Conditional policies

• US 10,129,117 B2
• Filed: 02/16/2016
• Issued: 11/13/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gupta, Sunil Kumar, Yadav, Navindra, Watts, Michael Standish, Parandehgheibi, Ali, Gandham, Shashidhar, Kulshreshtha, Ashutosh, Deen, Khawar
• Primary Examiner(s): Avery, Jeremiah
• Application Number:
  US15/045,210
• Publication Number:
  US 20160359913A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,001 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/122 using management policies backup systems G06F11/1446; file migration policies for HSM systems G06F16/185
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/137 Hash-based content-based indexing of textual data G06F16/31
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• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1744 using compression, e.g. sparse files
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1748 De-duplication implemented within the file system, e.g. based on file segments de-duplication techniques in storage systems for the management of data blocks G06F3/0641
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2322 using timestamps
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/235 Update request formulation
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• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/288 Entity relationship models
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• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/4557 Distribution of virtual machine instances; Migration and load balancing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45587 Isolation or security of virtual machine instances
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• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45595 : Network integration; Enabling network access in virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/53 : by executing in a restricted environment, e.g. sandbox or secure virtual machine
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/552 : involving long-term monitoring or reporting
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• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/566 : Dynamic detection, i.e. detection performed at run-time, e.g. emulation, suspicious activities
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• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2115 : Third party
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2145 : Inheriting rights or properties, e.g., propagation of permissions or restrictions within a hierarchy
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 : Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 : Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 : Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 : Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 20/00 : Machine learning
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 99/00 : Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/206 : Drawing of charts or graphs
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/0661 : using timestamps
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/14 : Monitoring arrangements for SDH/SONET rings H04J3/085
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/242 : by comparing a transmitted test signal with a locally generated replica
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/046 : comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0668 : by dynamic selection of recovery network elements, e.g. replacement by the most appropriate element after failure
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0803 : Configuration setting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 : for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0816 : the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 : Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0894 : Policy-based network configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 : Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/16 : using machine learning or artificial intelligence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 : comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/40 : using virtualisation of network functions or resources, e.g. SDN or NFV entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/02 : Capturing of monitoring data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/026 : using flow identification
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/04 : Processing captured monitoring data, e.g. for logfile generation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/045 : for graphical visualisation of monitoring data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/062 : related to network traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/08 : Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0805 : by checking availability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0811 : by checking connectivity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0829 : Packet loss
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0841 : Round trip packet loss
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0858 : One way delays
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0864 : Round trip delays
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0876 : Network utilisation, e.g. volume of load or congestion level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0882 : Utilisation of link capacity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0888 : Throughput
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 : Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/106 : using time related information in packets, e.g. by adding timestamps
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/12 : Network monitoring probes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 : Threshold monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/20 : the monitoring system or the monitored elements being virtualised, abstracted or software-defined entities, e.g. SDN or NFV
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/306 : Route determination based on the nature of the carried application
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/38 : Flow based routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/46 : Cluster building
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/507 : Label distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/66 : Layer 2 routing, e.g. in Ethernet based MAN's
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/74 : Address processing for routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/11 : Identifying congestion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/20 : Traffic policing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2441 : relying on flow classification, e.g. using integrated services [IntServ]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2483 : involving identification of individual flows
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/28 : in relation to timing considerations
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/31 : by tagging of packets, e.g. using discard eligibility [DE] bits
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/32 : by discarding or delaying data units, e.g. packets or frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5007 : Internet protocol [IP] addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0227 : Filtering policies mail message filtering H04L51/212
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0263 : Rule management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/06 : for supporting key management in a packet data network cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key management H04L9/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0876 : based on the identity of the terminal or configuration, e.g. MAC address, hardware or software configuration or device fingerprint
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1408 : by monitoring network traffic monitoring network traffic per se H04L43/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1416 : Event detection, e.g. attack signature detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1425 : Traffic logging, e.g. anomaly detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1433 : Vulnerability analysis
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1458 : Denial of Service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1466 : Active attacks involving interception, injection, modification, spoofing of data unit addresses, e.g. hijacking, packet injection or TCP sequence number attacks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/16 : Implementing security features at a particular protocol layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 : for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 : Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 : in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 : for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 : specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 : Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 : Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/75 : Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 : Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 : Parsing or analysis of headers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 7/10 : Arrangements for initial synchronisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0866 : involving user or device identifiers, e.g. serial number, physical or biometrical information, DNA, hand-signature or measurable physical characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3239 : involving non-keyed hash functions, e.g. modification detection codes [MDCs], MD5, SHA or RIPEMD
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3242 : involving keyed hash functions, e.g. message authentication codes [MACs], CBC-MAC or HMAC
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/54 : based on quality criteria
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 : Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

