METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PROTECT AGENTS USING DISTRIBUTED LIGHTWEIGHT FINGERPRINTS

The present invention provides methods and systems to protect an organization's secure information from unauthorized disclosure. The present system uses protect agents installed across various egress points (e.g., email server, user's computer, etc.) to monitor information disclosed by a user. The present system also provides the use of lightweight fingerprint databases (LFD) to maintain a database of fingerprints associated with the organization's secure data. In one embodiment, the LFD is stored locally at the site of each protect agent such that the organization's secure information can be protected even when a protect agent is disconnected from the network. Methods and systems to compress fingerprints to achieve the lightweight fingerprint databases are also provided. In one embodiment, a combined approach, utilizing both the local lightweight fingerprint database and a remote fingerprint server comprising registered fingerprints is used to achieve overall protection of the organization's secure information.