System and Method for Location, Time-of-Day, and Quality-of-Service Based Prioritized Access Control

• US 20110141900A1
• Filed: 12/11/2009
• Published: 06/16/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/2009
• 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: Jayawardena, Thusitha, de los Reyes, Gustavo
• Granted Patent: US 8,254,257 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/237
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/028 by filtering
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1458 Denial of Service

Abstract

A priority server for a provider network includes a traffic volume detection module, a traffic analyzer module, and a rules module. The traffic volume detection module receives operational information from the provider network and determines that a host is experiencing a flash event based upon the operational information. The traffic analyzer module determines that the flash event is not a distributed denial of service attack on the host. When it is determined that the flash event is not a distributed denial of service attack, the rules module provides a priority rule to an access router that is coupled to the host. The priority rule is based upon a characteristic of packets routed in the provider network that are associated with the flash event, and the characteristic is determined not solely by information included in the packets.

Claims

1. A priority server for a provider network, comprising:

a traffic volume detection module that receives operational information from the provider network and determines that a host on the provider network is experiencing a flash event based upon the operational information;

a traffic analyzer module that determines that the flash event is not a distributed denial of service attack on the host; and

a rules module that provides a priority rule to an access router in the provider network that is coupled to the host in response to determining that the flash event is not a distributed denial of service attack, wherein;

the priority rule is based upon a characteristic of packets routed in the provider network that are associated with the flash event; and

the characteristic is determined not solely by information included in the packets.

2. The priority server of claim 1, wherein the characteristic includes a geographic location that is a source of the packets.

3. The priority server of claim 1, wherein the characteristic includes a time at which the packets entered the provider network.

4. The priority server of claim 3, wherein the time includes a time zone.

5. The priority server of claim 3, wherein the time includes a range of times.

6. The priority server of claim 1, wherein the characteristic includes a port of the host that is a target of the packets.

7. The priority server of claim 1, wherein the characteristic includes a particular network protocol that is associated with the packets.

8. A method of prioritizing traffic in a provider network, comprising:

receiving at a traffic volume detection module of a priority server operational information from the provider network;

determining that a host on the provider network is experiencing a flash event based upon the operational information;

determining that the flash event is not a distributed denial of service attack on the host; and

in response to determining that the flash event is not a distributed denial of service attack, providing a priority rule to an access router in the provider network that is coupled to the host, wherein;

the priority rule is based upon a characteristic of packets routed in the provider network that are associated with the flash event; and

the characteristic is determined not solely by information included in the packets.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the characteristic includes a geographic location that is a source of the packets.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the characteristic includes a time at which the packets entered the provider network.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the time includes a time zone.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the time includes a range of times.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the characteristic includes a port of the host that is a target of the packets.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the characteristic includes a particular network protocol that is associated with the packets.

15. Machine-executable code for managing prioritized access rules, wherein the machine-executable code is embedded within a tangible medium and includes instructions for carrying out a method comprising:

receiving operational information from a provider network;

determining that a host on the provider network is experiencing a flash event based upon the operational information;

determining that the flash event is not a distributed denial of service attack on the host; and

in response to determining that the flash event is not a distributed denial of service attack, providing a priority rule to an access router in the provider network that is coupled to the host, wherein;

the priority rule is based upon a characteristic of packets routed in the provider network that are associated with the flash event; and

the characteristic is determined not solely by information included in the packets.

16. The machine-executable code of claim 15, wherein the characteristic includes a geographic location that is a source of the packets.

17. The machine-executable code of claim 15, wherein the characteristic includes a time at which the packets entered the provider network.

18. The machine-executable code of claim 17, wherein the time includes a time zone.

19. The machine-executable code of claim 15, wherein the characteristic includes a port of the host that is a target of the packets.

20. The machine-executable code of claim 15, wherein the characteristic includes a particular network protocol that is associated with the packets.