vArmour Patents

Systems and methods for continually scoring and segmenting open opportunities using client data and product predictors

Awarded: August 25, 2020

Abstract: Systems and methods for machine learning and adaptive optimization are provided herein. A method includes continually receiving input that is indicative of client events, including client behaviors and respective outcomes of software trials of a product maintained in a database, continually segmenting open opportunities using the client behaviors and respective outcomes, continually scoring and prioritizing the open opportunities using the client behaviors and respective outcomes for targeting and re-targeting, continually adjusting targeted proposals to open opportunities and sourcing in prospects based on a targeting scheme, continually presenting targeted offers to create expansion opportunities and updating a product roadmap of the product using the open opportunities, the product roadmap including technical specifications for the product.

Patent number: 10755334

Recursive multi-layer examination for computer network security remediation

Awarded: August 13, 2019

Abstract: Computer-implemented methods and apparatuses for recursive multi-layer examination for computer network security remediation may include: identifying one or more first communications originating from or directed to a first node; identifying at least one of a protocol and an application used for each of the one or more first communications; examining each of the one or more first communications for malicious behavior; receiving a first risk score for each of the one or more first communications responsive to the examining; determining the first risk score associated with one of the one or more first communications exceeds a first predetermined threshold; and indicating the first node and a second node in communication with the first node via the one of the one or more first communications are malicious. Exemplary methods may further include providing the identified malicious nodes and communications originating from or directed to the malicious nodes.

Patent number: 10382467

Conditional declarative policies

Awarded: June 25, 2019

Abstract: Methods, systems, and media for producing a firewall rule set are provided herein. Exemplary methods may include receiving a declarative policy associated with a computer network security policy; collecting information from at least one external system of record; generating a firewall rule set using the declarative policy and information, the firewall rule set including addresses to or from which network communications are permitted, denied, redirected or logged, the firewall rule set being at a lower level of abstraction than the declarative policy; and provisioning the firewall rule set to a plurality of enforcement points of a distributed firewall, the firewall selectively policing network communications among workloads using the firewall rule set.

Patent number: 10333986

Adaptive session forwarding following virtual machine migration detection

Awarded: June 25, 2019

Abstract: A network system includes a first network access device having an input/output (IO) module of a firewall to capture a packet of a network session originated from a first node associated with the first network access device, a first security device having a firewall processing module to determine based on the captured packet whether the first node is a destination node that is receiving VM migration from a second node that is associated with a second network access device. The first security device is to update a first flow table within the first network access device. The network system further includes a second security device to receive a message from the first security device concerning the VM migration to update a second flow table of the second network access device, such that further network traffic of the network session is routed to the first node without interrupting the network session.

Patent number: 10333827

Security policy generation for virtualization, bare-metal server, and cloud computing environments

Awarded: April 16, 2019

Abstract: Methods, systems, and media for security in virtualization, bare-metal server, and cloud computing environments are provided herein.

Patent number: 10264025

Methods and systems for improving analytics in distributed networks

Awarded: January 29, 2019

Abstract: Systems and methods for improving analytics in a distributed network are described herein. An example system includes at least one processor, an analytics module, and a security policy module. The security policy module is operable to define a security policy. The security policy is executed by the processor on a network packet. Furthermore, the processor collects network information from the network packet. The analytics module is operable to analyze the network information with additional group information from the security policy. The analysis is used by the processor to generate the result. Based on the generated result, the security policy module updates the security policy.

Patent number: 10193929

Directing data traffic between intra-server virtual machines

Awarded: January 29, 2019

Abstract: Systems and methods for improving data communications between intra-server virtual machines are described herein. An example method may commence with receiving, from a first virtual machine, a data packet directed to a second virtual machine, routing the data packet via an external routing environment, and receiving the data packet allowed for delivery to the second virtual machine. Based on the receipt, it may be determined that a data flow associated with the data packet is allowed, and a unique identifier of the first virtual machine may be replaced with a first unique identifier and a unique identifier of the second virtual machine may be replaced with a second unique identifier. The first and second unique identifiers may be associated with corresponding interfaces of the intra-server routing module and used to direct the data flow internally within the server between the first virtual machine and the second virtual machine.

Patent number: 10191758

Methods and systems for providing security to distributed microservices

Awarded: January 8, 2019

Abstract: Systems for providing security to distributed microservices are provided herein. In some embodiments, a system includes a plurality of microservices, each of the plurality of microservices having a plurality of distributed microservice components. At least a portion of the distributed microservice components execute on different physical or virtual servers in a data center or a cloud. The system also includes a plurality of logical security boundaries, with each of the plurality of logical security boundaries being created by a plurality of enforcement points positioned in association with the plurality of distributed microservice components. Each of plurality of microservices is bounded by one of the plurality of logical security boundaries.

