Patent ID: 8141129
Filing Date: 2012-03-20
Classification: G06F,H04L

Abstract:
1. One or more computer storage devices having stored thereon computer executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computer system, cause the computer system to implement a method for using a central policy database to consistently protect resources, the method comprising: an act of accessing a resource comprising a file; an act of determining that the file lacks policy data; based on determining that the file lacks policy data, an act of formulating resource context data specifying one or more properties of the file; an act of sending the resource context data to a central policy database to request policy data for protecting the file, the central policy database storing a plurality of centrally accessible policy items, at least one of the plurality of centrally accessible policy items comprising: an act of receiving both the protection policy and the policy handle corresponding to the at least one centrally accessible policy item from the central policy database, based on a policy identification module at the central policy database comparing the resource context data with the policy context data of the at least one centrally accessible policy item and determining from the comparison that the resource context data includes at least one context indicating that the file is one of the one or more resources to which the at least one centrally accessible policy item applies; an act of protecting the file according to the protection policy; and an act of attaching the policy handle to the file so that the file includes the policy handle, such that the protection policy is consistently accessed and applied by protection software at one or more other computer systems subsequently receiving and accessing the file, based on the protection software at the one or more other computer systems sending the policy handle attached to the file to the central policy database and receiving the protection policy from the central policy database in reply.