Patent ID: 8161526

Claim:
A method for protecting sensitive information on a data processing system, the method comprising the steps of: a computer determining whether the data processing system is a publicly accessed data processing system, wherein the step of the computer determining whether the data processing system is a publicly accessed data processing system comprises: the computer dynamically determining a number of unique users using the data processing system; the computer comparing the number of unique users to a preconfigured threshold; and the computer identifying the data processing system as a publicly accessed data processing system responsive to determining that the number of the unique users exceeds the preconfigured threshold; the computer identifying sensitive information responsive to determining that the data processing system is a publicly accessed data processing system, wherein the step of the computer identifying the sensitive information comprises the computer identifying the sensitive information using criteria selected from a set of criteria; the computer monitoring the data processing system for a presence of the sensitive information; and the computer presenting a warning to a user of the data processing system in response to detecting the presence of the sensitive information.