Rule-based document scrubbing of sensitive data

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11775684-B2
Application number	US-202217888908-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 16, 2022
Priority date	May 16, 2018
Publication date	Oct 3, 2023
Grant date	Oct 3, 2023

Abstract

A rule-based attribution mechanism analyzes documents having different types of data in different formats through the application of script-based rules that apply a tag to the document identifying the type of sensitive data that is contained in the document. Documents having similar tags are aggregated so that the sensitive data is scrubbed from the document leaving the telemetric data available for downstream processing. The scrubbing entails different actions, such as, eliminating the sensitive data, obfuscating the sensitive data, and converting the sensitive data into a non-sensitive value.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. A system comprising:
one or more processors; and a memory;
one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs include instructions that:
obtain a plurality of documents having telemetric data and sensitive data, a first set of the plurality of documents having a plurality of fields arranged in a first format, a second set of the plurality of documents having a plurality of fields arranged in a second format, wherein the first format and the second format differ;
access a script having a plurality of rules, a rule identifying a select one of the plurality of fields of a select one of the plurality of documents of a specific format as sensitive data and including a scrubbing action;
apply the plurality of rules of the script to each of the plurality of documents to identify sensitive data and to associate a scrubbing action for the identified sensitive data;
tag each of the plurality of documents with a tag indicating the scrubbing action from the application of the plurality of rules;
aggregate select ones of the plurality of documents tagged with a similar tag;
perform a select scrubbing action associated with the similar tag to each of the selected aggregated documents; and
process the telemetric data without the sensitive data.

2. The system of claim 1 ,
wherein the telemetric data includes an event field that identifies an event that triggered collection of the telemetric data; and
wherein at least one of the plurality of rules identifies the sensitive data based on the event field.

3. The system of claim 1 ,
wherein the telemetric data includes a condition that specifies circumstances in which the tag is applied; and
wherein at least one of the plurality of rules identifies the sensitive data based on the condition being satisfied.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the scrubbing action deletes the identified sensitive data.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the scrubbing action obfuscates the identified sensitive data using a simple hash value.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the scrubbing action converts the identified sensitive data into a non-sensitive value.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the scrubbing action obfuscates the identified sensitive data using a rolling hash value.

8. The system of claim 1 ,
wherein the telemetric data is collected during engagement of a software product.

9. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
accessing a plurality of documents including telemetric data generated from events occurring during execution of one or more software products, wherein the telemetric data includes a plurality of fields, a select one of the fields containing an event triggering collection of the telemetric data;
obtaining a rule-based script having a plurality of rules, a rule identifying sensitive data in at least one field of the plurality of fields of the plurality of documents and a scrubbing action for the identified sensitive data;
applying the rule-based script to each of the plurality of documents to identify fields containing the sensitive data;
tagging select ones of the plurality of documents with a tag based on the applied rule-based script, wherein the tag identifies a scrubbing action;
aggregating the selected ones of the plurality of documents having a common tag;
performing the scrubbing action of the common tag to the sensitive data; and
processing the telemetric data without the scrubbed sensitive data.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the scrubbing action deletes the identified sensitive data.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the scrubbing action obfuscates the identified sensitive data using a simple hash value.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the scrubbing action converts the identified sensitive data into a non-sensitive value.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein the scrubbing action obfuscates the identified sensitive data using a rolling hash value.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 , wherein at least one of the plurality of rules identifies the sensitive data based on the event field.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 9 ,
wherein at least one of the plurality of rules identifies the sensitive data based on a condition in the telemetric data being satisfied.

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Boon Brian
• Chandnani Dinesh
• Chen Zhu
• Donthula Ram Kumar
• Evans Matthew Sloan Theodore
• Neil Andrew
• Upadya Vijaya
• Staneff Geoffrey
• Basava Shibani
• Steshenko Evgenia
• Brochu Carl
• Miller Shaun
• Shi Xin

Classifications

• G06F21/6254 Primary

  by anonymising data, e.g. decorrelating personal data from the owner's identification · CPC title

• G06F21/6245

  Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes · CPC title

• H04L9/0643

  Hash functions, e.g. MD5, SHA, HMAC or f9 MAC · CPC title

• H04L63/0421

  Anonymous communication, i.e. the party's identifiers are hidden from the other party or parties, e.g. using an anonymizer · CPC title

• G06F21/602

  Providing cryptographic facilities or services · CPC title