System and method for optimizing visual session recording for user account management in a computing environment

A method for monitoring one or more user sessions on an associated target system in an associated computing environment, the method comprising:

• providing an account management system;
• automatically capturing with the account management system a plurality of user session screen captures that are associated with a user session on the associated target system;
• processing, by the account management system, each user session screen capture of the plurality of user session screen captures, the processing by the account management system comprising:
• computing a hash for a user session screen capture;
• comparing a hash computed for the user session screen capture, which was automatically captured at a time during the user session, with a hash that was computed for a user session screen capture that was automatically captured before the time and discarding the user session screen capture that was automatically captured at the time if the hash computed for the user session screen capture that was automatically captured at the time is identical to the hash that was computed for the user session screen capture that was automatically captured before the time;
• and;
• applying one or more screen capture comparison rules to selectively discard the user session screen capture that was automatically captured at the time if one or more differences identified between the user session screen capture that was automatically captured at the time and the user session screen capture that was automatically captured before the time satisfy at least one of the one or more screen capture comparison rules, wherein the one or more screen capture comparison rules comprise:
• a first screen capture comparison rule which requires the one or more differences identified between the user session screen automatically captured at the time and the user session screen capture automatically captured before the time to be exclusively within a portion of the associated target system defined as being irrelevant to an auditing of the one or more user sessions;
• a second screen capture comparison rule which requires the one or more differences identified between the user session screen automatically captured at the time and the user session screen capture automatically captured before the time to be exclusively outside a portion of the associated target system determined to be displaying an active foreground application executing on the associated target system;
• and/or
• a third screen capture comparison rule which requires the one or more differences identified between the user session screen capture automatically captured at the time and the user session screen capture automatically captured before the time to be exclusively outside of a portion of the associated target system determined to be displaying a selected application executing on the associated target system;
• and
• automatically encoding, by the account management system, a subset of the plurality of user session screen captures into a video, the subset comprising those user session screen captures which were not discarded.