Patent Publication Number: US-11379426-B2

Title: Media transfer protocol file copy detection

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates in general to the field of computers and similar technologies, and in particular to software utilized in this field. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method, system and computer-usable medium for detecting if, and which, file(s) is/are copied to/from a computing device from/to one or more other devices. 
     Description of the Related Art 
     Users interact with physical, system, data, and services resources of all kinds, as well as each other, on a daily basis. Each of these interactions, whether accidental or intended, poses some degree of security risk, depending on the behavior of the user. 
     Users receive and send data or files through computing devices or information handling devices, such as endpoint devices. In particular, computing devices or endpoint devices send data and files to other devices, such phones, tablets, and other computing devices. Such transfer of data or files can use Media Transfer Protocol or MTP. The transfer can occur over various connections, such as universal serial bus (USB), Bluetooth, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), etc. 
     In general, using MTP, when a device (i.e., portable device) is connected to the computing device, such as an endpoint device, the computing device queries the device and the device responds with a list of files and directories that are available from the device. The computing device can download a file by requesting the file from the device. The device can send the file over the MTP connection. If a computing device wants to upload a file to a device, the computing devices sends the file to the device and the device chooses to save the file. However, MTP technology does not provide an adequate method to monitor and determine that a file copy has taken place or where the file was copied from. 
     Certain methods may monitor activity, but do not provide a method to pair destination and source files, or gather information about the files. Other methods require user intervention, such as opening a window, identifying, and dropping and dragging files. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A method, system and computer-usable medium for detecting if a file(s) is/are copied to/from a computing device from/to one or more other devices. 
     More specifically, in one embodiment the invention relates to monitoring file transfer activity between a computing device and one or more connected devices; gathering information related to each occurrence of the file transfer activity; entering the each occurrence and the information of the each occurrence as an entry into a common queue; and comparing entries in the common queue, with entries kept for a predetermined time, to determine entry pairs having same size file wherein determined pairs relate to a file copy activity where the source file was read and the destination file was created. Entries remain in the queue for a predetermined amount of time enabling the pair matching 
     In another embodiment the invention relates to a system that includes a processor; a data bus coupled to the processor; and a non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium embodying computer program code, the non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium being coupled to the data bus, the computer program code interacting with a plurality of computer operations and comprising instructions executable by the processor and configured for monitoring file transfer events between the system and one or more connected devices; collecting information related to each file transfer event; entering each file transfer event and the information of each file transfer event into a combined and common queue shared by the system and the devices; and comparing entries of the file transfer events in the combined and common queue to determine pairs having same size file, and time stamps within a predetermined time window, wherein determined pairs relate to a file copy activity where the source file was read and the destination file was created. 
     In another embodiment the invention relates to a computer-readable storage medium embodying computer program code, the computer program code includes computer executable instructions configured for: monitoring file transfer events between an information handling device and one or more devices connected to the information handling device; gathering information related to each file transfer event; entering each file transfer event and the information of each file transfer event into a queue shared by the information handling system and the one or more devices; and comparing entries of the file transfer events queue to determine pairs having same file size, and time stamps within a predetermined time window, wherein determined pairs relate to a file copy activity and file read activity. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention may be better understood, and its numerous objects, features and advantages made apparent to those skilled in the art by referencing the accompanying drawings. The use of the same reference number throughout the several figures designates a like or similar element. 
         FIG. 1  depicts an information handling system in which the present invention may be implemented; 
         FIG. 2  depicts a portable device in which the present invention may be implemented; 
         FIG. 3  is a simplified block diagram of an edge device; 
         FIG. 4  is a simplified block diagram of an endpoint agent; 
         FIG. 5  is a simplified block diagram of a security analytics system; 
         FIG. 6  is a simplified block diagram of a security analytics system; 
         FIG. 7  is depicts a common or combined queue of events for a computing device and a connected device; and 
         FIG. 8  is a generalized flowchart for detecting if a file(s) is/are copied to/from a computing device from/to one or more other devices. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     A method, system and computer-usable medium are disclosed for detecting if a file(s) is/are copied to/from a computing device from/to one or more other devices. Data or files may be sent and received by a computing device or information handling system, which can also be referred to as an endpoint device. The data or files can be sent to one or more portable devices. The portable devices can also send data or files to the computing device. The computing device and portable devices can use media transfer protocol in communicating or transferring the data or files. Furthermore, connection between the computing device and portable devices can be performed over a variety of connections, including Universal Serial Bus (USB), Bluetooth, etc. Various operating systems can be implemented at the computing device and portable devices, including Android®, Windows®, Linux® operating systems. Different media data or files can be transferred between the computing device and portable devices, such as text, graphics, audio, video, etc. 
     For the purposes of this disclosure, a computing device or an information handling system may include any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, entertainment, or other purposes. 
     For example, an information handling system may be a personal computer, a mobile device such as a tablet or smartphone, a consumer electronic device, a connected “smart device,” a network appliance, a network storage device, a network gateway device, a server or collection of servers or any other suitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, and price. The information handling system may include volatile and/or non-volatile memory, and one or more processing resources such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic. Additional components of the information handling system may include one or more storage systems, one or more wired or wireless interfaces for communicating with other networked devices, external devices, and various input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, speakers, a track pad, a touchscreen and a display device (including a touch sensitive display device). The information handling system may also include one or more buses operable to transmit communication between the various hardware components. 