Patent number: 10178070

Context aware microsegmentation

Awarded: December 18, 2018

Abstract: Context aware microservice networks and contextual security policies for microservice networks are provided herein. In some embodiments, a system includes a plurality of microservices, each of the plurality of microservices having a plurality of distributed microservice components. At least a portion of the distributed microservice components execute on different physical or virtual servers in a data center or a cloud. The system also includes a plurality of logical security boundaries, with each of the plurality of logical security boundaries being created by a plurality of enforcement points positioned in association with the plurality of distributed microservice components. Each of plurality of microservices is bounded by one of the plurality of logical security boundaries.

Patent number: 10158672

Segmented networks that implement scanning

Awarded: October 23, 2018

Abstract: Systems for providing scanning within distributed services are provided herein. In some embodiments, a system includes a plurality of segmented environments that each includes an enforcement point that has an active probe device, and a plurality of workloads that each implements at least one service. The system also has a data center server coupled with the plurality of segmented environments over a network. The data center server has a security controller configured to provide a security policy to each of the plurality of segmented environments and an active probe controller configured to cause the active probe device of the plurality of segmented environments to execute a scan.

Patent number: 10110636

Deception using distributed threat detection

Awarded: October 2, 2018

Abstract: Methods and systems for deception using distributed threat detection are provided. Exemplary methods by an enforcement point, the enforcement point communicatively coupled to a first data network and a second data network, the enforcement point not providing services in the second data network, include: receiving, from a first workload in the second data network, a data packet addressed to a second workload in the second data network, the data packet requesting a service from the second workload; determining the data packet is for unauthorized access of the second workload, the determining using at least some of a 5-tuple of the data packet; identifying a deception point using the service, the deception point being in the first data network and including a decoy for the service; and redirecting the data packet to the deception point in the first data network.

Patent number: 10091238

Delivering security functions to distributed networks

Awarded: September 25, 2018

Abstract: Systems and methods for delivering security functions to a distributed network are described herein. An exemplary method may include: processing a data packet received from a switch, the data packet directed to the at least one network asset; selectively forwarding the data packet using the processing and a rule set; inspecting the forwarded packet; directing the enforcement point to at least one of forward the data packet to the at least one network asset and drop the data packet, using the inspection and the rule set; accumulating data associated with at least one of the data packet, the processing, and the inspection; analyzing the at least one of the data packet, the processing, and the inspection; and initiating compilation of a high-level security policy by the compiler using the analysis to produce an updated rule set.

Patent number: 10084753

System and method for threat-driven security policy controls

Awarded: June 26, 2018

Abstract: Methods, systems, and media for a security system are provided herein. Exemplary methods may include: acquiring a firewall security policy from a policy compiler; receiving network traffic originating from a source machine and directed to a destination machine; analyzing the network traffic using the firewall security policy; forwarding or dropping each of the network traffic according to the security policy; and redirecting one or more network packets of the network traffic according to the security policy.

Patent number: 10009381

Data network microsegmentation

Awarded: June 26, 2018

Abstract: Methods and systems for microsegmentation of data networks are provided herein. Exemplary methods include: receiving a high-level declarative policy; getting metadata associated with a plurality of containers from an orchestration layer; determining a low-level firewall rule set using the high-level declarative policy and the metadata; and configuring by a plurality of enforcement points a respective virtual switch of a plurality of virtual switches to process packets in accordance with the low-level firewall ruleset, the virtual switches being collectively communicatively coupled to the plurality of containers, such that network communications between a first group of containers and a second group of containers of the plurality of containers are not permitted, and communications between containers of the first group of containers are permitted.

Patent number: 10009383

Security policy generation using container metadata

Awarded: June 26, 2018

Abstract: Methods, systems, and media for producing a firewall rule set are provided herein. Exemplary methods may include: receiving metadata about a deployed container from a container orchestration layer; determining an application or service associated with the deployed container from the received metadata; retrieving at least one model using the determined application or service, the at least one model identifying expected network communications behavior of the deployed container; and generating a high-level declarative security policy associated with the deployed container using the at least one model, the high-level declarative security policy indicating at least an application or service with which the deployed container can communicate.