Conditional policies can be defined that change based on security measurements of network endpoints. In an example embodiment, a network traffic monitoring system can monitor network flows between the endpoints and quantify how secure those endpoints are based on analysis of the network flows and other data. A conditional policy may be created that establishes one or more first connectivity policies for handling a packet when a security measurement of an endpoint is a first value or first range values, and one or more second connectivity policies for handling the packet. The connectivity policies may include permitting connectivity, denying connectivity, redirecting the packet using a specific route, or other network action. When the network traffic monitoring system detects a change to the security measurement of the endpoint, one or more applicable policies can be determined and the system can update policy data for the network to enforce the policies.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

detecting, via a computer having a processor configured to execute computer readable instructions, a change to a security measurement of an endpoint in a network from a first value to a second value, the security measurement of the endpoint represented by a number on a scale, a decimal number from 0-1, a binary result, or multiple values describing different security parameters;

determining, via the computer, one or more policies that are applicable to the endpoint based on the security measurement corresponding to the second value; and

updating, via the computer, policy data for the network to enforce the one or more policies with respect to the endpoint.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein updating the policy data includes:

updating an endpoint group of the endpoint from a first endpoint group to a second endpoint group,

wherein the one or more policies are applicable to the second endpoint group and not applicable to the first endpoint group.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein updating the policy data includes:

determining one or more first policies in a policy table that are applicable to the endpoint based on the security measurement corresponding to the first value; and

adding the one or more policies to the policy table,

wherein the one or more policies are prioritized over the one or more first policies based on the one or more policies corresponding to a level of specificity exceeding that of the one or more first policies.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein updating the policy data includes:

determining one or more first policies in a policy table that are applicable to the endpoint based on the security measurement corresponding to the first value;

adding the one or more policies to the policy table of the network; and

removing the one or more first policies from the policy table.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

remediating the endpoint based on network traffic flow between the endpoint and a second endpoint, wherein the one or more policies include a policy that allows the network traffic flow.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

detecting a second change to the security measurement of the endpoint from the second value to the first value or a third value;

determining one or more second policies that are applicable to the endpoint based on the security measurement corresponding to the first value or the third value; and

updating policy data of the network to enforce the one or more second policies with respect to the endpoint.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more policies are whitelist rules, and updating the policy data includes:

determining one or more second policies that are applicable to the endpoint based on the security measurement corresponding to the first value;

removing the one or more second policies from a policy table; and

adding the one or more policies to the policy table to allow a network traffic flow between the endpoint and a second endpoint.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more policies are blacklist rules, and updating the policy data includes:

determining one or more second policies that are applicable to the endpoint based on the security measurement corresponding to the first value;

adding the one or more second policies to a policy table; and

removing the one or more policies to deny a network traffic flow between the endpoint and a second endpoint.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a packet including a source or a destination corresponding to the endpoint;

determining a network action for the packet based on the one or more policies; and

performing the network action,

wherein the network action is one of forwarding the packet, dropping the packet, logging the packet, marking the packet, selecting a service graph for the packet, redirecting the packet, or copying the packet.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the policy data includes a policy table applicable to a first collection of endpoints of the network and not applicable to a second collection of endpoints of the network.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the policy data includes a policy table applicable to an entirety of the network.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer readable instructions that, when executed by a processor of a computer, cause the computer to:

define a conditional policy for an endpoint in a network, the conditional policy corresponding to at least a first policy for the endpoint having a first value for a security measurement and a second policy for the endpoint having a second value for the security measurement, the security measurement represented by a number on a scale, a decimal number from 0-1, a binary result, or multiple values describing different security parameters;

determine that the security measurement of the endpoint corresponds to the first value;

add the first policy to a policy table of the network; and

enforce the first policy.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the computer readable instructions further cause the computer to:

update an endpoint group of the endpoint from a first endpoint group to a second endpoint group,

wherein the first policy is applicable to the second endpoint group and not applicable to the first endpoint group.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein,

the policy table includes the second policy, and

the first policy is enforced instead of the second policy based on the first policy corresponding to a level of specificity exceeding that of the second policy.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the computer readable instructions further cause the computer to:

remove the second policy from the policy table.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the computer readable instructions further cause the computer to:

modify a state of the endpoint based on network traffic flow between the endpoint and a remediation server,

wherein the first policy allows the network traffic flow between the endpoint and the remediation server.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the computer readable instructions further cause the computer to:

detect a change to the security measurement of the endpoint from the first value to the second value;

obtain the second policy based on the security measurement corresponding to the first value; and

update the policy table to enforce the second policy with respect to the endpoint.

18. A system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory including instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the system to;

define a policy for an endpoint group in a network corresponding to a first value range for a first security measurement;

detect a second security measurement corresponding to an endpoint not associated with the endpoint group;

determine that the second security measurement is within the first value range; and

assign the endpoint to the endpoint group,

wherein,

the first security measurement and/or the second security measurement is represented by a number on a scale, a decimal number from 0-1, a binary result, or multiple values describing different security parameters.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the policy is a whitelist rule, and the instructions further cause the system to:

determine one or more second policies that are applicable to the endpoint based on the first security measurement corresponding to a third value, wherein the one or more second policies are configured to block a network traffic flow between the endpoint and a second endpoint; and

allow, based on at least the policy, the network traffic flow.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the policy is a blacklist rule, and the instructions further cause the system to:

determine one or more second policies that are applicable to the endpoint based on the security measurement corresponding to a third value, wherein the one or more second policies are configured to allow a network traffic flow between the endpoint and a second endpoint; and

block, based on at least the policy, the network traffic flow.