     For the purposes of this disclosure, computer-readable media may include any instrumentality or aggregation of instrumentalities that may retain data and/or instructions for a period of time. Computer-readable media may include, without limitation, storage media such as a direct access storage device (e.g., a hard disk drive or solid state drive), a sequential access storage device (e.g., a tape disk drive), optical storage device, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), and/or flash memory; as well as communications media such as wires, optical fibers, microwaves, radio waves, and other electromagnetic and/or optical carriers; and/or any combination of the foregoing. 
       FIG. 1  is a generalized illustration of a computing device or an information handling system  100  that can be used to implement the system and method of the present invention. The information handling system  100  includes a processor (e.g., central processor unit or “CPU”)  102 , input/output (I/O) connections or devices  104 , such as a display, a keyboard, a mouse, and associated controllers, a storage system  106 , and various other subsystems  108 . In various embodiments, the information handling system  100  also includes network port  110  operable to connect to a network  140 , which is likewise accessible by a service provider server  142 . The information handling system  100  likewise includes system memory  112 , which is interconnected to the foregoing via one or more buses  114 . System memory  112  further includes an operating system (OS)  116  and in various embodiments may also include a security analytics system  118 . In one embodiment, the information handling system  100  is able to download the security analytics system  118  from the service provider server  142 . In another embodiment, the security analytics system  118  is provided as a service from the service provider server  142 . 
     In various embodiments, the security analytics system  118  performs a security analytics operation. In certain embodiments, the security analytics operation improves processor efficiency, and thus the efficiency of the information handling system  100 , by facilitating security analytics functions. As will be appreciated, once the information handling system  100  is configured to perform the security analytics operation, the information handling system  100  becomes a specialized computing device specifically configured to perform the security analytics operation and is not a general purpose computing device. Moreover, the implementation of the security analytics system  118  on the information handling system  100  improves the functionality of the information handling system  100  and provides a useful and concrete result of performing security analytics functions for detecting if a file(s) is/are copied to/from the information handling system  100  or computing device from/to one or more other devices, such as portable storage devices. In certain embodiments, the security analytics system  118  may include a file copy module  120  to detect if a file(s) is/are copied to/from the information handling system  100  or computing device from/to one or more other devices. 
     In certain implementations, the input/output (I/O) connections or devices  104  include Universal Serial Bus or USB port(s)  122 . The USB port(s)  122  may include any of various USB standards as maintained by the USB Implementers Forum (USB IF), including USB 1.x, USB 2.0 and updates/additions, USB 3.x, etc. In addition, input/output (I/O) connections or devices  104  may include Bluetooth and other wireless connections  124 . The input/output (I/O) connections or devices  104  may also include other port(s) and interface(s)  126 . In certain implementations, information handling system  100  communicates through input/output (I/O) connections or devices  104  using the MTP protocol to send and receive files. 
     In general, the file copy module  120  is configured to monitor file activity, such as copying and reading of files, on the computing device or information handling system  100  and connected devices, such as portable storage devices. In certain implementations, a common queue of events related to files is kept, where the common queue is used by the information handling system  100  and the connected devices. For example, by implementing the common queue of events or combined queue of events, file (system) read activities may be correlated with MTP object or file created activities to create a filed copied activity. 
     In certain implementations, the file copy module  120  is an application that is configured to watch for devices, such as previously unattached/unconnected devices, that are attempting to connect to the information handling system  100 . Once the device is detected, a determination may be made if there is a file transfer or MTP activity between the information handling system  100  and device, and such a file transfer or MTP activity may be monitored. In certain implementations, a callback function for the device may be registered, requiring monitoring for MTP activity. Such a callback function may determine what activity occurs. For example, if a windows portable devices (WPD) event activity occurs, such as “WPD_EVENT_OBJECT_ADDED”, the information is put in the common or combined queue. However, since WPD events reference objects, the monitoring application or file copy module  120  gathers the information about the object in question such as: size, object file name, the parent object(s) file name(s), timestamp information, device information before adding it to the combined activity queue. 
       FIG. 2  is a generalized illustration of a portable device  200  that can be used to implement the system and method of the present invention. Portable device  200  may be one of several computing devices, such as a storage device. Examples of portable device  200  may include a personal computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smart phone, a mobile telephone, a digital camera, a video camera, or other device that is capable of storing, processing and communicating data. 
     The portable device  200  includes a processor (e.g., central processor unit or “CPU”)  202 , input/output (I/O) connections or devices  204 , such as a display, a keyboard, a mouse, and associated controllers, a storage system  206 , and various other subsystems  208 . The portable device  200  likewise includes system memory  212 , which is interconnected to the foregoing via one or more buses  214 . System memory  112  further includes an operating system (OS)  216 . 
     In certain implementations, the input/output (I/O) connections or devices  204  include Universal Serial Bus or USB port(s)  218 . The USB port(s)  218  may include any of various USB standards as maintained by the USB Implementers Forum (USB IF), including USB 1.x, USB 2.0 and updates/additions, USB 3.x, etc. In addition, input/output (I/O) connections or devices  104  may include Bluetooth and other wireless connections  220 . The input/output (I/O) connections or devices  204  may also include other port(s) and interface(s)  224 . In certain implementations, information handling system  100  communicates through input/output (I/O) connections or devices  204  using the MTP protocol to send and receive files. 
