Device and network classification based on probabilistic model

Abstract

Programmatic mechanisms that enable the automatic assignment of categories to network entities based on observed evidence. Agents gather observation data that identifies observations made by agents about the network and a plurality of nodes of the network. The agents provide the observation data to a classification module, which assigns a device category to the nodes of the network based on the observation data and a probabilistic node model. The probabilistic node model considers several probabilities to ascertain a recommended device category for a particular node, such as probabilities based on a manufacturer of a node, an operating system executing on a node, information about other nodes in the local vicinity of a node, and an administrator web page associated with a node. The classification module may also assign a particular network category to the network based on the observation data and a probabilistic network model.