System and method for determining and forming a list of update agents

• US 10,623,232 B2
• Filed: 01/30/2017
• Issued: 04/14/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lab A.O. Kaspersky
• Original Assignee: Lab A.O. Kaspersky
• Inventors: Kazachkov, Andrey V., Zakharov, Evgeny S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Dhairya A
• Application Number:
  US15/419,111
• Publication Number:
  US 20170373923A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,170 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/046 comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/14 for detecting or protecting against malicious traffic

Abstract

Disclosed are system and method for determining and forming a list of update agents for a plurality of network terminal nodes connecting with at least one server in a network. One exemplary method comprises: receiving, by at least one network terminal node of the plurality of network terminal nodes, at least one unique identifier assigned by the server to the at least one network terminal node; broadcasting in the network the at least one unique identifier by the at least one network terminal node; collecting data relating to the at least one network terminal node and other network terminal nodes broadcasting in a same broadcasting domain of the network; and transmitting the data to the server for determining and forming a list of update agents for the same broadcasting domain of the network.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for determining and forming a list of update agents for a plurality of network terminal nodes connecting with at least one server in a network the method comprising:

receiving, by a processor of at least one network terminal node of the plurality of network terminal nodes, at least one unique identifier assigned by the at least one server to the at least one network terminal node;

receiving, by the processor of the at least one network terminal node, a period of broadcasting assigned by the at least one server to the at least one network terminal node, wherein the period of broadcasting is directly related to a size of the network;

broadcasting in the network the at least one unique identifier by the at least one network terminal node;

collecting data relating to the at least one network terminal node and a plurality of other network terminal nodes broadcasting in a same broadcasting domain of the network, the collected data relating to the at least one network terminal node including an operating speed, a location in the network, and a purpose of use of the at least one network terminal node; and

transmitting the collected data to the at least one server for (i) determining and forming a table of records for one or more broadcasting domains of the network and for (ii) determining and forming a list of update agents for the same broadcasting domain of the network, the server forming the table of records based at least in part on the collected data and forming the list based at least in part on the formed table and the collected data, wherein the table of records includes one or more records containing identifiers of one or more network terminal nodes that are located on the same network segment and that are visible to each other.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the collecting comprises receiving a set of identifiers broadcast by the other network terminal nodes in the same broadcasting domain of the network.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the data relating to the at least one network terminal node further comprises information relating to at least one of:

an amount of free space on hard drives of the at least one network terminal node;

a domain suffix of a name of the at least one network terminal node;

a presence of vulnerabilities in software installed on the at least one network terminal node;

a time period of uninterrupted operation of the at least one network terminal node;

an account of a user using the at least one network terminal node;

or

a presence of a built-in battery in the at least one network terminal node.

4. A network terminal node in a network, comprising:

at least one processor coupled to memory, the at least one processor being configured for;

receiving at least one unique identifier assigned by the at least one server to the network terminal node which is one of a plurality of network terminal nodes connecting with the at least one server in the network;

receiving a period of broadcasting assigned by the at least one server to the network terminal node, wherein the period of broadcasting is directly related to a size of the network;

broadcasting in the network the at least one unique identifier;

collecting data relating to the network terminal node and a plurality of other network terminal nodes broadcasting in a same broadcasting domain of the network, the collected data relating to the at least one network terminal node including an operating speed, a location in the network, and a purpose of use of the at least one network terminal node; and

transmitting the collected data to the at least one server for (i) determining and forming a table of records for one or more broadcasting domains of the network and for (ii) determining and forming a list of update agents for the same broadcasting domain of the network, the server forming the table of records based at least in part on the collected data and forming the list based at least in part on the formed table and the collected data, wherein the table of records includes one or more records containing identifiers of one or more network terminal nodes that are located on the same network segment and that are visible to each other.

5. The network terminal node of claim 4, wherein the at least one processor is configured to collect the data by receiving a set of identifiers broadcast by the other network terminal nodes in the same broadcasting domain of the network.

6. The network terminal node of claim 4, wherein the data relating to the network terminal node further comprises information relating to at least one of:

an amount of free space on hard drives of the network terminal node;

a domain suffix of a name of the network terminal node;

a presence of vulnerabilities in software installed on the network terminal node;

a time period of uninterrupted operation of the network terminal node;

an account of a user using the network terminal node;

or

a presence of a built-in battery in the network terminal node.

7. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing thereon computer executable instructions for determining and forming a list of update agents for a plurality of network terminal nodes connecting with at least one server in a network, including instructions for:

receiving, by a processor of at least one network terminal node of the plurality of network terminal nodes, at least one unique identifier assigned by the at least one server to the at least one network terminal node;

receiving a period of broadcasting assigned by the at least one server to the network terminal node, wherein the period of broadcasting is directly related to a size of the network;

broadcasting in the network the at least one unique identifier by the at least one network terminal node;

collecting data relating to the at least one network terminal node and a plurality of other network terminal nodes broadcasting in a same broadcasting domain of the network, the collected data relating to the at least one network terminal node including an operating speed, a location in the network, and a purpose of use of the at least one network terminal node; and

transmitting the collected data to the at least one server for (i) determining and forming a table of records for one or more broadcasting domains of the network and for (ii) determining and forming a list of update agents for the same broadcasting domain of the network, the server forming the table of records based at least in part on the collected data and forming the list based at least in part on the formed table and the collected data, wherein the table of records includes one or more records containing identifiers of one or more network terminal nodes that are located on the same network segment and that are visible to each other.

8. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein the data relating to the at least one network terminal node further comprises information relating to at least one of:

an amount of free space on hard drives of the at least one network terminal node;

a domain suffix of a name of the at least one network terminal node;

a presence of vulnerabilities in software installed on the at least one network terminal node;

a time period of uninterrupted operation of the at least one network terminal node;

an account of a user using the at least one network terminal node;

or

a presence of a built-in battery in the at least one network terminal node.

9. A computer-implemented method for determining and forming a list of update agents for a plurality of network terminal nodes connecting with at least one server in a network, the method comprising:

assigning, by a processor of the at least one server, at least one unique identifier to be broadcast by each of the plurality of network terminal nodes connecting with the at least one server in the network;

determining, for each of the plurality of network terminal nodes, a period of broadcasting of the at least one unique identifier in the network, wherein the period of broadcasting is directly related to a size of the network;

in response to receiving data relating to each of the plurality of network terminal nodes, determining and forming a table of records for one or more broadcasting domains of the network based at least in part on the received data, the received data relating to the at least one network terminal node including an operating speed, a location in the network, and a purpose of use of the at least one network terminal node; and

determining and forming a list of identifiers of update agents for each of the one or more broadcasting domains of the network based at least in part on the formed table and the received data, wherein the table of records includes one or more records containing identifiers of one or more network terminal nodes that are located on the same network segment and that are visible to each other.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, further comprising:

transmitting the period of broadcasting to each of the plurality of network terminal nodes.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the update agents comprise one or more network terminal nodes of each broadcasting domain whose identifier is contained in at least one record of the table, and which is designated for distribution of updates to other network terminal nodes within a same broadcasting domain.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, further comprising transmitting the list of identifiers of update agents to each of the one or more broadcasting domains of the network.

13. A server in a network, comprising:

at least one processor coupled to memory, the at least one processor being configured for;

assigning at least one unique identifier to be broadcast by each of a plurality of network terminal nodes connecting with the server in the network;

determine, for each of the plurality of network terminal nodes, a period of broadcasting of the at least one unique identifier in the network, wherein the period of broadcasting is directly related to a size of the network

in response to receiving data relating to each of the plurality of network terminal nodes, determining and forming a table of records for one or more broadcasting domains of the network based at least in part on the received data, the received data relating to the at least one network terminal node including an operating speed, a location in the network, and a purpose of use of the at least one network terminal node; and

determining and forming a list of identifiers of update agents for each of the one or more broadcasting domains of the network based at least in part on the formed table and the received data, wherein the table of records includes one or more records containing identifiers of one or more network terminal nodes that are located on the same network segment and that are visible to each other.

14. The server of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

transmit the period of broadcasting to each of the plurality of network terminal nodes.

15. The server of claim 13, wherein the update agents comprise one or more network terminal nodes of each broadcasting domain whose identifier is contained in at least one record of the table, and which is designated for distribution of updates to other network terminal nodes within a same broadcasting domain.

16. The server of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to transmit the list of identifiers of update agents to each of the one or more broadcasting domains of the network.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing thereon computer executable instructions for determining and forming a list of update agents for a plurality of network terminal nodes connecting with at least one server in a network, including instructions for:

assigning, by a processor of the at least one server, at least one unique identifier to be broadcast by each of the plurality of network terminal nodes connecting with the at least one server in the network;

determining, for each of the plurality of network terminal nodes, a period of broadcasting of the at least one unique identifier in the network, wherein the period of broadcasting is directly related to a size of the network;

in response to receiving data relating to each of the plurality of network terminal nodes, determining and forming a table of records for one or more broadcasting domains of the network based at least in part on the received data, the received data relating to the at least one network terminal node including an operating speed, a location in the network, and a purpose of use of the at least one network terminal node; and

determining and forming a list of identifiers of update agents for each of the one or more broadcasting domains of the network based at least in part on the formed table and the received data, wherein the table of records includes one or more records containing identifiers of one or more network terminal nodes that are located on the same network segment and that are visible to each other.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, further comprising instructions for:

transmitting the period of broadcasting to each of the plurality of network terminal nodes.