       FIG. 3  is a simplified block diagram of an edge device implemented in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. As used herein, an edge device, such as the edge device  302  shown in  FIG. 3 , broadly refers to a device providing an entry point into a network  140 . Examples of such edge devices  302  may include routers, routing switches, integrated access devices (IADs), multiplexers, wide-area network (WAN) access devices, and network security appliances. In certain embodiments, the network  140  may be a private network (e.g., an enterprise network), a semi-public network (e.g., a service provider core network), or a public network (e.g., the Internet). 
     Skilled practitioners of the art will be aware that edge devices  302  are often implemented as routers that provide authenticated access to faster, more efficient backbone and core networks. Furthermore, current industry trends include making edge devices  302  more intelligent, which allows core devices to operate at higher speed as they are not burdened with additional administrative overhead. Accordingly, such edge devices  302  often include Quality of Service (QoS) and multi-service functions to manage different types of traffic. Consequently, it is common to design core networks with switches that use routing protocols such as Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) or Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) for reliability and scalability. Such approaches allow edge devices  302  to have redundant links to the core network, which not only provides improved reliability, but enables enhanced, flexible, and scalable security capabilities as well. 
     In certain embodiments, the edge device  302  may be implemented to include a communications/services architecture  304 , various pluggable capabilities  312 , a traffic router  310 , and a pluggable hosting framework  308 . In certain embodiments, the communications/services architecture  302  may be implemented to provide access to and from various networks  140 , cloud services  306 , or a combination thereof. In certain embodiments, the cloud services  306  may be provided by a cloud infrastructure familiar to those of skill in the art. In certain embodiments, the edge device  302  may be implemented to provide support for a variety of generic services, such as directory integration, logging interfaces, update services, and bidirectional risk/context flows associated with various analytics. In certain embodiments, the edge device  302  may be implemented to provide temporal information, described in greater detail herein, associated with the provision of such services. 
     In certain embodiments, the edge device  302  may be implemented as a generic device configured to host various network communications, data processing, and security management capabilities. In certain embodiments, the pluggable hosting framework  308  may be implemented to host such capabilities in the form of pluggable capabilities  312 . In certain embodiments, the pluggable capabilities  312  may include capability ‘1’  314  (e.g., basic firewall), capability ‘2’  316  (e.g., general web protection), capability ‘3’  318  (e.g., data sanitization), and so forth through capability ‘n’  320 , which may include capabilities needed for a particular operation, process, or requirement on an as-needed basis. In certain embodiments, such capabilities may include the performance of operations associated with managing the use of a blockchain to access a cyberprofile, described in greater detail herein, or other sensitive private information (SPI), likewise described in greater detail herein. In certain embodiments, such operations may include the provision of associated temporal information (e.g., time stamps). 
     In certain embodiments, the pluggable capabilities  312  may be sourced from various cloud services  306 . In certain embodiments, the pluggable hosting framework  308  may be implemented to provide certain computing and communication infrastructure components, and foundation capabilities, required by one or more of the pluggable capabilities  312 . In certain embodiments, the pluggable hosting framework  308  may be implemented to allow the pluggable capabilities  312  to be dynamically invoked. Skilled practitioners of the art will recognize that many such embodiments are possible. Accordingly, the foregoing is not intended to limit the spirit, scope or intent of the invention. 
       FIG. 4  is a simplified block diagram of an endpoint agent implemented in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. As used herein, an endpoint agent  406  broadly refers to a software agent used in combination with an endpoint device  404  to establish a protected endpoint  402 . Skilled practitioners of the art will be familiar with software agents, which are computer programs that perform actions on behalf of a user or another program. In various approaches, a software agent may be autonomous or work together with another agent or a user. In certain of these approaches the software agent is implemented to autonomously decide if a particular action is appropriate for a given event, such as an observed user behavior. 
     An endpoint device  404 , as likewise used herein, refers to an information processing system (e.g., information handling system  100 ), such as a personal computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smart phone, a mobile telephone, a digital camera, a video camera, or other device that is capable of storing, processing and communicating data. In certain implementations, the endpoint device  404  is embodied as an information handling systems  100 . In certain embodiments, the communication of the data may take place in real-time or near-real-time. As used herein, real-time broadly refers to processing and providing information within a time interval brief enough to not be discernable by a user. As an example, a cellular phone conversation may be used to communicate information in real-time, while an instant message (IM) exchange may be used to communicate information in near real-time. In certain embodiments, the communication of the information may take place asynchronously. For example, an email message may be stored on an endpoint device  404  when it is offline. In this example, the information may be communicated to its intended recipient once the endpoint device  404  gains access to a network  140 . 
     A protected endpoint  402 , as likewise used herein, broadly refers to a policy-based approach to network security that typically requires endpoint devices  404  to comply with particular criteria before they are granted access to network resources. As an example, a given endpoint device  404  may be required to have a particular operating system (OS), or version thereof, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) client, anti-virus software with current updates, and so forth. In certain embodiments, the protected endpoint  402  may be implemented to perform operations associated with providing real-time resolution of the identity of an entity at a particular point in time, as described in greater detail herein. In certain embodiments, the protected endpoint  402  may be implemented to provide temporal information, such as timestamp information, associated with such operations. 
