System and Method for Sensitive Content Analysis Prioritization Based on File Metadata

In a data governance system, a method for determining a likelihood that a file system object contains sensitive content, said method comprising:

• obtaining a set of training metadata corresponding to a set of training file system objects, each file system object of said set of training file system objects having a known status indicating that said each file system object either contains sensitive content or does not contain sensitive content;
• processing said set of training metadata to extract a set of training features from said set of training metadata, said training features corresponding to a particular subset of said training metadata being indicative of the probability that a corresponding particular training file system object contains sensitive content;
• analyzing said set of training features to determine a relationship between said set of training features and said known statuses of said set of training file system objects;
• informing a sensitivity estimation algorithm according to said relationship between said set of training features and said known statuses of said set of training file system objects;
• obtaining first metadata and second metadata, said first metadata corresponding to a first file system object and said second metadata corresponding to a second file system object;
• analyzing said first metadata according to said sensitivity estimation algorithm to generate a first estimate value based at least in part on said first metadata, said first estimate value being indicative of a first likelihood that said first file system object includes sensitive content;
• analyzing said second metadata according to said sensitivity estimation algorithm to generate a second estimate value based at least in part on said second metadata, said second estimate value being indicative of a second likelihood that said second file system object includes sensitive content;
• prioritizing said first file system object and said second file system object based at least in part on said first estimate value and said second estimate value;
• and
• performing an operation on said first file system object prior to performing said operation on said second file system object based at least in part on results of said prioritizing.

A data governance system for determining a likelihood that a file system object contains sensitive content, comprising:

• at least one hardware processor electrically coupled to execute code, said code including a set of native instructions configured to cause said at least one hardware processor to carry out a corresponding set of operations when executed by said at least one hardware processor;
• and
• memory electrically coupled to store data and said code, said data and said code including
• a training service including
• a first subset of said set of native instructions configured to obtain a set of training metadata corresponding to a set of training file system objects, each file system object of said set of training file system objects having a known status indicating that said each file system object either contains sensitive content or does not contain sensitive content,
• a second subset of said set of native instructions configured to process said set of training metadata to extract a set of training features from said set of training metadata, said training features corresponding to a particular subset of said training metadata being indicative of the probability that a corresponding particular training file system object contains sensitive content,
• a third subset of said set of native instructions configured to analyze said set of training features to determine a relationship between said set of training features and said known statuses of said set of training file system objects, and
• a fourth subset of said set of native instructions configured to inform a sensitivity estimation algorithm according to said relationship between said set of training features and said known statuses of said set of training file system objects, and
• a data governance service including
• a fifth subset of said set of native instructions configured to obtain first metadata and second metadata, said first metadata corresponding to a first file system object and said second metadata corresponding to a second file system object,
• a sixth subset of said set of native instructions configured to analyze said first metadata according to said sensitivity estimation algorithm to generate a first estimate value based at least in part on said first metadata, said first estimate value being indicative of a first likelihood that said first file system object includes sensitive content,
• a seventh subset of said set of native instructions configured to analyze said second metadata according to said sensitivity estimation algorithm to generate a second estimate value based at least in part on said second metadata, said second estimate value being indicative of a second likelihood that said second file system object includes sensitive content,
• an eighth subset of said set of native instructions configured to prioritize said first file system object and said second file system object based at least in part on said first estimate value and said second estimate value, and
• a ninth subset of said set of native instructions configured to perform an operation on said first file system object prior to performing said operation on said second file system object based at least in part on results of said prioritizing.