Remediating computer security threats using distributed sensor computers

• US 9,712,557 B2
• Filed: 05/27/2015
• Issued: 07/18/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/07/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CloudFlare Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Area 1 Security, Inc.
• Inventors: Falkowitz, Oren, Syme, Philip, Darche, Blake
• Primary Examiner(s): Waliullah, Mohammed
• Application Number:
  US14/723,285
• Publication Number:
  US 20160134588A1
• Time in Patent Office: 783 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/02 for separating internal from external traffic, e.g. firewalls
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0227 Filtering policies mail message filtering H04L51/212
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1441 Countermeasures against malicious traffic countermeasures against attacks on cryptographic mechanisms H04L9/002
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/145 the attack involving the propagation of malware through the network, e.g. viruses, trojans or worms

Abstract

A data processing system comprising: a sensor computer that is coupled to and co-located with a compromised computer, the compromised computer comprising at least one malware item that is configured to direct unauthorized network activity toward one or more enterprise networks or enterprise computers, wherein the compromised computer is coupled to a firewall that is configured to control ingress of packets to the compromised computer and is logically between one or more attacker computers and the one or more enterprise networks or enterprise computers; a security control computer that is coupled to the sensor computer; one or more non-transitory data storage media in the security control computer storing security logic comprising one or more sequences of instructions which when executed cause the security control computer to perform: obtaining, from the sensor computer, detection data relating to network messages that the compromised computer emits, as the compromised computer emits the network messages; using the detection data, identifying one or more security threats that are indicated by the network messages; determining a specified remediation measure to remediate one or more of the security threats; providing the specified remediation measure to one or more of the compromised computer, the sensor computer, the firewall, and an enterprise computer.

Claims

1. A data processing system comprising:

a sensor computer that is coupled to, co-located with, and on a same LAN segment as a compromised computer, the compromised computer comprising at least one malware item that is configured to direct unauthorized network activity toward one or more enterprise networks or enterprise computers, wherein the compromised computer is coupled to a firewall that is configured to control ingress of packets to the compromised computer and the sensor computer from a network, wherein the one or more enterprise networks or enterprise computers are coupled to the network through an enterprise firewall, and the compromised computer is logically between one or more attacker computers and the one or more enterprise networks or enterprise computers;

a security control computer that is coupled to the sensor computer;

one or more non-transitory data storage media in the security control computer storing security logic comprising one or more sequences of instructions which when executed cause the security control computer to perform;

causing selecting of one or more of network messages emitted from the compromised computer and directed toward the enterprise computer, wherein the selection comprises filtering the one or more network messages emitted from the compromised computer based upon one or more ports of interest;

causing queuing of the selected one or more of network messages in queues at the sensor computer;

obtaining, from the sensor computer, detection data relating to the network messages that the compromised computer emits, as the compromised computer emits the network messages;

using the detection data, identifying one or more security threats that are indicated by the network messages;

determining a specified remediation measure to remediate one or more of the security threats;

providing the specified remediation measure to one or more of the compromised computer, the sensor computer, the firewall, and an enterprise computer;

causing inspecting and modifying of the queued one or more of network messages to remove one or more security threats before forwarding the queued one or more of network messages to the enterprise computer.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising providing the specified remediation measure only to the sensor computer, wherein the sensor computer is configured, in response to receiving the specified remediation measure, to reconfigure the firewall to which the compromised computer is coupled using firewall instructions that are based upon the specified remediation measure.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising providing the specified remediation measure only to the sensor computer, wherein the sensor computer is configured, in response to receiving the specified remediation measure, to reconfigure one or more of:

the firewall to which the compromised computer is coupled using firewall instructions;

or the compromised computer;

wherein the reconfiguration causes the firewall or compromised computer to drop packets, disrupt establishment of a TCP connection or UDP connection that is partway through handshake negotiation, or disrupt or tear down an existing connection session in one or more of TCP/IP or an application layer protocol.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein providing the specified remediation measure comprises one or more of:

causing dropping packets associated with the compromised computer;

causing disrupting establishment of a TCP connection or UDP connection that is partway through handshake negotiation using the compromised computer;

causing disrupting an existing connection session in one or more of TCP/IP or an application layer protocol.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, from one or more advertising exchange networks, advertising presentation data indicating presentations of advertisements to particular browsers that have browsed to particular websites;

determining, based upon the detection data, whether the particular websites are associated with network attacks and/or malware;