     In certain embodiments, the real-time resolution of the identity of an entity at a particular point in time may be based upon contextual information associated with a given user behavior. As used herein, contextual information broadly refers to any information, directly or indirectly, individually or in combination, related to a particular user behavior. In certain embodiments, user behavior may include a user&#39;s physical behavior, cyber behavior, or a combination thereof. As likewise used herein, physical behavior broadly refers to any user behavior occurring within a physical realm. More particularly, physical behavior may include any action enacted by a user that can be objectively observed, or indirectly inferred, within a physical realm. 
     As an example, a user may attempt to use an electronic access card to enter a secured building at a certain time. In this example, the use of the access card to enter the building is the action and the reading of the access card makes the user&#39;s physical behavior electronically-observable. As another example, a first user may physically transfer a document to a second user, which is captured by a video surveillance system. In this example, the physical transferal of the document from the first user to the second user is the action. Likewise, the video record of the transferal makes the first and second user&#39;s physical behavior electronically-observable. As used herein, electronically-observable user behavior broadly refers to any behavior exhibited or enacted by a user that can be electronically observed. 
     Cyber behavior, as used herein, broadly refers to any behavior occurring in cyberspace, whether enacted by an individual user, a group of users, or a system acting at the behest of an individual user, a group of users, or an entity. More particularly, cyber behavior may include physical, social, or mental actions that can be objectively observed, or indirectly inferred, within cyberspace. As an example, a user may use an endpoint device  404  to access and browse a particular website on the Internet. In this example, the individual actions performed by the user to access and browse the website constitute a cyber behavior. As another example, a user may use an endpoint device  404  to send a data file from a particular system at a particular point in time. In this example, the individual actions performed by the user to download the data file, and associated temporal information, such as a time-stamp associated with the download, constitute a cyber behavior. In these examples, the actions are enacted within cyberspace, in combination with associated temporal information, makes them electronically-observable. 
     As likewise used herein, cyberspace broadly refers to a network  140  environment capable of supporting communication between two or more entities. In certain embodiments, the entity may be a user, an endpoint device  404 , or various resources, described in greater detail herein. In certain embodiments, the entities may include various endpoint devices  404  or resources operating at the behest of an entity, such as a user. In certain embodiments, the communication between the entities may include audio, image, video, text, or binary data. 
     In certain embodiments, the endpoint agent  406  may be implemented to universally support a variety of operating systems, such as Apple Macintosh®, Microsoft Windows®, Linux®, Android® and so forth. In certain embodiments, the endpoint agent  406  may be implemented to interact with the endpoint device  404  through the use of low-level hooks  412  at the OS level. It will be appreciated that the use of low-level hooks  412  allows the endpoint agent  406  to subscribe to multiple events through a single hook. Consequently, multiple functionalities provided by the endpoint agent  406  can share a single data stream, using only those portions of the data stream they may individually need. Accordingly, system efficiency can be improved and operational overhead reduced. 
     In certain embodiments, the endpoint agent  406  may be implemented to provide a common infrastructure for pluggable feature packs  408 . In various embodiments, the pluggable feature packs  408  may provide certain security management functionalities. Examples of such functionalities may include various anti-virus and malware detection, data leak prevention (DLP), insider threat detection, and so forth. In certain embodiments, the security management functionalities may include one or more functionalities associated with providing real-time resolution of the identity of an entity at a particular point in time, as described in greater detail herein. 
     In certain embodiments, a particular pluggable feature pack  408  is invoked as needed by the endpoint agent  406  to provide a given functionality. In certain embodiments, individual features of a particular pluggable feature pack  408  are invoked as needed. It will be appreciated that the ability to invoke individual features of a pluggable feature pack  408 , without necessarily invoking all such features, will likely improve the operational efficiency of the endpoint agent  406  while simultaneously reducing operational overhead. Accordingly, the endpoint agent  406  can self-optimize in certain embodiments by using the common infrastructure and invoking only those pluggable components that are applicable or needed for a given user behavior. 
     In certain embodiments, the individual features of a pluggable feature pack  308  are invoked by the endpoint agent  406  according to the occurrence of a particular user behavior. In certain embodiments, the individual features of a pluggable feature pack  408  are invoked by the endpoint agent  406  according to the occurrence of a particular temporal event, described in greater detail herein. In certain embodiments, the individual features of a pluggable feature pack  408  are invoked by the endpoint agent  406  at a particular point in time. In these embodiments, the method by which a given user behavior, temporal event, or point in time is selected is a matter of design choice. 
     In certain embodiments, the individual features of a pluggable feature pack  308  may be invoked by the endpoint agent  406  according to the context of a particular user behavior. As an example, the context may be the user enacting the user behavior, their associated risk classification, which resource they may be requesting, the point in time the user behavior is enacted, and so forth. In certain embodiments, the pluggable feature packs  408  may be sourced from various cloud services  306 . In certain embodiments, the pluggable feature packs  408  may be dynamically sourced from various cloud services  306  by the endpoint agent  406  on an as-need basis. 
