Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Geoff Outhred

Hasan Alkhatib

Selim Ciraci

Deepak Bansal

Albert Gordon Greenberg

Alastair Wolman

Parveen Kumar Patel

Stefan Saroiu

Jack Wilson Stokes, Iii

Changhoon Kim

Behnaz Arzani

Dave Maltz

A compromise detection system protects data centers (DCs) or other providers in the cloud. The compromise detection system can detect compromised virtual machines (VMs) through changes in network traffic characteristics while avoiding expensive data collection and preserving privacy. The compromise detection system obtains and uses periodically-obtained flow pattern summaries to detect compromised VMs. Agent-based detection on predetermined and compromised VMs can expose (using supervised learning) the network behavior of compromised VMs and then apply the learned model to all VMs in the DC. The compromise detection system can run continuously, protect the privacy of cloud customers, comply with Europe's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and avoid various techniques that both erode privacy and degrade VM performance.

Methods and systems for scalable privacy-preserving compromise detection in the cloud

A server includes a processor and memory. An operating system is executed by the processor and memory. A network interface is run by the operating system and sends and receives flows using transmission control protocol (TCP). An agent application is run by the operating system and is configured to a) retrieve and store TCP telemetry data for the flows in a flow table; b) move selected ones of the flows from the flow table to a closed connections table when the flow is closed; and c) periodically send the flow table and the closed connections table via the network interface to a remote server.

Localizing network faults through differential analysis of TCP telemetry

Computerized methods, systems, and computer-readable media are provided for distributing virtualized gateway functionality to multiple nodes within a physical network. Initially, drivers that carry out the gateway functionality are provisioned to cooperate with endpoints instantiated on the network nodes, while a directory service is implemented to maintain a mapping between virtual internet protocol (IP) addresses and location-dependent addresses, as well as a table enumerating transformation actions according to known pathways connecting the endpoints within a network. In operation, the directory service replies to requests from the driver (carrying source and destination IP addresses of data packets) with the appropriate location-dependent addresses (utilizing the mapping) and the appropriate transformation action(s) (utilizing the table). The transformation action(s) include rewriting headers of the data packets to include the location-dependent addresses, encapsulating the data packets as inner data packets within respective outer data packets, or configuring the data packets with a tunneling protocol.

Distributed virtual network gateways

Computerized methods, systems, and computer-readable media are provided for establishing and managing a virtual network (V-net) and virtual machine (VM) switches that enable protected and isolated interconnections between members of the V-net. The V-net members include an originating network adapter that generates data packets addressed to a destination network adapter. Upon detecting data-packet generation, a source-side VM switch accesses a forwarding table associated with the V-net, ascertains a destination-side, VM-switch locator that corresponds to an identifier of the destination network adapter, and modifies the data packets to include the identifier. The forwarding table represents a mapping between the members of the V-net and VM switches located on respective nodes within the data center. In operation, the mapping enforces communication policies that govern data-packet traffic. Upon receiving the data packets, the destination-side VM switch restores the data packets and forwards them to the destination network adapter.

Interconnecting members of a virtual network

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Seattle, WA, United States of America

Geoff Outhred