Computer network intrusion detection system and method

• US 8,272,054 B2
• Filed: 05/31/2006
• Issued: 09/18/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/06/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated (Kyndryl Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dequevy, Jean-Jacques
• Primary Examiner(s): LOUIE, OSCAR A
• Application Number:
  US11/916,373
• Publication Number:
  US 20080209541A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,302 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 726/23
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/663 Transport layer addresses, e.g. aspects of transmission control protocol [TCP] or user datagram protocol [UDP] ports
• 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 63/1425 Traffic logging, e.g. anomaly detection

Abstract

A method and system for identifying an attacker device attempting an intrusion into a TCP/IP protocol based network that includes a managed device and a security event log. The managed device detects an incoming TCP/IP connection by the attacker device to the network. TCP/IP information relating to the attacker device is extracted from a TCP/IP stack of the managed device. It is ascertained that a port number of the incoming TCP/IP connection is identical to a predefined port number. A performed process includes determining that the incoming TCP/IP connection is a Net BIOS connection that has created an invalid logon by the attacker device. Event log information, which is associated with the detected incoming TCP/IP connection, is retrieved from the security event log. A generated report is generated and stored in a database of the network. The report includes the extracted TCP/IP information and the retrieved event log information.

Claims

1. A method of identifying an attacker device attempting an intrusion into a TCP/IP protocol based network that includes at least one managed device and a security event log, said method comprising:

detecting, by the at least one managed device, an incoming TCP/IP connection by the attacker device to the network;

after said detecting, extracting from a TCP/IP stack of at least one managed device TCP/IP information relating to the attacker device;

after said extracting, ascertaining that a port number of the incoming TCP/IP connection is identical to a port number in a set of predefined port numbers;

after said ascertaining, performing a process, wherein said performing the process comprises determining that the incoming TCP/IP connection is a Net BIOS connection that has created an invalid logon by the attacker device, linking the invalid logon with the incoming NetBIOS TCP/IP connection, retrieving event log information from the security event log, and determining (i) that a userid of the invalid logon is a local userid defined on a local device of the at least one managed device, (ii) that the userid of the invalid logon is a userid in a list of userids used by viruses, or (iii) that the userid of the invalid logon is neither the local userid defined on the local device nor is in the list of userids used by viruses; and

generating a report comprising report information that includes the extracted TCP/IP information and the retrieved event log information; and

storing the report in a central violation database of the network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said performing the process comprises determining a warning level associated with the invalid logon, and wherein the report comprises the warning level.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the report information comprises the local userid of the invalid logon, and wherein said determining the warning level comprises:

determining that the userid of the invalid logon is the local userid defined on the local device, resulting in determining that the warning level is a low warning level;

determining that the userid of the invalid logon is not the local userid defined on the local device and is not in the list of userids used by viruses, resulting in determining that the warning level is a medium warning level;

or

determining that the userid of the invalid logon is in the list of userids used by viruses, resulting in determining that the warning level is a high warning level.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said performing the process comprises determining a MAC address of the attacker device, and wherein the report information comprises the determined MAC address.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises determining a host name of the network, and wherein the report comprises the determined host name of the network.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the report comprises a host name of the network, an IP address of the at least one managed device, a local subnet of the network, a host name of the attacker device, an IP address of the attacker device, a TCP port of the attacker device, the port number of the incoming TCP/IP connection, a MAC address of the attacker device, a userid of the invalid logon, a warning level associated with the invalid logon, a date and time of the incoming TCP/IP connection, and a network switch through which the incoming TCP/IP connection was established.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the report comprises a city, building, and floor in which the attacker device is located.

8. A system comprising at least one managed device configured for identifying an attacker device attempting an intrusion into a TCP/IP protocol based network, said network including the at least one managed device and a security event log, said at least one managed device configured to perform a method, said method comprising:

detecting, by the at least one managed device, an incoming TCP/IP connection by the attacker device to the network;

after said detecting, extracting from a TCP/IP stack of the at least one managed device TCP/IP information relating to the attacker device;

after said extracting, ascertaining that a port number of the incoming TCP/IP connection is identical to a port number in a set of predefined port numbers;