in response to the determining, storing transit data specifying computers that have visited the particular websites and using the transit data to determine a plurality of particular web pages to inspect for threats.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the security control computer further comprises inspecting logic that is configured to perform:

selecting, from a queue identifying a plurality of web pages, a particular web page to retrieve from one of a plurality of internet sources;

causing retrieving a copy of the particular web page from a particular internet source;

determining a hierarchical structure of the particular web page;

based upon a hierarchical structure of the particular web page and without consideration of content of the particular web page, identifying one or more features, of links in the particular web page or files referenced in the particular web page, that indicate one or more security threats;

determining a reputation score for the particular web page;

determining a specified remediation measure, based upon the reputation score, to remediate a security threat that is identified in the particular web page;

providing the specified remediation measure to one or more of the compromised computer, the sensor computer, the firewall, and the enterprise computer.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the inspecting logic is further configured to review each link in the particular web page, compute a link score for each redirection path associated with that link, and determine the reputation score at least in part based upon the link score.

8. A data processing system comprising:

a sensor computer that is coupled to, co-located with, and on a same LAN segment as a compromised computer, the compromised computer comprising at least one malware item that is configured to direct unauthorized network activity toward one or more enterprise networks or enterprise computers, wherein the compromised computer is coupled to a firewall that is configured to control ingress of packets to the compromised computer and the sensor computer from a network, wherein the one or more enterprise networks or enterprise computers are coupled to the network through an enterprise firewall, and the compromised computer is logically between one or more attacker computers and the one or more enterprise networks or enterprise computers;

a security control computer that is coupled to the sensor computer;

one or more non-transitory data storage media in the security control computer storing security logic comprising one or more sequences of instructions which when executed cause the security control computer to perform;

causing selecting of one or more of network messages emitted from the compromised computer and directed toward the enterprise computer, wherein the selection comprises selecting all network messages when a total message output or packet output of the compromised computer exceeds one or more specified thresholds;

causing queuing of the selected one or more of network messages in queues at the sensor computer;

obtaining, from the sensor computer, detection data relating to the network messages that the compromised computer emits, as the compromised computer emits the network messages;

using the detection data, identifying one or more security threats that are indicated by the network messages;

determining a specified remediation measure to remediate one or more of the security threats;

providing the specified remediation measure to one or more of the compromised computer, the sensor computer, the firewall, and an enterprise computer;

causing inspecting and modification of the queued one or more of network messages to remove one or more security threats before forwarding the queued one or more of network messages to the enterprise computer.

9. A data processing system comprising:

a sensor computer coupled to, co-located with, and on a same LAN segment as a compromised computer, the compromised computer comprising at least one malware item that is configured to direct unauthorized network activity toward one or more enterprise networks or enterprise computers, wherein the compromised computer is logically between one or more attacker computers and the one or more enterprise networks or enterprise computers and wherein the compromised computer is coupled to a firewall that is configured to control ingress of packets to the compromised computer and the sensor computer from a network, wherein the one or more enterprise networks or enterprise computers are coupled to the network through an enterprise firewall;

a security control computer that is coupled to the sensor computer;

one or more non-transitory data storage media in the security control computer storing security logic comprising one or more sequences of instructions which when executed cause the security control computer to perform;

causing selection of one or more of network messages emitted from the compromised computers and directed toward the enterprise computer, wherein the selection comprises filtering the one or more network messages emitted from the compromised computers based upon one or more ports of interest;

causing queuing of the selected of one or more of network messages in queues at the sensor computer;

obtaining, from the sensor computer, detection data relating to the selected one or more of network messages that the compromised computers emit, as the compromised computers emit the network messages;

using the detection data, identifying one or more security threats that are indicated by the network messages;

determining a specified remediation measure to remediate one or more of the security threats, wherein the specified remediation measure comprises one or more of;

causing dropping packets associated with the compromised computer;

causing disrupting establishment of a TCP connection or UDP connection that is partway through handshake negotiation using the compromised computer;

causing disrupting an existing connection session in one or more of TCP/IP or an application layer protocol;

configuring one or more of the compromised computer, the sensor computer, the firewall, and an enterprise computer to perform the specified remediation measure;

causing inspecting and modifying of the queued one or more of network messages to remove one or more security threats before forwarding the queued one or more of network messages to the enterprise computer.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the security control computer further comprises inspecting logic that is configured to perform:

selecting, from a queue identifying a plurality of web pages, a particular web page to retrieve from one of a plurality of internet sources;

