic data and flexible policy algorithms inherent in the dynamic authorization model. Dynamic data, such as client operation parameter values, client attributes stored in a time-varying or updateable data store, run-time or environmental factors such as time-of-day, and any other static or dynamic data that is managed or retrievable by the application may be evaluated in connection with access control decisions. Hence, applications may define and implement business rules that can be expressed in terms of run-time operations and dynamic data. An application thus has substantial flexibility in defining and implementing custom authorization policy, and at the same time provides standard definitions for such dynamic data and policy.

System and methods for providing dynamic authorization in a computer system

A hashing structure including multiple sub-hashes is used to determine whether an input value matches one or more of multiple target values. These values can be of any form, such as security identifiers in an access control system. To make the determination, a hash key is obtained from the input value and multiple sub-hash indexes (one for each of the multiple sub-hashes) are generated based on the key. Values are identified from the multiple sub-hashes by indexing into the sub-hashes using respective ones of the sub-hash indexes. These values are then combined to generate a resultant hash value. Each of the multiple target values corresponds to one of multiple portions of the resultant hash value. If the portion corresponding to one of the target values has a particular value, then that target value is a likely match and is compared to the input value to determine if indeed the two match. This comparison can then be repeated for each target value with a corresponding portion in the resultant hash value that has the particular value.

Hashing using multiple sub-hashes

Described is an invention for safeguarding against the modification of certain data associated with one domain of a distributed network by an entity (such as an administrator) within another domain of the distributed network while still allowing the entity to modify other data associated with the one domain. More particularly, security safeguards are applied by a directory replication service that operates to replicate the shared data to each domain in a domain 'forest.' Those security safeguards allow a user to indicate that certain modifications of specified shared data may only be made within the domain in which the shared data was created. In that way, a shared data namespace may still be implemented in which trust relationships exist so that, for example, an administrator in one domain may alter a configuration of another domain within the forest. However, certain data may be restricted by these safeguards such that certain modifications of that data (e.g., taking ownership of the data) may only be done from the domain which currently owns the data.

System and method for protecting domain data against unauthorized modification

An authorization handle is supported for each access policy determination that is likely to be repeated. In particular, an authorization handle may be assigned to access check results associated with the same discretionary access control list and the same client context. This likelihood may be determined based upon pre-set criteria for the application or service, based on usage history and the like. Once an access policy determination is assigned an authorization handle, the static maximum allowed access is cached for that policy determination. From access check to access check, the set of permissions desired by the client may change, and dynamic factors that might affect the overall privilege grant may also change; however, generally there is still a set of policies that is unaffected by the changes and common across access requests. The cached static maximum allowed access data is thus used to provide efficient operations for the evaluation of common policy sets. In systems having access policy evaluations that are repeated, authorization policy evaluations are more efficient, computer resources are free for other tasks, and performance improvements are observed.

System and methods for caching in connection with authorization in a computer system

A certification or signature is incorporated in a computer program, an executable file, or code to assure its authenticity and integrity, particularly for receiving it over an open computer network like the Internet. The executable file may be of any executable form, including an executable or portable executable .exe file format, a .cab cabinet file format, an .ocx object control format, or a Java class file. The certification includes a keyed source confirmation with a secure representation of the executable file. In an embodiment, the certification is referenced in a header of the executable file, the reference including a pointer to the keyed source confirmation and an indication of the size of the keyed source confirmation.

Embedding certifications in executable files for network transmission

A system and method for encryption and decryption of files. The system and method operate in conjunction with the file system to transparently encrypt and decrypt files in using a public key-private key pair encryption scheme. When a user puts a file in an encrypted directory or encrypts a file, all data writes to the disk for that file are encrypted with a random file encryption key generated from a random number and encrypted with the public key of a user and the public key of at least one recovery agent. The encrypted key information is stored with the file, whereby the user or a recovery agent can decrypt the file data using the private key thereof. When a proper private key is used, encrypted reads from the disk are decrypted transparently by the file system and returned to the user.

Encrypting file system and method

A method is provided, in accordance with the present invention, for merging a source domain into a target domain in a network. Merging domains comprises replacing a first account identification for each account associated with the source domain by a second account identification associated with the target domain. Next, in accordance with the present invention, for each account associated with the source domain, the first account identification is added to an account security data structure storing account identifications with which the account has previously been associated when associated with a former, merged domain.

Method and apparatus for merging user accounts from a source security

A method and system for controlling access to entities on a network on which a plurality of servers are installed that use different operating systems. A request is entered by a user at a workstation on the network to set access permissions to an entity on the network in regard to a trustee. In response to the request, various application programming interfaces (APIs) are called to translate the generic request to set permissions on the entity into a format appropriate for the operating system that controls the entity. Assuming that the user has the appropriate rights to set access permissions to the entity as requested, and assuming that the trustee identified by the user is among those who can have rights set to the entity, the request made by the user is granted. Entities include both 'containers' and 'objects.' Entities are either software, such as directories (containers) and files (objects), or hardware, such as printers (objects).

Controlling access to objects on multiple operating systems

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Redmond, WA, United States of America

Robert P Reichel