Methods, communication networks, and computer program products for monitoring, examining, and/or blocking traffic associated with a network element based on whether the network element can be trusted
First Claim
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1. A method of operating a communication network, comprising:
- determining whether a network element can be trusted, wherein determining whether a network element can be trusted comprises;
generating a first hash value based on data associated with the network element at a first time;
generating a second hash value based on the data associated with the network element at a second time different than the first time; and
comparing the first hash value with the second hash value to determine whether the network element can be trusted based on whether a change has occurred in a configuration of the network element between the first time and the second time; and
monitoring traffic associated with the network element based on whether the network element can be trusted;
wherein monitoring traffic comprises;
selecting traffic for monitoring using rules that are based on network element trust information;
selecting at least some of the traffic that was monitored for examination based on a degree of trust for the network element;
examining the at least some of the traffic that was monitored and was selected using rules using a level of examination selected from a plurality of levels of examination to determine if the traffic contains unexpected information based on the degree of trust for the network element; and
providing results with respect to whether the at least some of the traffic that was monitored and was selected using rules contains unexpected information to a human expert interface based on the degree of trust for the network element;
wherein the level of examination of the at least some of the traffic that was monitored is based on the degree of trust for the network element.
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Abstract
A communication network is operated by determining whether a network element can be trusted and monitoring traffic associated with the network element based on whether the network element can be trusted. At least some of the monitored traffic may be selected for examination based on the degree of trust for the network element. At least some of the monitored and/or examined traffic is selected to be blocked based on the degree of trust for the network element.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. A method of operating a communication network, comprising:
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determining whether a network element can be trusted, wherein determining whether a network element can be trusted comprises; generating a first hash value based on data associated with the network element at a first time; generating a second hash value based on the data associated with the network element at a second time different than the first time; and comparing the first hash value with the second hash value to determine whether the network element can be trusted based on whether a change has occurred in a configuration of the network element between the first time and the second time; and monitoring traffic associated with the network element based on whether the network element can be trusted; wherein monitoring traffic comprises; selecting traffic for monitoring using rules that are based on network element trust information; selecting at least some of the traffic that was monitored for examination based on a degree of trust for the network element; examining the at least some of the traffic that was monitored and was selected using rules using a level of examination selected from a plurality of levels of examination to determine if the traffic contains unexpected information based on the degree of trust for the network element; and providing results with respect to whether the at least some of the traffic that was monitored and was selected using rules contains unexpected information to a human expert interface based on the degree of trust for the network element; wherein the level of examination of the at least some of the traffic that was monitored is based on the degree of trust for the network element. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13)
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11. A communication network, comprising:
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a verification system comprising at least one processor that is configured to determine whether a network element can be trusted by; generating a first hash value based on data associated with the network element at a first time; generating a second hash value based on the data associated with the network element at a second time different than the first time; and comparing the first hash value with the second hash value to determine whether the network element can be trusted based on whether a change has occurred in a configuration of the network element between the first time and the second time; and a monitor comprising at least one processor that is connected to the verification system and is configured to monitor traffic associated with the network element based on whether the network element can be trusted; a monitoring controller comprising at least one processor that is connected to the verification system and the monitor and is configured to select traffic for monitoring using rules that are based on a degree of trust for the network element; an examiner comprising at least one processor that is connected to the monitor and is configured to select at least some of the traffic that was monitored for examination based on the degree of trust for the network element; a human expert interface; wherein the monitor is further configured to monitor the traffic associated with the network element using rules to determine if the traffic associated with the network element contains unexpected information based on the degree of trust for the network element, and to provide results with respect to whether the traffic associated with the network element contains unexpected information based on a monitoring of the human expert interface based on the degree of trust for the network element; wherein the examiner is further configured to examine the selected at least some of the traffic that was monitored using rules using a level of examination selected from a plurality of levels of examination to determine if the at least some of the traffic that was selected contains unexpected information based on the degree of trust for the network element, and to provide results with respect to whether the traffic contains unexpected information to the human expert interface based on the degree of trust for the network element; and wherein the level of examination of the at least some of the traffic that was monitored is based on the degree of trust for the network element. - View Dependent Claims (12, 14)
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Specification