Patent number: 10009317

Methods and systems for orchestrating physical and virtual switches to enforce security boundaries

Awarded: May 15, 2018

Abstract: Some embodiments include methods comprising: writing entries in a forwarding table of a switch through an application programming interface (API) of the switch, such that first data packets from a first host and directed to a second host are forwarded by the switch to an enforcement point; receiving the first data packets; forwarding the first data packets to the enforcement point using the forwarding table; determining whether the first data packets violate a high-level security policy using a low-level rule set; configuring the forwarding table through the API such that second data packets are forwarded by the switch to the second host, in response to determining the first data packets do not violate the security policy; configuring the forwarding table through the API such that the second data packets are dropped or forwarded to a security function by the switch, in response to the determining.

Patent number: 9973472

Granular segmentation using events

Awarded: October 10, 2017

Abstract: Methods and systems for granular segmentation of data networks are provided herein. Exemplary methods include: receiving from a metadata source event metadata associated with a workload; identifying a workload type using the event metadata; determining a high-level declarative security policy using the workload type; launching a compiler to generate a low-level firewall rule set using the high-level declarative policy and the event metadata; and configuring by a plurality of enforcement points a respective network switch of a plurality of network switches to process packets in accordance with the low-level firewall ruleset, the network switches being collectively communicatively coupled to a plurality of workloads, such that network communications between a first group of workloads of the plurality of workloads and the workload are not permitted, and between a second group of workloads of the plurality of workloads and the workload are permitted.

Patent number: 9787639

Multi-node affinity-based examination for computer network security remediation

Awarded: September 12, 2017

Abstract: Multi-node affinity-based examination for computer network security remediation is provided herein. Exemplary methods may include receiving a query that includes a selection of Internet protocol (IP) addresses belonging to nodes within a network, obtaining characteristics for the nodes, determining communications between the nodes and communications between the nodes and any other nodes not included in the selection, determining a primary affinity indicative of communication between the nodes and a secondary affinity indicative of communication between the nodes and the other nodes not included in the selection, and generating a graphical user interface (GUI) that includes representations of the nodes in the range and the other nodes outside the range, placing links between the nodes in the selection and the other nodes not included in the selection based on the primary affinity and the secondary affinity, and providing the graphical user interface to a user.

Patent number: 9762599

Distributed TCP SYN flood protection

Awarded: August 22, 2017

Abstract: A method and apparatus is disclosed herein for TCP SYN flood protection. In one embodiment, a TCP SYN flood protection arrangement comprises a first device operable to process packet input and output functions, including performing sender verification with respect to a connection initiation from a sender for a first TCP connection between the sender and a destination server and a second device, separate from the first device, to perform one or more security processing operations on packets of the first TCP connection from the sender after the first device verifies the sender is legitimate.

Patent number: 9742732

Recursive multi-layer examination for computer network security remediation

Awarded: June 13, 2017

Abstract: Computer-implemented methods and apparatuses for recursive multi-layer examination for computer network security remediation is provided herein. Exemplary methods may include: receiving a first identifier associated with a first node; retrieving first metadata using the first identifier; identifying a second node in communication with the first node using the first metadata; ascertaining a first characteristic of each first communication between the first and second nodes using the first metadata; examining each first communication for malicious behavior using the first characteristic; receiving a first risk score for each first communication responsive to the examining; determining the first risk score associated with one of the second communications exceeds a first predetermined threshold and indicating the first and second nodes are malicious. Exemplary methods may further include providing the identified malicious nodes and communications originating from or directed to the malicious nodes.

Inventors: Ryan Wager, Fyodor Yarochkin, Zach Dahlgren

Patent number: 9680852

Conditional declarative policies

Awarded: April 11, 2017

Abstract: Methods, systems, and media for producing a firewall rule set are provided herein. Exemplary methods may include receiving a declarative policy associated with a computer network security policy; collecting information from at least one external system of record; generating a firewall rule set using the declarative policy and information, the firewall rule set including addresses to or from which network communications are permitted, denied, redirected or logged, the firewall rule set being at a lower level of abstraction than the declarative policy; and provisioning the firewall rule set to a plurality of enforcement points of a distributed firewall, the firewall selectively policing network communications among workloads using the firewall rule set.

Patent number: 9621595

Systems and methods for distributed threat detection in a computer network

Awarded: April 11, 2017

Abstract: A method and apparatus for distributed threat detection in a computer network is described. The method may include receiving, by a threat detection system of a first computer network, a request for a service from a threat sensor of a second computer network, the service requested of the threat sensor within the second computer network from a network element of the second computer network. The method may also include emulating the service identified in the request to generate a response to the request and sending the response to the threat sensor for forwarding to the network element within the second computer network. Furthermore, the method may include analyzing one or more communications between the threat detection system and the network element during emulation of the service requested by the network element to determine whether the network element is a threat to the second network.

