Method and Apparatus for Graphical Presentation of Firewall Security Policy

• US 20120216270A1
• Filed: 03/26/2012
• Published: 08/23/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/19/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated (Kyndryl Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Anderson, Brooke Madsen, Karnes, Mary, Lieberman, Sarah M., Wilczek, Mira E., Bunn, Wiliam C.
• Granted Patent: US 8,701,177 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/11
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/02 for separating internal from external traffic, e.g. firewalls
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1433 Vulnerability analysis
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/75 Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display

Abstract

A graphical representation of the firewall and a network coupled to the firewall is generated and displayed. A number of an inbound port of the network is displayed. An arrow adjacent to the port number pointing toward the network is displayed to indicate that a communication is permitted to the port. The port number and the arrow are located between an icon for the network and an icon for the firewall. A port number of a destination of a communication originating from the network is displayed. Also, another arrow adjacent to the destination port number pointing toward the firewall is displayed to indicate that a communication is permitted to the destination port number. The destination port number and the other arrow are located between an icon for the network and an icon for the firewall.

Claims

1. A computer program product for reporting permitted message flows through a firewall, the computer program product comprising:

one or more computer-readable tangible storage devices and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, the program instructions comprising;

program instructions to generate and display an icon representing the firewall and an icon representing a first network coupled to the firewall;

program instructions to generate and display a first arrow between the firewall icon and the network icon pointing to the network icon indicating that a first communication is permitted to the first network, the first arrow color-coded with a first color to represent a second network from which the first communication originates;

program instructions, responsive to a user selection of the displayed first arrow, to determine and display a list of ports from the second network that are permitted by the firewall to originate messages to the first network;

program instructions to generate and display a second arrow between the firewall icon and the network icon pointing to the network icon indicating that a second communication is permitted to the first network, the second arrow color-coded with a second, different color to represent a third network from which the second communication originates; and

program instructions, responsive to a user selection of the displayed second arrow, to determine and display a list of ports from the third network that are permitted by the firewall to originate messages to the first network; and

wherein the second network has a different security level than the third network as indicated by the first and second, different colors.

2. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein

the program instructions to determine and display a list of ports from the second network that are permitted by the firewall to originate messages to the first network also determine and display, responsive to a user selection of the displayed first arrow, a list of ports of the first network that are permitted by the firewall to receive the messages from the second network;

and

the program instructions to determine and display a list of ports from the third network that are permitted by the firewall to originate messages to the first network also determine and display, responsive to a user selection of the displayed second, a list of ports of the first network that are permitted by the firewall to receive the messages from the third network.

3. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to generate and display between the firewall icon and the network icon a plurality of numbers of inbound ports of the first network permitted by the firewall to receive messages from the second and third networks.

4. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprising:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to determine and display on or adjacent to the firewall icon a number of vulnerability and/or misconfiguration problems with the firewall.

5. A computer system for reporting permitted message flows through a firewall, the computer system comprising:

one or more processors, one or more computer-readable memories, one or more computer-readable tangible storage devices, and program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, the program instructions comprising;

program instructions to generate and display an icon representing the firewall and an icon representing a first network coupled to the firewall;

program instructions to generate and display a first arrow between the firewall icon and the network icon pointing to the network icon indicating that a first communication is permitted to the first network, the first arrow color-coded with a first color to represent a second network from which the first communication originates;

program instructions, responsive to a user selection of the displayed first arrow, to determine and display a list of ports from the second network that are permitted by the firewall to originate messages to the first network;

program instructions to generate and display a second arrow between the firewall icon and the network icon pointing to the network icon indicating that a second communication is permitted to the first network, the second arrow color-coded with a second, different color to represent a third network from which the second communication originates; and

program instructions, responsive to a user selection of the displayed second arrow, to determine and display a list of ports from the third network that are permitted by the firewall to originate messages to the first network; and

wherein the second network has a different security level than the third network as indicated by the first and second, different colors.

6. The computer system of claim 5, wherein

the program instructions to determine and display a list of ports from the second network that are permitted by the firewall to originate messages to the first network also determine and display, responsive to a user selection of the displayed first arrow, a list of ports of the first network that are permitted by the firewall to receive the messages from the second network;

and

the program instructions to determine and display a list of ports from the third network that are permitted by the firewall to originate messages to the first network also determine and display, responsive to a user selection of the displayed second, a list of ports of the first network that are permitted by the firewall to receive the messages from the third network.

7. The computer system of claim 5, further comprising:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to generate and display between the firewall icon and the network icon a plurality of numbers of inbound ports of the first network permitted by the firewall to receive messages from the second and third networks.

8. The computer system of claim 5, further comprising:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to determine and display on or adjacent to the firewall icon a number of vulnerability and/or misconfiguration problems with the firewall.