causing retrieving a copy of the particular web page from a particular internet source;

determining a hierarchical structure of the particular web page;

based upon a hierarchical structure of the particular web page and without consideration of content of the particular web page, identifying one or more features, of links in the particular web page or files referenced in the particular web page, that indicate one or more security threats;

determining a reputation score for the particular web page;

determining a specified remediation measure, based upon the reputation score, to remediate a security threat that is identified in the particular web page;

providing the specified remediation measure to one or more of the compromised computer, the sensor computer, the firewall, and the enterprise computer.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the inspecting logic is further configured to perform the selecting based upon one or more of advertising exchange network bid data and feedback from analysis of previous web pages.

12. A sensor computer that is coupled to, co-located with, and on a same LAN segment as a compromised computer, the compromised computer comprising at least one malware item that is configured to direct unauthorized network activity toward one or more enterprise networks or enterprise computers, wherein the compromised computer is coupled to a firewall that is configured to control ingress of packets to the compromised computer and the sensor computer from a network, wherein the one or more enterprise networks or enterprise computers are coupled to the network through an enterprise firewall, and the compromised computer is logically between one or more attacker computers and the one or more enterprise networks or enterprise computers;

one or more non-transitory data storage media in the sensor computer storing one or more sequences of instructions which when executed cause the sensor computer to perform;

selecting one or more of network messages emitted from the compromised computer and directed toward the enterprise computer, wherein the selecting comprises filtering the one or more network messages emitted from the compromised computer based upon one or more ports of interest;

queuing the selected one or more of network messages in queues at the sensor computer;

sending to a security control computer that is coupled to the sensor computer via a network, detection data relating to network messages that the compromised computer emits, as the compromised computer emits the network messages;

receiving a specified remediation measure from the security control computer which remediation measure has been determined using the detection data to identify one or more security threats that are indicated by the network messages;

causing inspection and modification of the queued one or more of network messages to remove one or more security threats before forwarding the queued one or more of network messages to the enterprise computer.

13. The sensor computer of claim 12, further comprising instructions which when executed cause performing, in response to receiving the specified remediation measure, reconfiguring the firewall to which the compromised computer is coupled using firewall instructions that are based upon the specified remediation measure.

14. The sensor computer of claim 12, further comprising instructions which when executed cause performing, in response to receiving the specified remediation measure, reconfiguring one or more of:

the firewall to which the compromised computer is coupled using firewall instructions;

or the compromised computer;

wherein the reconfiguration causes the firewall or compromised computer to drop packets, disrupt establishment of a TCP connection or UDP connection that is partway through handshake negotiation, or disrupt or tear down an existing connection session in one or more of TCP/IP or an application layer protocol.

15. The sensor computer of claim 12, further comprising instructions which when executed cause performing, in response to receiving the specified remediation measure, one or more of:

causing dropping packets associated with the compromised computer;

causing disrupting establishment of a TCP connection or UDP connection that is partway through handshake negotiation using the compromised computer;

causing disrupting an existing connection session in one or more of TCP/IP or an application layer protocol.

16. A sensor computer that is coupled to, co-located with, and on a same LAN segment as a compromised computer, the compromised computer comprising at least one malware item that is configured to direct unauthorized network activity toward one or more enterprise networks or enterprise computers, wherein the compromised computer is coupled to a firewall that is configured to control ingress of packets to the compromised computer and the sensor computer from a network, wherein the one or more enterprise networks or enterprise computers are coupled to the network through an enterprise firewall, and the compromised computer is logically between one or more attacker computers and the one or more enterprise networks or enterprise computers;

one or more non-transitory data storage media in the sensor computer storing one or more sequences of instructions which when executed cause the sensor computer to perform;

selecting one or more of network messages emitted from the compromised computer and directed toward the enterprise computer, wherein the selection comprises selecting all network messages when a total message output or packet output of the compromised computer exceeds one or more specified thresholds;

queuing the selected one or more of network messages in queues at the sensor computer;

sending to a security control computer that is coupled to the sensor computer via a network, detection data relating to network messages that the compromised computer emits, as the compromised computer emits the network messages;

receiving a specified remediation measure from the security control computer which remediation measure has been determined using the detection data to identify one or more security threats that are indicated by the network messages;

causing inspecting and modifying of the queued one or more of network messages to remove one or more security threats before forwarding the queued one or more of network messages to the enterprise computer.