The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 16, 2020
Filed:
Dec. 27, 2017
Fortinet, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Michael Xie, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Robert A. May, North Vancouver, CA;
Xiadong Xu, Surrey, CA;
Yong Wang, Surrey, CA;
Jordan E. Thompson, Vancouver, CA;
Shenghe Wang, Surrey, CA;
Fortinet, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
Systems and methods for implementing a cooperative security fabric (CSF) protocol are provided. According to one embodiment, a CSF of multiple network security devices (NSDs) deployed within a protected network is constructed in a form of a tree, having a root node, one or more intermediate nodes and one or more leaf nodes, based on hierarchical interconnections among the NSDs by determining a relative upstream or downstream relationship among each NSD. Backend daemons of the NSDs establish and maintain a bi-directional tunnel between each parent node within the CSF and its respective child nodes through which queries and replies are communicated and through which periodic keep-alive messages and responses are exchanged. Forward daemons of the NSDs enforce a CSF protocol that limits the issuance of query messages to those originated by an upstream node within the CSF and directed to a downstream node within the CSF.