Patent number: 9621568

Segmented networks that implement scanning

Awarded: March 28, 2017

Abstract: Systems for providing scanning within distributed services are provided herein. In some embodiments, a system includes a plurality of segmented environments that each includes an enforcement point that has an active probe device, and a plurality of workloads that each implements at least one service. The system also has a data center server coupled with the plurality of segmented environments over a network. The data center server has a security controller configured to provide a security policy to each of the plurality of segmented environments and an active probe controller configured to cause the active probe device of the plurality of segmented environments to execute a scan.

Patent number: 9609026

Distributed service processing of network gateways using virtual machines

Awarded: March 28, 2017

Abstract: A network gateway device includes an ingress interface, an egress interface, and a load balancing module coupled to the ingress and egress interfaces. The load balancing module configured to receive a packet from the ingress interface, determine a set of a plurality of processes corresponding to a connections session associated with the packet based on a policy. For each of the identified processes, the load balancing module is to identify a service processing module executed by a virtual machine that is capable of handling the identified process, and to send the packet to the identified service processing module to perform the identified process on the packet. The packet is then transmitted to the egress interface of the gateway device to be forwarded to a destination.

Patent number: 9609083

Data network microsegmentation

Date of Patent: January 31, 2017

Abstract: Methods and systems for microsegmentation of data networks are provided herein. Exemplary methods include: receiving a high-level declarative policy; getting metadata associated with a plurality of containers from an orchestration layer; determining a low-level firewall rule set using the high-level declarative policy and the metadata; and configuring by a plurality of enforcement points a respective virtual switch of a plurality of virtual switches to process packets in accordance with the low-level firewall ruleset, the virtual switches being collectively communicatively coupled to the plurality of containers, such that network communications between a first group of containers and a second group of containers of the plurality of containers are not permitted, and communications between containers of the first group of containers are permitted.

Patent number: 9560081

Auto discovery of virtual machines

Awarded: December 27, 2016

Abstract: A method and apparatus is disclosed herein for performing auto discovery of virtual machines. In one embodiment, the method includes monitoring, using an interface of the device, one or more packets being sent from one or more virtual machines, the one or more packets being sent determining, using a processor of the device, if one of the monitored packets includes a discovery packet from one virtual machine of the one or more virtual machines, wherein the discovery packet includes an address of a destination location; sending, using the interface of the device, a reply packet to the one virtual machine using an address in the discovery packet identified in the monitored packets, the reply packet including an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the device.

Patent number: 9529995

Delivering security functions to distributed networks

Awarded: December 20, 2016

Abstract: Systems and methods for delivering security functions to a distributed network are described herein. An exemplary method may include: processing a data packet received from a switch, the data packet directed to the at least one network asset; selectively forwarding the data packet using the processing and a rule set; inspecting the forwarded packet; directing the enforcement point to at least one of forward the data packet to the at least one network asset and drop the data packet, using the inspection and the rule set; accumulating data associated with at least one of the data packet, the processing, and the inspection; analyzing the at least one of the data packet, the processing, and the inspection; and initiating compilation of a high-level security policy by the compiler using the analysis to produce an updated rule set.

Patent number: 9525697

Security policy generation using container metadata

Awarded: December 13, 2016

Abstract: Methods, systems, and media for producing a firewall rule set are provided herein. Exemplary methods may include: receiving metadata about a deployed container from a container orchestration layer; determining an application or service associated with the container from the received metadata; retrieving at least one model using the determined application or service, the at least one model identifying expected network communications behavior of the container; and generating a high-level declarative security policy associated with the container using the at least one model, the high-level declarative security policy indicating at least an application or service with which the container can communicate.

Patent number: 9521115

Using multiple central processing unit cores for packet forwarding in virtualized networks

Awarded: November 1, 2016

Abstract: Systems and methods for using a plurality of processing cores for packet processing in a virtualized network environment are described herein. An example system can comprise a scheduler operable to initiate a processing core of the plurality of processing cores. The processing core is operable to process a plurality of data packets. Based on the determination that the processing core exceeds a threshold processing capacity associated with the processing core, the scheduler sequentially initiates at least one subsequent processing core. The at least one subsequent processing core has a corresponding threshold processing capacity and is operable to process data packets of the plurality of data packets in excess of threshold processing capacities associated with preceding processing cores. