International Business Machines Corporation

Lenovo (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.

Trend Micro Inc.

Nathaniel Wook Kim

Ashley Anderson Brock

Charles Steven Lingafelt

Jeffrey Scott Bardsley

Charles K Davis, Iii

John Joseph McKenna

Carlos F Villegas

Norman Clark Strole

Allen Leonid Roginsky

Kevin Thomas McClain

Ashley Anderson Brook

A countermeasure for a computer security threat to a computer system is administered by establishing a baseline identification of an operating or application system type and an operating or application system release level for the computer system that is compatible with a Threat Management Vector (TMV). A TMV is then received, including therein a first field that provides identification of at least one operating system type that is affected by a computer security threat, a second field that provides identification of an operating system release level for the operating system type, and a third field that provides identification of a set of possible countermeasures for an operating system type and an operating system release level. Countermeasures that are identified in the TMV are processed if the TMV identifies the operating system type and operating system release level for the computer system as being affected by the computer security threat. The received TMV may be mutated to a format for processing of the countermeasure.

Method for administration of computer security threat countermeasures to a computer system

A method for determining the entry point of an attack by a vandal such as a hacker upon a device such as a computer or a server such as a web server that operates under the protection of an intrusion detection system. Intrusion detection information regarding the attack and network information regarding the attack are correlated, and the entry point of the attack thereby deduced. In one embodiment, a source address of a message representative of the attack is found in a router table of a router that provides a connection supporting the attack. Logical ports of the connection are determined, and the corresponding physical ports found, thereby identifying the attack's entry point into the protected device.

Correlating network information and intrusion information to find the entry point of an attack upon a protected computer

Method, system, and program product for port based authentication protocols where addresses are dynamically assigned within a network environment, and more particularly to port based authentication in the network environment, where connection information is captured and stored. This facilitates administrator access to information created as a result of protocol exchanges involved in dynamic address assignment, authentication, and connection.

Control of port based authentication protocols and process to support transfer of connection information

A method of operating an intrusion detection system. The system determines occurrence of a signature event indicative of a denial of service intrusion on a protected device. A value of a signature event counter is increased. The value of the signature event counter is adjusted to not include a count of signature events past a sliding window. The value of the signature event counter is determined to exceed a signature threshold quantity, followed by generation of an alert at a time subsequently recorded in a log. The log is cleared of entries past a permissible age. A present alert generation rate is determined as a ratio of the total number of timestamps in the log to the permissible age. The present alert generation rate is ascertained to exceed an alert generation rate threshold. A selected element of the signature set is altered to decrease the alert generation rate.

Method of operating an intrusion detection system

Systems, methods and computer program products for administration of computer security threat countermeasures to a computer system

A threat management domain controller is responsive to a computer-actionable threat management vector that includes a first computer-readable field that provides identification of at least one system type that is affected by a computer security threat, a second computer-readable field that provides identification of a release level for the system type and a third computer-readable field that provides identification of a set of possible countermeasures for a system type and release level. The threat management domain controller processes a threat management vector that is received for use by a domain of target computer systems, and transmits the threat management vector that has been processed to at least one of the target computer systems in the domain of target computer systems.

Domain controlling systems, methods and computer program products for administration of computer security threat countermeasures to a domain of target computer systems

An intrusion detection system is improved by altering its signatures and thresholds during a denial of service attack, in order to decrease the rate at which an intrusion detection sensor sends alerts to an intrusion detection server. A governor within the sensor is associated with each signature. The governor may include an alert log, a timer, an alert-generation-rate threshold, and rules that prescribe actions to be taken when the alert-generation-rate threshold is exceeded. The governor records the generation time of each alert by the sensor, and determines the rate at which the sensor is presently generating alerts. When the present alert-generation rate exceeds the alert-generation-rate threshold, the governor alters the associated signature threshold to decrease the alert generation rate of the intrusion detection sensor.

Limiting the output of alerts generated by an intrusion detection sensor during a denial of service attack

In general, the present invention provides a method and system for calibrating an electrical device that utilizes a data networking protocol (e.g., 802.1X) over a power delivery network. Specifically, the present invention leverages information gathered and stored during the authentication and operation of the electrical device to determine whether the electrical device should be calibrated. In general, the present invention makes this determination based on time elapsed since a previous calibration and/or cumulative usage of the device.

Method and system for calibrating an electrical device

Performance of a pattern-matching intrusion detection system (IDS) is improved by ranking signatures in its signature table by likelihood of occurrence, so that the table may be searched efficiently. Occurrence data associated with signatures is kept, and the ranking adaptively revised according to updates of the data. When the IDS detects a system event, the signature table is searched. If the search does not find a signature matching the event, thereby suggesting that the event poses no threat, a null signature is added to the signature table in a strategic location to terminate future searches early. In one embodiment, null signatures may be stored in a cache. When a system event is detected, the cache is searched. If a match is not found, the signature table is searched. If a match is not found in the signature table, a null signature is cached.

Intrusion detection method and signature table

An intrusion detection system checks a list of business rules at predetermined update times, and determines whether any provision of the business rules has become newly operative since the last update time. Provisions of the business rules prescribe alterations to intrusion signatures, thresholds, actions, or weights that are appropriate to broader circumstances evident at the update time. Whenever a new provision is found to be operative, the effected signatures, thresholds, actions, or weights are altered accordingly.

Method of operating an intrusion detection system according to a set of business rules

An intrusion detection system monitors for signature events, which are part of base intrusion sets that include signature event counters, signature thresholds, and base actions. Associated with each base intrusion set is an action set including an action counter, an action threshold, and an action variable. The associated action counter is updated when the base action of the base intrusion set is invoked responsive to the count of associated signature events meeting the associated signature threshold. The action counter is compared with an action threshold. If the action counter meets the threshold, the associated action variable is updated. The action variable is then passed to an analysis engine comprising a set of rules, which analyses the action variable either in isolation or together with other action variables associated with other base intrusion sets. According to the analysis, an element of a base intrusion set or an action set may be changed.

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Raleigh, NC, United States of America

Nathaniel Wook Kim