Stonesoft Corporation

Stonesoft Oy

Tuomo Syvänne

Mika Jalava

Riku Salminen

Matti Halme

Tommi Virtanen

Timo Virtanen

Henri Sara

Matti Leppanen

Eino Lilius

Esa Harjulahti

A personalized firewall or other network gateway is provided by a method of matching a data packet to a rule in a network gateway having a rule base. One or more identification values are determined based on the data packet and property value(s) associated with said one or more identification values are queried and received from a property server. The property value(s) describe for example allowed connections and services for an entity associated with the identification value(s). The property value(s) are compared to at least one rule in the rule base, said at least one rule comprising property value(s) and an action, and the action defined in said at least one rule is taken, if said property value(s) of the rule match corresponding property value(s) associated with said one or more identification values.

Personalized firewall

A method of handling mobile entities in a firewall, wherein a first mobile entity table comprising identifiers of mobile entities, which are active in a firewall, and a second mobile entity table comprising identifiers of mobile entities, which are active in a predefined set of other firewalls and identifiers of corresponding other firewalls, are maintained in the firewall. A new mobile entity, which is not currently active in the firewall, is detected, after which it is found on the basis of the second mobile entity table, if the new mobile entity is currently active in another firewall. If the mobile entity is currently active in another firewall, state information related to the new mobile entity is queried from the another firewall, and stored in the firewall to be used for processing data packets from/to the new mobile entity.

Handling connections moving between firewalls

The present invention relates to a method of managing a network device, a network device, and a management system. A configuration of a firewall is changed over a network connection by a remote management system (). The firewall () applies the change configuration after receiving a command from the management system (). Shortly after the changed configuration is applied, the management system () takes a new connection to the firewall (). With this new connection, the configuration is accepted for permanent use in the firewall (). If a new connection is not successfully set-up within a given time limit, the firewall () will automatically return to use the old configuration. Thereby, the firewall () is able to restore from any loss of management connection caused by a mistake in the changed configuration.

Method of managing a network device, a management system, and a network device

A method of filtering a tunneled data packet including an outer header and an outer payload, the outer payload including an inner data packet including an inner header and an inner payload, where the value of at least one outer header field of the tunneled data packet is matched to a first rule, and the action defined in the first rule is taken. Taking the action defined in the first rule includes detecting the inner data packet within the tunneled data packet, matching the value of at least one field of the inner data packet to a second rule, and taking the action defined in the second rule.

Firewall for filtering tunneled data packets

The invention concerns handling in a firewall data communication protocols comprising at least one parent connection and at least one related connection, wherein at least one attribute of the related connection is negotiated within the parent connection. Whether to allow a related connection is decided on the basis of information about the related connection as well as information about the parent connection. The method of the invention comprises allowing a parent connection, storing information about the parent connection, monitoring contents of the parent connection, detecting within the parent connection negotiation of at least one attribute of a related connection, and using said at least one negotiated attribute of the related connection and said information about the parent connection for deciding, whether said related connection is allowable.

Handling related connections in a firewall

The invention relates to processing configuration of a network node, such as for example a firewall, and for sharing the configuration management between several administrators. The configuration comprises a processing rule base, which contains rules to be used in the network node for filtering data packets, the rules comprising one or more identification values for identifying a data packet and an action. The configuration of the network node is validated by determining, whether the processing rule base fulfils requirements defined in a validation rule base. The use of validation rule base enables verifying that processing rule bases managed by different administrators fulfil some set requirements. Additionally, the invention accounts for detecting human errors in configurations.

Firewall configuration validation

A computer device which can be connected to a home network and to a foreign network is provided with a local security mechanism, called a personal firewall, for protecting the computer device from attacks from the foreign network, in addition to or instead of a firewall in the internal network which protects the computer when connected to the internal network. The personal firewall is arranged to detect its current location, i.e. to determine the network to which it is connected at each particular moment, and to control its operation accordingly. The current location of the computer device is first determined on the basis of a currently used IP address of the computer device. Then this location determined on the basis of the current IP address of the computer device is verified by carrying out an additional location verification procedure with a predetermined network element.

