System and method for evaluating internet and intranet information

• US 20040088577A1
• Filed: 10/31/2002
• Published: 05/06/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Battelle Memorial Institute
• Original Assignee: Battelle Memorial Institute
• Inventors: Render, Kenneth J.
• Application Number:
  US10/286,339
• Publication Number:
  US 20040088577A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/201
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/552 involving long-term monitoring or reporting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1408 by monitoring network traffic monitoring network traffic per se H04L43/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1433 Vulnerability analysis
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/75 Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

The invention relates to an apparatus and method for evaluating security threats from information available on the Internet or an Intranet. The method comprises gathering information from the Internet or an Intranet using at least one analyst defined parameter. The method then proceeds to generate a visual display of the gathered information. After generating the visual display of the information, the method provides a plurality of software tools for analyzing the visual display and the gathered information to identify a potential security threat. The method then generates an automated report based on the gathered information, the visual display, and the security threat analysis.

Claims

1. A method for evaluating security threats from information available on the Internet or an Intranet, comprising;

gathering a plurality of information from the Internet or said Intranet using at least one analyst defined parameter;

generating a visual display of said plurality of information; and

analyzing said visual display and said plurality of information to identify a possible security threat.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said at least one analyst defined parameter comprises a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said at least one analyst defined parameter comprises a search string related to a topic.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said plurality of information gathered from the Internet or said Intranet comprises at least one web page.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said plurality of information gathered from the Internet or said Intranet comprises at least one posting from a newsgroup.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said plurality of information gathered from the Internet or said Intranet comprises a broadcast e-mail.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said plurality of information gathered from the Internet or said Intranet comprises at least one web page, at least one posting from a newsgroup and a broadcast e-mail.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising storing said plurality of information in a database and any subsequent changes to said plurality of information.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein analyzing of said visual display and said plurality of information further comprises analyzing changes to said plurality of information.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein analyzing of said visual display and said plurality of Internet information further comprises,

performing a refined search of said plurality of information to identify a subset of information;

and

analyzing said subset of information.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein said refined search is engaged with said analyst providing another URL.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein said refined search is engaged with another search string.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein said plurality of information gathered from the Internet or said Intranet is gathered with at least one search engine.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein gathering of said plurality of information further comprises permitting said analyst to limit said plurality of information gathered from the Internet or said Intranet.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein gathering of said plurality of information further comprises identifying a plurality of out-bound hyperlinks and a plurality of in-bound hyperlinks.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein analyzing said plurality of information further comprises performing a statistical analysis with said plurality of out-bound hyperlinks and said plurality of in-bound hyperlinks.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein generating of said visual display further comprises applying color coding to said plurality of out-bound hyperlinks and said plurality of in-bound hyperlinks.

18. The method of claim 15 wherein generating of said visual display further comprises generating a three-dimensional graphical layout of said plurality of out-bound hyperlinks and said plurality of in-bound hyperlinks.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein gathering of said plurality of information further comprises performing stealth searches for said plurality of information.

20. The method of claim 3 wherein gathering of said plurality of information further comprises performing backwards navigation for said search string related to said topic.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein gathering of said plurality of information further comprises identifying said plurality of information having limited or restricted access.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein analyzing said plurality of information further comprises performing a historical analysis of changes to said plurality of information.

24. The method of claim 1 wherein said plurality of information gathered from the Internet or said Intranet comprises at least one web page, at least one posting from a newsgroup and a broadcast e-mail.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein said at least one analyst defined parameter comprises a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

26. The method of claim 24 wherein said at least one analyst defined parameter comprises a search string related to a topic.

27. The method of claim 24 further comprising storing said plurality of information in a database and any subsequent changes to said plurality of information.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein analyzing of said visual display and said plurality of information further comprises analyzing changes to said plurality of information.

29. The method of claim 24 wherein analyzing of said visual display and said plurality of Internet information further comprises,

performing a refined search of said plurality of information to identify a subset of information;

and

analyzing said subset of information.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein said refined search is engaged with said analyst providing another URL.

31. The method of claim 24 wherein said refined search is engaged with another search string.

32. The method of claim 24 wherein said plurality of information gathered from the Internet or said Intranet is gathered with at least one search engine.

33. The method of claim 32 wherein gathering of said plurality of information further comprises permitting said analyst to limit said plurality of information gathered from the Internet or said Intranet.

34. The method of claim 32 wherein gathering of said plurality of information further comprises identifying a plurality of out-bound hyperlinks and a plurality of in-bound hyperlinks.

35. The method of claim 34 wherein analyzing said plurality of information further comprises performing a statistical analysis with said plurality of out-bound hyperlinks and said plurality of in-bound hyperlinks.

36. The method of claim 34 wherein generating of said visual display further comprises applying color coding to said plurality of out-bound hyperlinks and said plurality of in-bound hyperlinks.

37. The method of claim 34 wherein generating of said visual display further comprises generating a three-dimensional graphical layout of said plurality of out-bound hyperlinks and said plurality of in-bound hyperlinks.

38. The method of claim 34 wherein gathering of said plurality of information further comprises performing stealth searches for said plurality of information.

39. The method of claim 26 wherein gathering of said plurality of information further comprises performing backwards navigation for said search string related to said topic.

40. The method of claim 34 wherein gathering of said plurality of information further comprises identifying said plurality of information having limited or restricted access.

41. The method of claim 34 wherein analyzing said plurality of information further comprises performing a historical analysis of changes to said plurality of information.

23. A method for evaluating security threats from information available on the Internet or an Intranet, comprising;

gathering a plurality of information from the Internet or said Intranet using at least one analyst defined parameter;

generating a visual display of said plurality of information;

analyzing said visual display and said plurality of information to identify a possible security threat; and

reporting in an automated manner results from said analyzing of said visual display and said plurality of information.