At+t Corp.

Partha P Dutta

Dalibor F Vrsalovic

Thomas B London

Karl Andres Siil

John J Chiang

Sinisa Srbljic

Daniel N Zenchelsky

Michah Lerner

Mahesh Kumar

Nino Vidovic

Mahesh V Tripunitara

A system and method for high resolution access control for packetized information. A packet is received at a firewall. A rule corresponding to header information in the packet prescribes referring the packet to an access control proxy. The access control proxy analyzes the contents of the packet, and identifies a rule based upon the contents. The rule is implemented at the firewall.

High resolution access control

A method and apparatus for a middleware approach to the asynchronous and backward-compatible detection and prevention of Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) cache poisoning is presented. In a Streams-based network subsystem, such as found in the Solaris 2.6 operating system, a Cache Poisoning Checker (CPC) streams module, a CPC streams driver and a CPC user-level application are implemented. The CPC streams module is implemented in a protocol stack that pertains to ARP and is designed to intercept ARP traffic in both the upward and downwards directions that are dictated by the respective Internet Protocol and Ethernet drivers in the network subsystem. The CPC streams driver acts to provide an interface between the CPC streams module and the CPC user-level application. The CPC user-level application gives access to the local ARP cache and raises alarms if an ARP cache attack is detected. Both the CPC streams driver and CPC user-level application are implemented in a stream of their own, separate from the protocol stack containing the CPC streams module.

Middle approach to asynchronous and backward-compatible detection and prevention of ARP cache poisoning

A system and method for loading a filtering rule at a firewall. A firewall receives a packet and determines if a rule that pertains to the packet is loaded at the firewall. If a pertinent rule is found, it is implemented and the action prescribed by the rule for the packet is performed. If no pertinent rule is found, then a pertinent rule is retrieved from a source external to the firewall, and loaded at the firewall. The rule is then implemented for the packet. After the rule expires, e.g., when the user logs off, the rule is deleted from the firewall.

System and method for dynamic retrieval loading and deletion of packet rules in a network firewall

A system and method for load balancing. A packet is received at a firewall, which implements a rule and refers the packet to a load balancing proxy. The proxy performs a load balancing analysis at the load balancing proxy. Based on the results of the load balancing analysis, the proxy determines a load balancing rule, which is implemented by the firewall. At the end of the session to which the received packet belongs, the load balancing rule is deleted at the firewall.

System and method for network load balancing

A system and method for providing peer-level access control on networks that carry packets of information, each packet having a 5-tuple having a source and destination address, a source and destination port, and a protocol identifier. The local rule base of a peer is dynamically loaded into a filter when the peer is authenticated, and ejected when the peer is loses authentication. The local rule base is efficiently searched through the use of hash tables wherein a hashed peer network address serves as a pointer the peer's local rules. Each rule comprises a 5-tuple and an action. The action of a rule is carried out on a packet when the 5-tuple of the rule corresponds to the 5-tuple of the packet.

System and method for providing peer level access control on a network

A cache for use with a network filter that receives, stores and ejects local rule bases dynamically. The cache stores a rule that was derived from a rule base in the filter. The cache rule is associated in the cache with a rule base indicator indicating from which rule base the cache rule was derived, and a rule base version number indicating the version of the rule base from which the cache rule was derived. When the filter receives a packet, the cache is searched for a rule applicable to a received packet. If no such rule is found, the filter rule base is found, and an applicable rule is carried out and copied to the cache along with a rule base indicator and version number. If a cache rule is found, it is implemented if its version number matches the version number of the rule base from which it was derived. Otherwise, the cache rule is deleted. The cache provides an efficient way of accurately implementing the rules of a dynamic rule base without having to search the entire rule base for each packet.

Session cache and rule caching method for a dynamic filter

A scalable distributed caching system on a network receives a request for a data object from a user. The caching system carries out a locator function that locates a directory cache for the object. The directory cache stores a directory list that identifies the locations of object caches that purport to store copies of the object requested by the user. The object caches on the object directory list are polled, and in response send messages to the cache that received the user request indicating if each object cache stores a copy of the requested object. The receiving cache sends a message requesting a copy of the object to the object cache that sent the message first received by the receiving cache indicating that an object cache stores the requested object. The object cache that sent the first received message then sends a copy of the object to the receiving cache, which stores a copy and then sends a copy to the user. The directory list for the object is then updated by adding the network address of the receiving cache. Outdated copies of objects stored on object caches are deleted in a distributed fashion to maintain the coherence of the cached copies. This is further reinforced by the association of time-to-live parameters with the each copy and each object cache address on directory lists.

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Partha P Dutta