Heuristic botnet detection
First Claim
1. A system, comprising:
- a processor configured to;
monitor network traffic to identify suspicious network traffic, wherein the monitoring of the network traffic includes;
identify a uniform resource locator (URL) in the network traffic;
determine whether the network traffic includes a malware URL, an unclassified URL, or a combination thereof; and
in the event that the network traffic includes the malware URL, the unclassified URL, or a combination thereof, assign the network traffic as the suspicious network traffic;
detect a bot based on a heuristic analysis of the suspicious network traffic behavior, wherein the suspicious network traffic behavior includes command and control traffic associated with a bot master;
monitor behavior indicated in the network traffic to identify malware, wherein the monitored behaviors that indicate potential malware include connecting to a non-standard HTTP port for HTTP traffic, visiting a non-existent domain, downloading executable files with non-standard executable file extensions, performing a DNS query for an email server, communicating using a post method in HTTP traffic, connecting to a non-standard IRC port for IRC traffic, communicating using an intrusion prevention system evasion technique, communicating unclassified traffic over an HTTP port, visiting a dynamic DNS domain, or any combination thereof; and
monitor visited domain related behavior to identify a malicious domain based on whether a visited domain is a dynamic DNS domain; and
a memory coupled to the processor and configured to provide the processor with instructions.
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Abstract
In some embodiments, heuristic botnet detection is provided. In some embodiments, heuristic botnet detection includes monitoring network traffic to identify suspicious network traffic; and detecting a bot based on a heuristic analysis of the suspicious network traffic behavior using a processor, in which the suspicious network traffic behavior includes command and control traffic associated with a bot master. In some embodiments, heuristic botnet detection further includes assigning a score to the monitored network traffic, in which the score corresponds to a botnet risk characterization of the monitored network traffic (e.g., based on one or more heuristic botnet detection techniques); increasing the score based on a correlation of additional suspicious behaviors associated with the monitored network traffic (e.g., based on one or more heuristic botnet detection techniques); and determining the suspicious behavior is associated with a botnet based on the score.
119 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A system, comprising:
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a processor configured to; monitor network traffic to identify suspicious network traffic, wherein the monitoring of the network traffic includes; identify a uniform resource locator (URL) in the network traffic; determine whether the network traffic includes a malware URL, an unclassified URL, or a combination thereof; and in the event that the network traffic includes the malware URL, the unclassified URL, or a combination thereof, assign the network traffic as the suspicious network traffic; detect a bot based on a heuristic analysis of the suspicious network traffic behavior, wherein the suspicious network traffic behavior includes command and control traffic associated with a bot master; monitor behavior indicated in the network traffic to identify malware, wherein the monitored behaviors that indicate potential malware include connecting to a non-standard HTTP port for HTTP traffic, visiting a non-existent domain, downloading executable files with non-standard executable file extensions, performing a DNS query for an email server, communicating using a post method in HTTP traffic, connecting to a non-standard IRC port for IRC traffic, communicating using an intrusion prevention system evasion technique, communicating unclassified traffic over an HTTP port, visiting a dynamic DNS domain, or any combination thereof; and monitor visited domain related behavior to identify a malicious domain based on whether a visited domain is a dynamic DNS domain; and a memory coupled to the processor and configured to provide the processor with instructions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method, comprising:
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monitoring network traffic to identify suspicious network traffic, wherein the monitoring of the network traffic includes; identifying a uniform resource locator (URL) in the network traffic; determining whether the network traffic includes a malware URL, an unclassified URL, or a combination thereof; and in the event that the network traffic includes the malware URL, the unclassified URL, or a combination thereof, assigning the network traffic as the suspicious network traffic; detecting a bot based on a heuristic analysis of the suspicious network traffic behavior using a processor;
wherein the suspicious network traffic behavior includes command and control traffic associated with a bot master;monitoring behavior indicated in the network traffic to identify malware, wherein the monitored behaviors that indicate potential malware include connecting to a non-standard HTTP port for HTTP traffic, visiting a non-existent domain, downloading executable files with non-standard executable file extensions, performing a DNS query for an email server, communicating using a post method in HTTP traffic, connecting to a non-standard IRC port for IRC traffic, communicating using an intrusion prevention system evasion technique, communicating unclassified traffic over an HTTP port, visiting a dynamic DNS domain, or any combination thereof; and monitoring visited domain related behavior to identify a malicious domain based on whether a visited domain is a dynamic DNS domain. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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15. A computer program product, the computer program product being embodied in a tangible non-transitory computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:
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monitoring network traffic to identify suspicious network traffic, wherein the monitoring of the network traffic includes; identifying a uniform resource locator (URL) in the network traffic; determining whether the network traffic includes a malware URL, an unclassified URL, or a combination thereof; and in the event that the network traffic includes the malware URL, the unclassified URL, or a combination thereof, assigning the network traffic as the suspicious network traffic; detecting a bot based on a heuristic analysis of the suspicious network traffic behavior using a processor;
wherein the suspicious network traffic behavior includes command and control traffic associated with a bot master;monitoring behavior indicated in the network traffic to identify malware, wherein the monitored behaviors that indicate potential malware include connecting to a non-standard HTTP port for HTTP traffic, visiting a non-existent domain, downloading executable files with non-standard executable file extensions, performing a DNS query for an email server, communicating using a post method in HTTP traffic, connecting to a non-standard IRC port for IRC traffic, communicating using an intrusion prevention system evasion technique, communicating unclassified traffic over an HTTP port, visiting a dynamic DNS domain, or any combination thereof; and monitoring visited domain related behavior to identify a malicious domain based on whether a visited domain is a dynamic DNS domain. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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Specification