Managing security actions in a computing environment based on communication activity of a security threat

• US 10,193,920 B2
• Filed: 02/01/2018
• Issued: 01/29/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Splunk Inc.
• Original Assignee: Splunk Inc.
• Inventors: Satish, Sourabh, Friedrichs, Oliver, Mahadik, Atif, Salinas, Govind
• Primary Examiner(s): Hailu, Teshome
• Application Number:
  US15/886,183
• Publication Number:
  US 20180159893A1
• Time in Patent Office: 362 Days
• Field of Search: 726 1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/285 Clustering or classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/554 involving event detection and direct action
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2425 for supporting services specification, e.g. SLA
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0236 Filtering by address, protocol, port number or service, e.g. IP-address or URL
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1416 Event detection, e.g. attack signature detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1425 Traffic logging, e.g. anomaly detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1433 Vulnerability analysis
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1441 Countermeasures against malicious traffic countermeasures against attacks on cryptographic mechanisms H04L9/002
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227

Abstract

Systems, methods, and software described herein provide security actions based on the current state of a security threat. In one example, a method of operating an advisement system in a computing environment with a plurality of computing assets includes identifying a security threat within the computing environment. The method further includes, in response to identifying the security threat, obtaining state information for the security threat within the computing environment, and determining a current state for the security threat within the computing environment. The method also provides obtaining enrichment information for the security threat and determining one or more security actions for the security threat based on the enrichment information and the current state for the security threat.

Claims

1. A method of improving security actions in a computing environment, wherein the computing environment comprises a plurality of computing assets, the method comprising:

identifying a security threat within the computing environment;

obtaining state information for the security threat within the computing environment from computing assets of the plurality of computing assets in the computing environment, wherein the state information comprises at least communication activity related to the security threat, wherein the communication activity comprises at least a quantity of connections associated with the security threat and a quantity of exchanged data associated with the security threat;

determining a current state for the security threat within the computing environment based on the state information;

obtaining enrichment information for the security threat; and

determining one or more security actions for the security threat based on the enrichment information and the current state for the security threat.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the one or more security actions for the security threat based on the enrichment information and the current state comprises:

identifying a rule set based on the enrichment information; and

identifying at least one security action associated with the rule set based on the current state.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the communication activity comprises a type of data targeted by the security threat or communication paths of the security threat.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the current state for the security threat within the computing environment comprises determining whether the security threat is in a reconnaissance state, an exploit state, a persist state, lateral movement state, or an exfiltration state.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising, in response to determining the one or more security actions for the security threat, initiating implementation of the one or more security actions in the computing environment.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

in response to determining the one or more security actions for the security threat, providing the one or more security actions to at least one administrator for the computing environment;

after providing the one or more security actions to the at least one administrator, obtaining an action selection from the at least one administrator from the one or more security actions; and

initiating implementation of the action selection in the computing environment.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein determining the one or more security actions for the security threat based on the enrichment information and the current state comprises ranking the one or more security actions for the security threat based on the current state.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining the enrichment information for the security threat comprises obtaining, from at least one internal or external database, the enrichment information for the security threat.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the security threat comprises an unknown process executing within the computing environment, incoming communications from an unknown internet protocol (IP) address, or a denial of service of attack.

10. An apparatus to improve security actions for a computing environment, wherein the computing environment comprises a plurality of computing assets, the apparatus comprising:

one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media; and

processing instructions stored on the one or more computer readable media that, when executed by a processing system, direct the processing system to;

identify a security threat within the computing environment;

obtain state information for the security threat within the computing environment from computing assets of the plurality of computing assets in the computing environment, wherein the state information comprises at least communication activity related to the security threat, wherein the communication activity comprises at least a quantity of connections associated with the security threat and a quantity of exchanged data associated with the security threat;

determine a current state for the security threat within the computing environment based on the state information;

obtain enrichment information for the security threat; and

determine one or more security actions for the security threat based on the enrichment information and the current state for the security threat.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the processing instructions to determine the one or more security actions for the security threat based on the enrichment information and the current state for the security threat direct the processing system to:

identify a rule set based on the enrichment information; and

identify the one or more security actions associated with the rule set based on the current state.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the communication activity comprises a type of data targeted by the security threat or communication paths of the security threat.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the processing instructions to determine the current state for the security threat within the computing environment direct the processing system to determine whether the security threat is in a reconnaissance state, an exploit state, a persist state, lateral movement state, or an exfiltration state.

14. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the processing instructions further direct the processing system to, in response to determining the one or more security actions for the security threat, initiate implementation of the one or more security actions in the computing environment.

15. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the processing instructions further direct the processing system to:

in response to determining the one or more security actions for the security threat, provide the one or more security actions to at least one administrator for the computing environment;

after providing the one or more security actions to the at least one administrator, obtain an action selection from the at least one administrator from the one or more security actions; and

initiate implementation of the action selection in the computing environment.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the processing instructions to determine the one or more security actions for the security threat based on the enrichment information and the current state direct the processing system to rank the one or more security actions for the security threat based on the current state.

17. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the processing instructions to obtain the enrichment information for the security threat direct the processing system to obtain, from at least one internal or external database, the enrichment information for the security threat.

18. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the security threat comprises an unknown process executing within the computing environment, incoming communications from an unknown internet protocol (IP) address, or a denial of service attack.

19. An advisement system to improve security actions for a computing environment comprising a plurality of computing assets, the advisement system comprising:

a communication interface configured to receive a notification of a security threat within the computing environment; and

a processing system, communicatively coupled to the communication interface, configured to;

obtain state information for the security threat within the computing environment from computing assets of the plurality of computing assets in the computing environment, wherein the state information comprises at least communication activity related to the security threat, wherein the communication activity comprises at least a quantity of connections associated with the security threat and a quantity of exchanged data associated with the security threat;

determine a current state for the security threat within the computing environment based on the state information;

obtain enrichment information for the security threat; and

determine one or more security actions for the security threat based on the enrichment information and the current state for the security threat.

20. The advisement system of claim 19 wherein the processing system is further configured to:

in response to determining the one or more security actions for the security threat, provide the one or more security actions to at least one administrator for the computing environment;

after providing the one or more security actions to the at least one administrator, obtain an action selection from the at least one administrator from the one or more security actions; and

initiate implementation of the action selection in the computing environment.