     In certain embodiments, the endpoint agent  406  may be implemented with additional functionalities, such as event analytics  410 . In certain embodiments, the event analytics  410  functionality may include analysis of various user behaviors, described in greater detail herein. In certain embodiments, the endpoint agent  406  may be implemented with a thin hypervisor  414 , which can be run at Ring −1, thereby providing protection for the endpoint agent  406  in the event of a breach. As used herein, a thin hypervisor broadly refers to a simplified, OS-dependent hypervisor implemented to increase security. As likewise used herein, Ring −1 broadly refers to approaches allowing guest operating systems to run Ring 0 (i.e., kernel) operations without affecting other guests or the host OS. Those of skill in the art will recognize that many such embodiments and examples are possible. Accordingly, the foregoing is not intended to limit the spirit, scope or intent of the invention. 
       FIG. 5  is a simplified block diagram of a security analytics system implemented in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In certain embodiments, the security analytics system  118  shown in  FIG. 5  may include an event queue analytics  504  module, described in greater detail herein. In certain embodiments, the event queue analytics  504  sub-system may be implemented to include an enrichment  506  module and a streaming analytics  508  module. In certain embodiments, the security analytics system  118  may be implemented to provide log storage, reporting, and analytics capable of performing streaming  508  and on-demand  510  analytics operations. In certain embodiments, such operations may be associated with defining and managing a user profile, detecting anomalous, abnormal, unexpected or malicious user behavior, adaptively responding to mitigate risk, or a combination thereof, as described in greater detail herein. 
     In certain embodiments, the security analytics system  118  may be implemented to provide a uniform platform for storing events and contextual information associated with various user behaviors and performing longitudinal analytics. As used herein, longitudinal analytics broadly refers to performing analytics of user behaviors occurring over a particular period of time. As an example, a user may iteratively attempt to access certain proprietary information stored in various locations. In addition, the attempts may occur over a brief period of time. To continue the example, the fact that the information the user is attempting to access is proprietary, that it is stored in various locations, and the attempts are occurring in a brief period of time, in combination, may indicate the user behavior enacted by the user is suspicious. As another example, certain entity identifier information (e.g., a user name) associated with a user may change over time. In this example, the change in user name, during a particular period of time or at a particular point in time, may represent suspicious user behavior. 
     In certain embodiments, the security analytics system  118  may be implemented to be scalable. In certain embodiments, the security analytics system  118  may be implemented in a centralized location, such as a corporate data center. In these embodiments, additional resources may be added to the security analytics system  118  as needs grow. In certain embodiments, the security analytics system  118  may be implemented as a distributed system. In these embodiments, the security analytics system  118  may span multiple information handling systems. In certain embodiments, the security analytics system  118  may be implemented in a cloud environment. In certain embodiments, the security analytics system  118  may be implemented in a virtual machine (VM) environment. In such embodiments, the VM environment may be configured to dynamically and seamlessly scale the security analytics system  118  as needed. Skilled practitioners of the art will recognize that many such embodiments are possible. Accordingly, the foregoing is not intended to limit the spirit, scope or intent of the invention. 
     In certain embodiments, an event stream collector  502  may be implemented to collect event and related contextual information, described in greater detail herein, associated with various user behaviors. In these embodiments, the method by which the event and contextual information is selected to be collected by the event stream collector  502  is a matter of design choice. In certain embodiments, the event and contextual information collected by the event stream collector  502  may be processed by an enrichment module  506  to generate enriched user behavior information. In certain embodiments, the enrichment may include certain contextual information related to a particular user behavior or event. In certain embodiments, the enrichment may include certain temporal information, such as timestamp information, related to a particular user behavior or event. 
     In certain embodiments, enriched user behavior information may be provided by the enrichment module  506  to a streaming  508  analytics module. In turn, the streaming  508  analytics module may provide some or all of the enriched user behavior information to an on-demand  510  analytics module. As used herein, streaming  508  analytics broadly refers to analytics performed in near real-time on enriched user behavior information as it is received. Likewise, on-demand  510  analytics broadly refers herein to analytics performed, as they are requested, on enriched user behavior information after it has been received. In certain embodiments, the enriched user behavior information may be associated with a particular event. In certain embodiments, the enrichment  506  and streaming analytics  508  modules may be implemented to perform event queue analytics  504  operations, as described in greater detail herein. 
     In certain embodiments, the on-demand  510  analytics may be performed on enriched user behavior associated with a particular interval of, or point in, time. In certain embodiments, the streaming  508  or on-demand  510  analytics may be performed on enriched user behavior associated with a particular user, group of users, one or more entities, or a combination thereof. In certain embodiments, the streaming  508  or on-demand  510  analytics may be performed on enriched user behavior associated with a particular resource, such as a facility, system, datastore, or service. Those of skill in the art will recognize that many such embodiments are possible. Accordingly, the foregoing is not intended to limit the spirit, scope or intent of the invention. 
     In certain embodiments, the results of various analytics operations performed by the streaming  508  or on-demand  510  analytics modules may be provided to a storage Application Program Interface (API)  514 . In turn, the storage API  512  may be implemented to provide access to various datastores ‘1’  516  through ‘n’  518 , which in turn are used to store the results of the analytics operations. In certain embodiments, the security analytics system  118  may be implemented with a logging and reporting front-end  512 , which is used to receive the results of analytics operations performed by the streaming  508  analytics module. In certain embodiments, the datastores ‘1’  516  through ‘n’  518  may variously include a datastore of entity identifiers, temporal events, or a combination thereof. 
