Systems and methods for identifying the presence of sensitive data in backups
AssigneeSymantec Corporation
InventorNiel Orcutt
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A computer-implemented method for identifying the presence of sensitive data in a backup may comprise identifying a backup, identifying sensitive data in the backup, creating metadata that identifies the presence of the sensitive data in the backup, and associating the metadata with the backup. In addition, a method for preventing sensitive data from being placed in a backup may comprise identifying a file, identifying sensitive data in the file, and preventing the file from being placed in a backup. Corresponding systems and computer-readable media are also disclosed.
Claims17
A computer-implemented method for identifying the presence of sensitive data in backups, at least a portion of the method being performed by a computing system comprising at least one processor, the method comprising:
- identifying a backup;
- identifying sensitive data in the backup;
- creating metadata that identifies both the presence of the sensitive data in the backup and at least one characteristic of the sensitive data;
- associating the metadata with the backup to signal the presence of the sensitive data in the backup;
- wherein at least a portion of the metadata is stored in a manner that enables the presence of the sensitive data in the backup to be identified even after the backup has been encrypted or compressed.
A system for identifying the presence of sensitive data in backups, the system comprising:
- a sensitive-data-detection module programmed to:
- identify a backup;
- identify sensitive data in the backup;
- a metadata module programmed to:
- create metadata that identifies both the presence of the sensitive data in the backup and at least one characteristic of the sensitive data;
- associate the metadata with the sensitive data identified in the backup to signal the presence of the sensitive data in the backup;
- wherein at least a portion of the metadata is stored in a manner that enables the presence of the sensitive data in the backup to be identified even after the backup has been encrypted or compressed;
- at least one processor configured to execute the sensitive-data-detection module and the metadata module.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing information that identifies the presence of sensitive data in a backup, the non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising:
- backup data that comprises sensitive data;
- metadata that identifies both the presence of the sensitive data in the backup data and at least one characteristic of the sensitive data;
- wherein the metadata is associated with the backup data to signal the presence of the sensitive data in the backup data;
- wherein at least a portion of the metadata is stored in a manner that enables the presence of the sensitive data in the backup data to be identified even after the backup data has been encrypted or compressed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.