Networks Associates Technology, Inc.

Network Associates, Inc.

Mark James McArdle

Jonathan David Callas

Gerhard Eschelbeck

Michael Kevin Jones

Adrian Zidaritz

Michael David Varga

Steven Blair Schoenfeld

Emilio Villa

Marc David Dyksterhouse

System and methodology providing automated or &ldquo;proactive&rdquo; network security (&ldquo;active&rdquo; firewall) are described. The system implements methodology for verifying or authenticating communications, especially between network security components thereby allowing those components to share information. In one embodiment, a system implementing an active firewall is provided which includes methodology for verifying or authenticating communications between network components (e.g., sensor(s), arbiter, and actor(s)), using cryptographic keys or digital certificates. Certificates may be used to digitally sign a message or file and, in a complementary manner, to verify a digital signature. At the outset, particular software components that may participate in authenticated communication are specified, including creating a digital certificate for each such software component. Upon detection by a sensor that an event of interest that has occurred in the computer network system, the system may initiate authenticated communication between the sensor component and a central arbiter (e.g., &ldquo;event orchestrator&rdquo;) component, so that the sensor may report the event to the arbiter or &ldquo;brain.&rdquo; Thereafter, the arbiter (if it chooses to act on that information) initiates authenticated communication between itself and a third software component, an &ldquo;actor&rdquo; component (e.g., &ldquo;firewall&rdquo;). The arbiter may indicate to the actor how it should handle the event. The actor or firewall, upon receiving the information, may now undertake appropriate action, such as dynamically creating or modifying rules for appropriately handling the event, or it may choose to simply ignore the information.

Active firewall system and methodology

A cryptographic-enabled messaging system providing a &ldquo;Policy Management Agent&rdquo; is described. The Policy Management Agent works in conjunction with a standard mail server, such as an SMTP (Simple Mail Transport Protocol) mail server, to ensure that incoming and outgoing e-mail adheres to the policies that are specified for a given site. Specifically, the Agent intercepts e-mail normally bound for the mail server and checks to make sure that it conforms with policies configured for one's site (e.g., corporate site). If the e-mail adheres to the policies for the site, it is forwarded to the mail server where it is routed to the intended recipient. If the e-mail does not adhere to the policies specified for the site, a message of one's choosing is sent to the client indicating that the e-mail was rejected. In an exemplary embodiment (e.g., for SMTP), the Policy Management Agent may be employed to make sure that e-mail has been encrypted using certain designated recovery keys; ensure that all e-mail messages are encrypted before allowing them to be delivered; specify whether e-mail must be signed or not before it is allowed to pass the policy requirement; specify whether conventional encryption is allowed; maintain a log file listing all of the attempts to route e-mail along with a description of the outcome.

System and methodology for messaging server-based management and enforcement of crypto policies

A cryptosystem having a Certificate (Key) Server for storing and maintaining certificate or key information in a certificate database is described. The Certificate Server allows clients to submit and retrieve keys from a database based on a set of policy constraints which are set for one's particular site (e.g., company). Access to the Certificate Server is maintained by a Certificate Policy Agent, which makes sure that the policy is enforced for a given site based on the information supplied during the configuration. During operation, the Certificate Server responds to client requests to add, search for, and retrieve certificates. The server accepts or rejects certificates based on configurable parameters enforced by a Certificate Policy Agent. When a certificate is submitted to the server, the Certificate Policy Agent checks to see if it meets the criteria for a given site based on the settings specified during the configuration. Exemplary types of checks that the Certificate Policy Agent can enforce include checking to see if the key has been signed by the appropriate entities and checking to see if the signatures or User IDs associated with a key are approved for submission. If the submission criteria established during the configuration are met, the key is accepted by the server. If the key being submitted does not pass the policy requirements, it is rejected and (optionally) a copy is placed in a &ldquo;pending bucket&rdquo; where the key can subsequently be examined by the system administrator to determine if the key should be allowed on the server.

Cryptographic system and methodology for creating and managing crypto policy on certificate servers

Growing community of inventors

San Carlos, CA, United States of America

Mark James McArdle