     In certain embodiments, the security analytics system  118  may include a risk scoring  520  module implemented to perform risk scoring operations, described in greater detail herein. In certain embodiments, functionalities of the risk scoring  520  module may be provided in the form of a risk management service  522 . In certain embodiments, the risk management service  522  may be implemented to perform operations associated with defining and managing a user profile, as described in greater detail herein. In certain embodiments, the risk management service  522  may be implemented to perform operations associated with detecting anomalous, abnormal, unexpected or malicious user behavior and adaptively responding to mitigate risk, as described in greater detail herein. In certain embodiments, the risk management service  522  may be implemented to provide the results of various analytics operations performed by the streaming  506  or on-demand  508  analytics modules. In certain embodiments, the risk management service  522  may be implemented to use the storage API  512  to access various enhanced cyber behavior and analytics information stored on the datastores ‘1’  514  through ‘n’  516 . Skilled practitioners of the art will recognize that many such embodiments are possible. Accordingly, the foregoing is not intended to limit the spirit, scope or intent of the invention. 
       FIG. 6  is a simplified block diagram of the operation of a security analytics system implemented in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In certain embodiments, the security analytics system  118  may be implemented to perform operations associated with detecting anomalous, abnormal, unexpected or malicious user behavior, as described in greater detail herein. In certain embodiments, the security analytics system  118  may be implemented in combination with one or more endpoint agents  406 , one or more edge devices  302 , various cloud services  306 , and a network  140  to perform such operations. 
     In certain embodiments, the network edge device  302  may be implemented in a bridge, a firewall, or a passive monitoring configuration. In certain embodiments, the edge device  302  may be implemented as software running on an information handling system. In certain embodiments, the network edge device  302  may be implemented to provide integrated logging, updating and control. In certain embodiments, the edge device  302  may be implemented to receive network requests and context-sensitive user behavior information in the form of enriched user behavior information  610 , described in greater detail herein, from an endpoint agent  406 , likewise described in greater detail herein. 
     In certain embodiments, the security analytics system  118  may be implemented as both a source and a sink of user behavior information. In certain embodiments, the security analytics system  118  may be implemented to serve requests for user/resource risk data. In certain embodiments, the edge device  402  and the endpoint agent  406 , individually or in combination, may provide certain user behavior information to the security analytics system  118  using either push or pull approaches familiar to skilled practitioners of the art. 
     As described in greater detail herein, the edge device  402  may be implemented in certain embodiments to receive enriched user behavior information  610  from the endpoint agent  406 . It will be appreciated that such enriched user behavior information  610  will likely not be available for provision to the edge device  402  when an endpoint agent  406  is not implemented for a corresponding endpoint device  404 . However, the lack of such enriched user behavior information  610  may be accommodated in various embodiments, albeit with reduced functionality related to operations associated with defining and managing a user profile, detecting anomalous, abnormal, unexpected or malicious user behavior, mitigating associated risk, or a combination thereof. 
     In certain embodiments, a given user behavior may be enriched by an associated endpoint agent  406  attaching contextual information to a request. In certain embodiments, the context is embedded within a network request, which is then provided as enriched user behavior information  610 . In certain embodiments, the contextual information may be concatenated, or appended, to a request, which in turn may be provided as enriched user behavior information  610 . In these embodiments, the enriched user behavior information  610  may be unpacked upon receipt and parsed to separate the request and its associated contextual information. Certain embodiments of the invention reflect an appreciation that one possible disadvantage of such an approach is that it may perturb certain Intrusion Detection System and/or Intrusion Detection Prevention (IDS/IDP) systems implemented on a network  140 . 
     In certain embodiments, new flow requests may be accompanied by a contextual information packet sent to the edge device  302 . In these embodiments, the new flow requests may be provided as enriched user behavior information  610 . In certain embodiments, the endpoint agent  406  may also send updated contextual information to the edge device  402  once it becomes available. As an example, an endpoint agent  406  may share a list of files that have been read by a current process at any point in time once the information has been collected. To continue the example, such a list of files may be used to determine which data the endpoint agent  406  may be attempting to exfiltrate. 
     In certain embodiments, point analytics processes executing on the edge device  402  may request a particular service. As an example, risk scores associated with a particular event on a per-user basis may be requested. In certain embodiments, the service may be requested from the security analytics system  118 . In certain embodiments, the service may be requested from various cloud services  406 . 
     In certain embodiments, contextual information associated with a particular user behavior may be attached to various network service requests. In certain embodiments, the request may be wrapped and then handled by proxy. In certain embodiments, a small packet of contextual information associated with a user behavior may be sent with a service request. In certain embodiments, service requests may be related to Domain Name Service (DNS), web browsing activity, email, and so forth, all of which are essentially requests for service by an endpoint device  404 . In certain embodiments, such service requests may be associated with temporal event information, described in greater detail herein. Consequently, such requests can be enriched by the addition of user behavior contextual information (e.g., UserAccount, interactive/automated, data-touched, temporal event information, etc.). Accordingly, the edge device  302  can then use this information to manage the appropriate response to submitted requests. 
