Integrated firewall, IPS, and virus scanner system and method

• US 7,610,610 B2
• Filed: 01/10/2005
• Issued: 10/27/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/10/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: McAfee, LLC
• Original Assignee: McAfee, Inc. (McAfee, LLC)
• Inventors: Gupta, Ramesh M., Raman, Ananth, Vissamsetti, Srikant, Haeffele, Steven M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Revak; Christopher A
• Application Number:
  US11/033,426
• Publication Number:
  US 20060156403A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,751 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 726/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0218 Distributed architectures, e.g. distributed firewalls
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0227 Filtering policies mail message filtering H04L51/212
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1408 by monitoring network traffic monitoring network traffic per se H04L43/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1441 Countermeasures against malicious traffic countermeasures against attacks on cryptographic mechanisms H04L9/002
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227

Abstract

A system, method and computer program product are provided including a router and a security sub-system coupled to the router. Such security sub-system includes a plurality of virtual firewalls, a plurality of virtual intrusion prevention systems (IPSs), and a plurality of virtual virus scanners. Further, each of the virtual firewalls, IPSs, and virus scanners is assigned to at least one of a plurality of user and is configured in a user-specific.

Claims

1. A security system, comprising:

a router; and

a security sub-system coupled to the router;

wherein the security sub-system includes a plurality of virtual firewalls, a plurality of virtual intrusion prevention systems (IPSs), and a plurality of virtual virus scanners all integrated into a single sub-system,

wherein each of the virtual firewalls, IPSs, and virus scanners is assigned to at least one of a plurality of users and is configured in a user-specific manner;

wherein the user-specific configuration is provided utilizing a plurality of user-specific policies selected utilizing at least one graphical user interface such that a first user of the single sub-system is capable of selecting a first policy utilizing a first graphical user interface of the single sub-system and a second user of the single sub-system is capable of selecting a second policy utilizing a second graphical user interface of the single sub-system.

2. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the security sub-system further includes a plurality of anti-spam modules and each of the anti-spam modules is assigned to at least one of the plurality of the users and is configured in the user-specific manner.

3. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the security sub-system further includes a plurality of content filtering modules and each of the content filtering modules is assigned to at least one of the plurality of the users and is configured in the user-specific manner.

4. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the security sub-system further includes a plurality of uniform resource locator (URL) filtering modules and each of the URL filtering modules is assigned to at least one of the plurality of the users and is configured in the user-specific manner.

5. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the security sub-system further includes a plurality of virtual private network (VPN) modules and each of the VPN modules is assigned to at least one of the plurality of the users and is configured in the user-specific manner.

6. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the security sub-system further includes a plurality of spyware filtering modules and each of the spyware filtering modules is assigned to at least one of the plurality of the users and is configured in the user-specific manner.

7. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the security sub-system further includes a plurality of adware filtering modules and each of the adware filtering modules is assigned to at least one of the plurality of the users and is configured in the user-specific manner.

8. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the user-specific policies are selected by each user.

9. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the graphical user interface includes a virtual firewall interface, a virtual IPS interface, and a virtual virus scanner interface.

10. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the security sub-system resides in front of the router.

11. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the security sub-system resides in back of the router.

12. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the security sub-system is a component of the router.

13. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the system is used to counter terrorism.

14. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the security sub-system is equipped with a failover function.

15. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein each of the graphical user interfaces only allows selection of policies with respect to predetermined security functionalities that are subscribed to by the user.

16. the system as recited in claim 15, wherein the predetermined security functionalities are selected utilizing an interface separate from the first graphical user interface and the second graphical user interface

17. A security method, comprising:

receiving data utilizing a router; and

processing the data utilizing a security system coupled to the router;

wherein the security system includes a plurality of virtual firewalls, a plurality of virtual intrusion prevention systems (IPSs), and a plurality of virtual virus scanners all integrated into a single system,

wherein each of the virtual firewalls, IPSs, and virus scanners is assigned to at least one of a plurality of users and is configured in a user-specific manner;

wherein the user-specific configuration is provided utilizing a plurality of user-specific policies selected utilizing at least one graphical user interface such that a first user of the single system is capable of selecting a first policy utilizing a first graphical user interface of the single system and a second user of the single system is capable of selecting a second policy utilizing a second graphical user interface of the single system.

18. A security computer program product embodied on a computer readable medium, comprising:

computer code for receiving data utilizing a router; and

computer code for processing the data utilizing a security system coupled to the router;

wherein the security system includes a plurality of virtual firewalls, a plurality of virtual intrusion prevention systems (IPSs), and a plurality of virtual virus scanners all integrated into a single system,

wherein each of the virtual firewalls, IPSs, and virus scanners is assigned to at least one of a plurality of users and is configured in a user-specific manner;

wherein the user-specific configuration is provided utilizing a plurality of user-specific policies selected utilizing at least one graphical user interface such that a first user of the single system is capable of selecting a first policy utilizing a first graphical user interface of the single system and a second user of the single system is capable of selecting a second policy utilizing a second graphical user interface of the single system.