Patents by Inventor Brian S. Niebuhr

Brian S. Niebuhr has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Method and apparatus for securely and dynamically modifying security policy configurations in a distributed system
    Patent number: 6920558
    Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention provides a system for managing security policies in a distributed computing system. Security policies include, but are not limited to, a firewall policy, a policy for file access, a policy for application access, a policy for an encryption algorithm, a policy for audit trails, and a policy for activity logging. These security policies determine access rights to a computer application. The system operates by creating multiple security policies with individual security policies specifying a differing level of security for the distributed computing system. These security policies are then distributed to each computer in the distributed computing system. Next, a specific security policy is selected for use across the distributed computing system, and each computer in the distributed computing system is directed to use the specified security policy enforcing a selected security posture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2001
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2005
    Assignee: Networks Associates Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: David L. Sames, Brent S. Whitmore, Brian S. Niebuhr, Gregg W. Tally
  • Method and apparatus for securely and dynamically modifying security policy configurations in a distributed system
    Publication number: 20020138726
    Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention provides a system for managing security policies in a distributed computing system. Security policies include, but are not limited to, a firewall policy, a policy for file access, a policy for application access, a policy for an encryption algorithm, a policy for audit trails, and a policy for activity logging. These security policies determine access rights to a computer application. The system operates by creating multiple security policies with individual security policies specifying a differing level of security for the distributed computing system. These security policies are then distributed to each computer in the distributed computing system. Next, a specific security policy is selected for use across the distributed computing system, and each computer in the distributed computing system is directed to use the specified security policy enforcing a selected security posture.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 22, 2001
    Publication date: September 26, 2002
    Inventors: David L. Sames, Brent S. Whitmore, Brian S. Niebuhr, Gregg W. Tally