Gated Network Service

• US 20110126259A1
• Filed: 11/25/2009
• Published: 05/26/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Krishnamurthi, Ganesh, Krishnamurthy, Balachander, Savoor, Raghvendra
• Granted Patent: US 8,510,792 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/026 using flow identification
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0227 Filtering policies mail message filtering H04L51/212
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1416 Event detection, e.g. attack signature detection

Abstract

A method includes identifying at a gateway device of a network a plurality of devices connected to the network. The method includes monitoring network traffic at the gateway device and determining that a particular traffic flow associated with one of the plurality of devices violates a privacy constraint. The method also includes providing a risk assessment associated with the privacy constraint violation. The risk assessment is at least partially based on terms and conditions associated with a particular device of the plurality of devices.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

at a gateway device of a network, identifying a plurality of devices connected to the network;

monitoring network traffic at the gateway device;

determining that a particular traffic flow associated with one of the plurality of devices violates a privacy constraint; and

providing a risk assessment associated with the privacy constraint violation to a subscriber of a service associated with the gateway device, wherein the risk assessment is at least partially based on terms and conditions associated with at least one device of the plurality of devices.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the risk assessment includes a recommendation of removing particular information from the particular traffic flow.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

sending the risk assessment from the gateway device to one or more of the plurality of devices connected to the network; and

at the gateway device, receiving from a responding device a request to not remove the particular information from the particular traffic flow.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

sending the risk assessment from the gateway device to one or more of the plurality of devices connected to the network; and

at the gateway device, receiving from a responding device a request to remove the particular information from the particular traffic flow.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the privacy constraint is at least partially based on a type of information included in the particular traffic flow.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the particular traffic flow originates from a first device of the plurality of devices and the type of information is associated with a second device of the plurality of devices.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the privacy constraint is at least partially based on a particular destination device of the particular traffic flow.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending information associated with the particular traffic flow from the gateway device to a database maintained by a service provider, wherein the database is usable to develop rules for determining whether traffic flow at the gateway device violates one or more privacy constraints.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the database includes identities of each of the plurality of devices, information from terms and conditions associated with each of the plurality of devices, and traffic flow information associated with each of the plurality of devices.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the rules are developed based on at least one statistical model.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising receiving the developed rules at the gateway device and applying the rules to determine whether traffic flow associated with one of the plurality of devices violates a privacy constraint.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the particular traffic flow violates the privacy constraint includes:

determining a source of the particular traffic flow;

determining a destination of the particular traffic flow; and

determining a type of information included in the particular traffic flow.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the particular traffic flow violates the privacy constraint is at least partially based on at least one of a trust level of a source of the particular traffic flow and a trust level of a destination of the particular traffic flow.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of devices connected to the network include one or more of a gaming console, a set-top box, a digital-video-disk (DVD) player, a blu-ray player, and a television.

15. A network gateway device comprising:

a network interface configured to receive network traffic from a plurality of devices connected to a network; and

a privacy module that is coupled to the network interface and is configured to;

identify the plurality of devices connected to the network;

monitor network traffic at the gateway device;

determine that a particular traffic flow associated with one of the plurality of devices violates a privacy constraint; and

provide a risk assessment associated with the privacy constraint violation, wherein the risk assessment is at least partially based on terms and conditions associated with at least one device of the plurality of devices.

16. The network gateway device of claim 15, wherein the plurality of devices connected to the network includes at least one of a wireless security device, a utility measurement device, and a health care monitoring device.

17. The network gateway device of claim 15, wherein the plurality of devices connected to the network includes a voice over internet protocol (VOIP) analog telephone adapter (ATA).

18. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, enable the processor to:

at a service provider system, receive information from a gateway device, wherein the information includes at least traffic flow information associated with a plurality of devices connected to a network;

develop rules usable in determining whether traffic flow monitored at the gateway device violates a privacy constraint, wherein the rules are based at least partially on the received information; and

send the developed rules to the gateway device.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the rules are developed further based on override data received from the gateway device, the override data associated with the developed rules being overridden by a subscriber.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the traffic flow information includes one or more of a user name, a user address, a device serial number, account information, device usage statistics, an internet protocol (IP) address, and biometric information.