Methods and systems for context-based application firewalls

• US 9,407,606 B2
• Filed: 10/02/2015
• Issued: 08/02/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Salesforce.com, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Salesforce.com, Inc.
• Inventors: Gluck, Yoel
• Primary Examiner(s): Leung, Robert
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, NGOC THACH D
• Application Number:
  US14/874,225
• Publication Number:
  US 20160028692A1
• Time in Patent Office: 305 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0245 Filtering by information in the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0254 Stateful filtering
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0263 Rule management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/168 above the transport layer

Abstract

Context-based application firewall functionality. A user session is initiated with a client device. The user session allows access a remote resource on a server device coupled with the client device over a network. The connection between the client device and the remote resource is through an application firewall. An application firewall context setup is performed with the application firewall in response to the user session. The application firewall context comprises firewall context information to be used during the user session to perform network and application security operations with the application firewall. A response is created to provide information from the remote resource to the client device. The response includes metadata to be used to update the firewall context information. The firewall context information is updated with the application firewall based on the metadata. The response is transmitted to the client device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

performing a context setup with an application level firewall running on a hardware computing device in response to initiation of a user session to access a remote resource, wherein the application level firewall provides application level or higher analysis of network traffic and utilizes context information shared between the application firewall and one or more web-based applications to be used during the user session to perform network and application security operations with the application firewall and at least one of the one or more web-based applications to make security evaluations;

receiving, with the application level firewall, a response to provide information from at least one web-based application to at least one client hardware computing device, wherein the response comprises at least metadata to be used to update the firewall context information;

updating the context information using the application level firewall based on the metadata; and

transmitting, with the application level firewall, the response to the client hardware computing device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote resource comprises a resource that is available in a multitenant environment.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the multitenant environment comprises a multitenant database environment that stores data for multiple client entities each identified by a tenant identifier (ID) having one or more users associated with the tenant ID, wherein users of each of multiple client entities can only access data identified by a tenant ID associated with the respective client entity, and wherein the multitenant database is a hosted database provided by an entity separate from the client entities, and provides on-demand database service to the client entities.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the firewall context information comprises one or more of:

translation information, field validation information and/or request/response validation information.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the firewall context information comprises one or more of:

traffic policy information, user information and/or organization information.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the firewall context information comprises one or more of:

session information and/or score information.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the application context information comprises one or more of:

translation information, field validation information and/or request/response validation information.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the application context information comprises one or more of:

traffic policy information, user information and/or organization information.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the application context information comprises one or more of:

session information and/or score information.

10. An article comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

perform a context setup with an application level firewall running on a hardware computing device in response to initiation of a user session to access a remote resource, wherein the application level firewall provides application level or higher analysis of network traffic and utilizes context information shared between the application firewall and one or more web-based applications to be used during the user session to perform network and application security operations with the application firewall and at least one of the one or more web-based applications to make security evaluations;

receive, with the application level firewall, a response to provide information from at least one web-based application to at least one client hardware computing device, wherein the response comprises at least metadata to be used to update the firewall context information;

update the context information using the application level firewall based on the metadata; and

transmit, with the application level firewall, the response to the client hardware computing device.

11. The article of claim 10, wherein the remote resource comprises a resource that is available in a multitenant environment.

12. The article of claim 11 wherein the multitenant environment comprises a multitenant database environment that stores data for multiple client entities each identified by a tenant identifier (ID) having one or more users associated with the tenant ID, wherein users of each of multiple client entities can only access data identified by a tenant ID associated with the respective client entity, and wherein the multitenant database is a hosted database provided by an entity separate from the client entities, and provides on-demand database service to the client entities.

13. The article of claim 10 further comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform an application context setup with the remote resource on the server device in response to the user session, the application context information to be used during the user session to perform network and application security operations with the remote resource.

14. The article of claim 10 wherein the firewall context information comprises one or more of:

translation information, field validation information and/or request/response validation information.

15. The article of claim 10 wherein the firewall context information comprises one or more of:

traffic policy information, user information and/or organization information.

16. The article of claim 10 wherein the firewall context information comprises one or more of:

session information and/or score information.

17. The article of claim 10 wherein the application context information comprises one or more of:

translation information, field validation information and/or request/response validation information.

18. The article of claim 10 wherein the application context information comprises one or more of:

traffic policy information, user information and/or organization information.

19. The article of claim 10 wherein the application context information comprises one or more of:

session information and/or score information.

20. A system comprising:

one or more application level firewalls; and

one or more server hardware computing systems communicatively coupled with the one or more remote user hardware computing systems and the one or more application level firewalls, the server systems to perform a context setup with an application level firewall running on a hardware computing device in response to initiation of a user session, wherein the application level firewall provides application level or higher analysis of network traffic and utilizes context information shared between the application firewall and one or more web-based applications to be used during the user session to perform network and application security operations with the application firewall and at least one of the one or more web-based applications to make security evaluations, to receive, with the application level firewall, a response to provide information from at least one web-based application to at least one client hardware computing device, wherein the response comprises at least metadata to be used to update the firewall context information, to update the context information using the application level firewall based on the metadata, and to transmit, with the application level firewall, the response to the client hardware computing device.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein the firewall context information comprises one or more of:

translation information, field validation information and/or request/response validation information.

22. The system of claim 20 wherein the firewall context information comprises one or more of:

traffic policy information, user information and/or organization information.

23. The system of claim 20 wherein the firewall context information comprises one or more of:

session information and/or score information.

24. The system of claim 20 wherein the application context information comprises one or more of:

translation information, field validation information and/or request/response validation information.

25. The system of claim 20 wherein the application context information comprises one or more of:

traffic policy information, user information and/or organization information.

26. The system of claim 25 wherein the application context information comprises one or more of:

session information and/or score information.