Personal firewall with location detection

A computer device is provided with a local security mechanism, a personal firewall, for protecting the computer device from attacks from a foreign network, in addition to or instead of a firewall in the internal network which protects the computer when connected to a home network. The personal firewall is provided with different sets of security rules for the home network and foreign networks. The personal firewall is arranged to detect its current location, i.e. determine to which network it is connected to at each particular moment. The personal firewall activates one of the given sets of security rules according to the detected current location of the computer device, i.e. the personal firewall automatically uses the security rules predefined for the network to which the computer device is connected at each particular moment. Upon detecting a change in the location, the personal firewall immediately adapts to use security rules predefined for the new location.

Personal firewall with location dependent functionality

In a network element cluster having a plurality of nodes, distribution decisions are determined on the basis of certain field(s) of data packets according to predetermined criteria, and data packets are distributed to nodes of the network element cluster according to the distribution decisions. Data packets are processed by said nodes of the network element cluster, and the processing involves selecting at least partly arbitrary value(s) for at least one of the field(s) of at least one data packet. Such value(s) are selected for at least one of said certain field(s) of a third data packet, such that distribution decisions determined according to the predetermined criteria result in the same node in the cluster processing inbound and outbound packets of the same session ID.

Processing of data packets within a network element cluster

A method () for synchronizing state information in a security gateway cluster comprising at least two nodes comprises the following steps. Synchronizing () state information by sending state information from a first node of said at least two nodes, detecting () in said security gateway cluster a predetermined irregularly occurring action, and initiating () synchronization of state information as a response to said action. The state information is sent to at least a second node of said at least two nodes. Corresponding computer program, computer program product, software entities (), a node () of a security gateway cluster () and a security gateway cluster are also presented.

Synchronization of security gateway state information

A method for handling dynamic state information used for handling data packets, which arrive at a network element node of a network element cluster, said network element cluster having at least two nodes and each node handling separate sets of data packets. In a node there is maintaineda first, node-specific data structure comprising entries representing state information needed for handling sets of data packets handled in said node. In said node there is also maintaineda second, common data structure comprising at least entries representing state information needed for handling sets of data packets handled in one other node of said network element cluster. The contents of said common data structure effectively differs from the contents of said node-specific data structure. Data packets are distributedto nodes of the cluster by means of distribution identifiers allocatedto nodes. Advantageously, information related to the distribution identifiers is includedin the entries of the data structures in order to identify to which node a set of data packets represented by a given entry belongs to at a given moment.

Handling state information in a network element cluster

A method () for handling information about packet data connections arriving at a security gateway element, in order to have in a connection data structure information about packet data connections in accordance with current screening information is presented. In the method, data packet header information about packet data connections in accordance with first screening information is stored () in said connection data structure, and updated screening information, said updated screening information forming either by itself or in connection with said first screening information second screening information, is being received (). After receiving said updated screening information, entries of said connection data structure are compared () to said second screening information, resulting in a classification of said entries as entries representing packet data connections in accordance with said second screening information and as entries representing packet data connections in conflict with said second screening information. Corresponding security gateway element, management system, computer program and connection data structures are also presented.

Handling information about packet data connections in a security gateway element

A method for processing data packets in a gateway element comprises the steps of: comparing a data packet to screening information comprising a set of rules, and processing a data packet according to a rule belonging to the set of rules, the header information of said data packet matching the header information of said rule. The method is characterized in that said screening information is hierarchically structured so that it comprises a first rule, which specifies first header information, and a subset of rules relating to said first rule, and in that in said step of comparing a data packet, said data packet is compared to said subset of rules only if the header information of the data packet matches the header information of the first rule. A gateway element, an arrangement, and a data structure comprising screening information are also presented.

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Vantaa, Finland

Tuomo Syvänne