Patent ID: 8635661

Claim:
A method, comprising: collecting, from a source, information characterizing attributes of a mobile device at a particular instance; based on the collected information, determining, using at least one processor device, an identity status for the mobile device that is unique to the mobile device and distinguishes it from other mobile devices in a set of mobile devices, the identity status corresponding to a set of the attributes characterized in the collected information, the set of attributes including at least one static attribute of the mobile device and at least one dynamic attribute of the mobile device, wherein the static attribute is a fixed attribute of the mobile device and relates to a physical device identification of the mobile device, and the dynamic attribute is a changeable attribute of the mobile device and relates to a security policy for the mobile device; determining a particular security profile based on the identity status of the mobile device, wherein the particular security profile corresponds to the attributes of the mobile device at the particular instance and includes: a first parameter identifying, for the mobile device, that at least one resource internal to the mobile device is unauthorized, and a second parameter identifying, for the mobile device, that at least one resource external to the mobile device is unauthorized; and applying the security profile to the mobile device, wherein collected information characterizing attributes of the mobile device at a second instance is used to determine a second identity status for the mobile device that is unique to the mobile device, corresponds to the attributes of the mobile device at the second instance, and is used to determine that a second security profile is to be applied to the mobile device at the second instance based on the second identity status.