     In certain embodiments, the security analytics system  118  may be implemented in different operational configurations. In certain embodiments, the security analytics system  118  may be implemented by using the endpoint agent  406 . In certain embodiments, the security analytics system  118  may be implemented by using endpoint agent  406  in combination with the edge device  302 . In certain embodiments, the cloud services  306  may likewise be implemented for use by the endpoint agent  406 , the edge device  302 , and the security analytics system  118 , individually or in combination. In these embodiments, the security analytics system  118  may be primarily oriented to performing risk assessment operations related to user actions, program actions, data accesses, or a combination thereof. In certain embodiments, program actions may be treated as a proxy for the user. 
     In certain embodiments, the endpoint agent  406  may be implemented to update the security analytics system  118  with user behavior and associated contextual information, thereby allowing an offload of certain analytics processing overhead. In certain embodiments, this approach allows for longitudinal risk scoring, which assesses risk associated with certain user behavior during a particular interval of time. In certain embodiments, the security analytics system  118  may be implemented to access risk scores associated with the same user account, but accrued on different endpoint devices  404 . It will be appreciated that such an approach may prove advantageous when an adversary is “moving sideways” through a network environment, using different endpoint devices  404  to collect information. 
     In certain embodiments, the security analytics system  118  may be primarily oriented to applying risk mitigations in a way that maximizes security effort return-on-investment (ROI). In certain embodiments, this approach may be accomplished by providing additional contextual and user behavior information associated with user requests. As an example, a web gateway may not concern itself with why a particular file is being requested by a certain entity at a particular point in time. Accordingly, if the file cannot be identified as malicious or harmless, there is no context available to determine how, or if, to proceed. To extend the example, the edge device  402  and security analytics system  118  may be coupled such that requests can be contextualized and fitted into a framework that evaluates their associated risk. Certain embodiments of the invention reflect an appreciation that such an approach works well with web-based data leak protection (DLP) approaches, as each transfer is no longer examined in isolation, but in the broader context of an identified user&#39;s actions, at a particular time, on the network  140 . 
     As another example, the security analytics system  118  may be implemented to perform risk scoring processes to decide whether to block or allow unusual flows. Certain embodiments of the invention reflect an appreciation that such an approach is highly applicable to defending against point-of-sale (POS) malware, a breach technique that has become increasingly more common in recent years. Certain embodiments of the invention likewise reflect an appreciation that while various edge device  302  implementations may not stop all such exfiltrations, they may be able to complicate the task for the attacker. 
     In certain embodiments, the security analytics system  118  may be primarily oriented to maximally leverage contextual information associated with various user behaviors within the system. In certain embodiments, data flow tracking is performed by one or more endpoint agents  406 , which allows the quantity and type of information associated with particular hosts to be measured. In turn, this information may be used to determine how the edge device  302  handles requests. By contextualizing such user behavior on the network  140 , the security analytics system  118  can provide intelligent protection, making decisions that make sense in the broader context of an organization&#39;s activities. Certain embodiments of the invention reflect an appreciation that one advantage to such an approach is that information flowing through an organization, and the networks they employ, should be trackable, and substantial data breaches preventable. Skilled practitioners of the art will recognize that many such embodiments and examples are possible. Accordingly, the foregoing is not intended to limit the spirit, scope or intent of the invention. 
       FIG. 7  is depicts a common or combined queue of events for a computing device and a connected device. A computing device or information handling system  100  communicates or is connected to one or more devices, such as portable device  200 . The connection is represented by connection arrow  700 . In certain implementations, Media Transfer Protocol or MTP is used. Connection  700  provides for the transfer of data or files between information handling system  100  and portable device  200 . The transfer can occur over various connections, such as universal serial bus (USB), Bluetooth, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), etc. 
     In certain implementations, the information handling system  100  includes memory  112  that stores files/data  702 . The files/data  702  includes various types of media data or files, such text, graphics, audio, video, etc. Such files or data can be transferred or received from portable device  200 . In certain implementations, memory  112  further includes a combined or common queue of events  704  that is shared with portable device  200 . In certain embodiments, the security analytics system  118 , and in particular the file copy module  120 , in memory  112  generates and manages the common queue  704  and the files/data  702 . 
     The portable device  200  includes a separate and independent files/data  706 . In certain implementations, the files/data  706  is in memory  212  of portable device  200 . The files/data  706  includes various types of media data or files, such text, graphics, audio, video, etc. Such files or data can be transferred or received from information handling system,  100 . In certain implementations, memory  212  further includes the combined or common queue of events  704  that is shared with information handling system  100 . 
     In certain embodiments the common queue  704  is configured as a table or listing. In certain implementations, windows portable devices (WPD) event activities are monitored by an application or the file copy module  120 . The file copy module  120  may be configured to gather the information about objects or files related to size, object file name, parent object file name, timestamp information, device information, etc. Such information may be gathered before the information is added to the common queue  704 . In this example, common queue  704  includes headings for file entry  708 , size  710 , object file name  712 , parent object file name  714 , time stamp  716 , and device  718 . Time stamp information is in the form of MMdd_HH:mm:ss, where “MM” is month, “HH” is hour, “mm′” is minute, and “ss” is second. Table  704  includes entries  720  that are particular to specific files or data that are identified as a monitored file activity. A monitored file activity may be a file copy or file read between the information handling system  100  and the portable device  200 . 