after said ascertaining, performing a process, wherein said performing the process comprises determining that the incoming TCP/IP connection is a Net BIOS connection that has created an invalid logon by the attacker device, linking the invalid logon with the incoming NetBIOS TCP/IP connection, retrieving event log information from the security event log, and determining (i) that a userid of the invalid logon is a local userid defined on a local device of the at least one managed device, (ii) that the userid of the invalid logon is a userid in a list of userids used by viruses, or (iii) that the userid of the invalid logon is neither the local userid defined on the local device nor is in the list of userids used by viruses; and

generating a report comprising report information that includes the extracted TCP/IP information and the retrieved event log information; and

storing the report in a central violation database of the network.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein said performing the process comprises determining a warning level associated with the invalid logon, and wherein the report comprises the warning level.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the report information comprises the local userid of the invalid logon, and wherein said determining the warning level comprises:

determining that the userid of the invalid logon is the local userid defined on the local device, resulting in determining that the warning level is a low warning level;

determining that the userid of the invalid logon is not the local userid defined on the local device and is not in the list of userids used by viruses, resulting in determining that the warning level is a medium warning level;

or

determining that the userid of the invalid logon is in the list of userids used by viruses, resulting in determining that the warning level is a high warning level.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein said performing the process comprises determining a MAC address of the attacker device, and wherein the report information comprises the determined MAC address.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises determining a host name of the network, and wherein the report comprises the determined host name of the network.

13. The system of claim 8, wherein the report comprises a host name of the network, an IP address of the at least one managed device, a local subnet of the network, a host name of the attacker device, an IP address of the attacker device, a TCP port of the attacker device, the port number of the incoming TCP/IP connection, a MAC address of the attacker device, a userid of the invalid logon, a warning level associated with the invalid logon, a date and time of the incoming TCP/IP connection, and a network switch through which the incoming TCP/IP connection was established.

14. The system of claim 8, wherein the report comprises a city, building, and floor in which the attacker device is located.

15. A computer program product stored on a hardware storage medium readable by a computer machine, the computer program product tangibly embodying readable program code configured to be executed by the computer machine to perform a method of identifying an attacker device attempting an intrusion into a TCP/IP protocol based network that includes at least one managed device and a security event log, said method comprising:

detecting, by the at least one managed device, an incoming TCP/IP connection by the attacker device to the network;

after said detecting, extracting from a TCP/IP stack of the at least one managed device TCP/IP information relating to the attacker device;

after said extracting, ascertaining that a port number of the incoming TCP/IP connection is identical to a port number in a set of predefined port numbers;

after said ascertaining, performing a process, wherein said performing the process comprises determining that the incoming TCP/IP connection is a Net BIOS connection that has created an invalid logon by the attacker device, linking the invalid logon with the incoming NetBIOS TCP/IP connection, retrieving event log information from the security event log, and determining (i) that a userid of the invalid logon is a local userid defined on a local device of the at least one managed device, (ii) that the userid of the invalid logon is a userid in a list of userids used by viruses, or (iii) that the userid of the invalid logon is neither the local userid defined on the local device nor is in the list of userids used by viruses; and

generating a report comprising report information that includes the extracted TCP/IP information and the retrieved event log information; and

storing the report in a central violation database of the network.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein said performing the process comprises determining a warning level associated with the invalid logon, and wherein the report comprises the warning level.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the report information comprises the local userid of the invalid logon, and wherein said determining the warning level comprises:

determining that the userid of the invalid logon is the local userid defined on the local device, resulting in determining that the warning level is a low warning level;

determining that the userid of the invalid logon is not the local userid defined on the local device and is not in the list of userids used by viruses, resulting in determining that the warning level is a medium warning level;

or

determining that the userid of the invalid logon is in the list of userids used by viruses, resulting in determining that the warning level is a high warning level.

18. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein said performing the process comprises determining a MAC address of the attacker device, and wherein the report information comprises the determined MAC address.

19. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises determining a host name of the network, and wherein the report comprises the determined host name of the network.

20. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the report comprises a host name of the network, an IP address of the at least one managed device, a local subnet of the network, a host name of the attacker device, an IP address of the attacker device, a TCP port of the attacker device, the port number of the incoming TCP/IP connection, a MAC address of the attacker device, a userid of the invalid logon, a warning level associated with the invalid logon, a date and time of the incoming TCP/IP connection, and a network switch through which the incoming TCP/IP connection was established.

21. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the report comprises a city, building, and floor in which the attacker device is located.