Computerized system and method for advanced network content processing

• US 9,825,993 B2
• Filed: 01/13/2016
• Issued: 11/21/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/13/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fortinet Inc.
• Original Assignee: Fortinet Inc.
• Inventors: Krywaniuk, Andrew
• Primary Examiner(s): Mehedi, Morshed
• Application Number:
  US14/994,725
• Publication Number:
  US 20160127419A1
• Time in Patent Office: 678 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/02 for separating internal from external traffic, e.g. firewalls
• 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 63/0272 Virtual private networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0281 Proxies
• 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 63/20 for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227

Abstract

A computerized system and method for processing network content in accordance with at least one content processing rule is provided. According to one embodiment, the network content is received at a first interface. A transmission protocol according to which the received network content is formatted is identified and used to intercept at least a portion of the received network content. The intercepted portion of the network content is redirected to a proxy, which buffers the redirected portion of network content. The buffered network content is scanned in accordance with a scanning criterion and processed in accordance with the at least one content processing rule based on the result of the scanning. The processed portion of network content may be forwarded using a second interface.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving network traffic at a first interface of a network security device implementing firewall functionality;

identifying, by the network security device, a first transmission protocol according to which a first subset of packets of the network traffic is formatted;

redirecting, by the network security device, the first subset of packets to a first proxy module executing on the network security device based on the identified first transmission protocol;

extracting first network content from the first subset of packets and buffering at least a portion of the first network content by the first proxy module;

processing, by a plurality of scanning engines implemented within the first proxy module, the buffered portion of the first network content in accordance with a plurality of content processing rules selected from a rule definition store based on a first set of network traffic selectors associated with the first subset of packets;

identifying, by the network security device, a second transmission protocol, distinct from the first transmission protocol, according to which a second subset of packets of the network traffic is formatted;

redirecting, by the network security device, the second subset of packets to a second proxy module executing on the network security device based on the identified second transmission protocol;

extracting second network content from the second subset of packets and buffering at least a portion of the second network content by the second proxy module; and

processing, by a plurality of scanning engines implemented within the second proxy module, the buffered portion of the second network content in accordance with a plurality of content processing rules selected from the rule definition store based on a second set of network traffic selectors associated with the second subset of packets.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first transmission protocol carries content in a form of a text stream.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the first set of network traffic selectors include one or more of a source Internet Protocol (IP) address, a destination IP address, a port number, a time of day and a username.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein said processing the buffered portion of the first network content comprises scanning the buffered portion of the first network content for one or more of unsolicited advertising (spam), phishing attempts and patterns or phrases possibly relating to terrorism or criminal activity.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the first transmission protocol comprises one of a plurality of electronic mail (email) protocols, one of a plurality of instant messaging (IM) protocols or a web browsing protocol.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the second transmission protocol comprises a transmission protocol capable of transferring a file.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein said processing the buffered portion of the second network content comprises scanning the buffered portion of the second network content for one or more malware, viruses, worms, Trojans and spyware.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the second transmission protocol comprises a peer-to-peer (P2P) protocol, file transfer protocol (FTP), one of a plurality of IM protocols or one of a plurality of email protocols.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said identifying a first transmission protocol is performed within a kernel of an operating system of the network security device.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first proxy module executes within a user space of an operating system of the network security device.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising forwarding the processed portion of the first network content through a second interface of the network security device.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium embodying one or more sequences of instructions, which when executed by one or more processors of a network security device, cause the one or more processors to perform a method comprising:

receiving network traffic at a first interface of the network security device;

identifying, by the network security device, a first transmission protocol according to which a first subset of packets of the network traffic is formatted;

redirecting, by the network security device, the first subset of packets to a first proxy module executing on the network security device based on the identified first transmission protocol;

extracting first network content from the first subset of packets and buffering at least a portion of the first network content by the first proxy module;

processing, by a plurality of scanning engines implemented within the first proxy module, the buffered portion of the first network content in accordance with a plurality of content processing rules selected from a rule definition store based on a first set of network traffic selectors associated with the first subset of packets;

identifying, by the network security device, a second transmission protocol, distinct from the first transmission protocol, according to which a second subset of packets of the network traffic is formatted;

redirecting, by the network security device, the second subset of packets to a second proxy module executing on the network security device based on the identified second transmission protocol;

extracting second network content from the second subset of packets and buffering at least a portion of the second network content by the second proxy module; and

processing, by a plurality of scanning engines implemented within the second proxy module, the buffered portion of the second network content in accordance with a plurality of content processing rules selected from the rule definition store based on a second set of network traffic selectors associated with the second subset of packets.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the first transmission protocol carries content in a form of a text stream.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein said processing the buffered portion of the first network content comprises scanning the buffered portion of the first network content for one or more of unsolicited advertising (spam), phishing attempts and patterns or phrases possibly relating to terrorism or criminal activity.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein the first transmission protocol comprises one of a plurality of electronic mail (email) protocols, one of a plurality of instant messaging (IM) protocols or a web browsing protocol.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the second transmission protocol comprises a transmission protocol capable of transferring a file.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein said processing the buffered portion of the second network content comprises scanning the buffered portion of the second network content for one or more malware, viruses, worms, Trojans and spyware.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the second transmission protocol comprises a peer-to-peer (P2P) protocol, file transfer protocol (FTP), one of a plurality of IM protocols or one of a plurality of email protocols.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein said identifying a first transmission protocol is performed within a kernel of an operating system of the network security device.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the first proxy module executes within a user space of an operating system of the network security device.