     In certain implementations, an application or the file copy module  120  creates, and monitors the common queue  704 . Furthermore, the application or the file copy module  120  performs comparisons on entries  720  to determine if a file copy or read has been performed, which device (e.g., information handling system  100  or portable device) the file was copied to/read from and copied from/read to. Entries may be compared based on size  710  and/or time stamp  716  information. Based on such comparisons a determination may be made as to a file copy and read. For example, a comparison of entries  720  is made as to size  710 . Entries with the same size  510  may the same file. Furthermore, a comparison may be made as to time stamp  716  information. 
     Using a predetermined time window, a determination may be made as to whether a file copy or file read was made. In other words, if two entries  720  have the same size and if the two entries occur within the predetermined time window, then an assumption may be made that the entry  720  with an earlier time was a file activity that was a file read, and the entry  720  with the later time was a file copy. For example, setting a time window of 20 seconds, where 20 seconds would be a maximum time that a file read and file copy would take place. Now, comparing entry  720 - 1  and  720 - 3 , their file sizes are the same, which is 52.5 MB. Entry  720 - 1  has a time stamp of 0512_11:25:19, and entry  720 - 3  has time stamp of 0512_11:25:25. The time window of 20 second is satisfied, since there is only a six second difference in the time stamp values of entries  720 - 1  and  720 - 3 . Therefore, an assumption can be made that entry  720 - 1  was a file copy (from device  1  or portable device  200 ) and that entry  720 - 3  was a file read (to computing device or information handling system  100 ). Likewise, in this example, file copy/file read pairs are found for entries  720 - 2  and  720 - 5 , and entries  720 - 4  and  720 - 6 . Entries  720 - 7  and  720 - 9  do not have a corresponding pair. Although, entry  720 - 8  corresponds in size to entries  720 - 2  and  720 - 5 , the time window of 20 between entry  720 - 8  and the latest time stamp of entry  720 - 5  is exceeded. Time stamp for entry  720 - 5  being 0512_11:25:37, and time stamp for entry  720 - 8  being 0512_11:39:39. The time difference being 14 minutes and 2 seconds, far exceeding the predetermined time window of 20 seconds. 
     The determined file copy and file read entries may be recorded and provided to information handling system  100  and portable device  200 . In certain implementations, the common queue  704  may dynamically change, adding and eliminating entries  720  over time. 
       FIG. 8  is a generalized flowchart for detecting if a file(s) is/are copied to/from a computing device from/to one or more other devices. At step  802 , a determination is made whether a device or devices, such as a portable device, are attempting to connect to a computing device or information handling device. At step  804 , a connection is established connecting the computing device or information handling device to the device or devices. The connection be over various interfaces and use Media Transfer Protocol or MTP. At step  806 , a determination is made as to the type of activity is performed over the connection. If the activity is related to a file transfer, then the file transfer activity is monitored. In certain implementations, monitoring of the file transfer activity includes registering for a callback function, requiring monitoring for MTP activity. At step  808 , information is gathered for each file transfer occurrence or entry. Information for each entry may include size, object file name, the parent object file name, timestamp information, and device information. At step  810 , a combined or common queue of entries is created. The common queue is made available to the computing device and the connected device(s). At block step  812 , entries in the common queue are compared to determine pairs of file copy and file read entries. At block  814 , a list of entries that are file copy and file ready are provided to the computing device and connected device(s). 
     As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the present invention may be embodied as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, embodiments of the invention may be implemented entirely in hardware, entirely in software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or in an embodiment combining software and hardware. These various embodiments may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module,” or “system.” Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of a computer program product on a computer-usable storage medium having computer-usable program code embodied in the medium. 
     Any suitable computer usable or computer readable medium may be utilized. The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium would include the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, or a magnetic storage device. In the context of this document, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be any medium that can contain, store, communicate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. 
     Computer program code for carrying out operations of the present invention may be written in an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like. However, the computer program code for carrying out operations of the present invention may also be written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user&#39;s computer, partly on the user&#39;s computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user&#39;s computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user&#39;s computer through a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). 
     Embodiments of the invention are described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions. 
     While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modifications may be made without departing from this invention and its broader aspects. Therefore, the appended claims are to encompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as are within the true spirit and scope of this invention. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention is solely defined by the appended claims. It will be understood by those with skill in the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim element is intended, such intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such limitation is present. For non-limiting example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim elements. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim element by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim element to inventions containing only one such element, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an”; the same holds true for the use in the claims of definite articles. 
     The present invention is well adapted to attain the advantages mentioned as well as others inherent therein. While the present invention has been depicted, described, and is defined by reference to particular embodiments of the invention, such references do not imply a limitation on the invention, and no such limitation is to be inferred. The invention is capable of considerable modification, alteration, and equivalents in form and function, as will occur to those ordinarily skilled in the pertinent arts. The depicted and described embodiments are examples only, and are not exhaustive of the scope of the invention. 
     Consequently, the invention is intended to be limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims, giving full cognizance to equivalents in all respects.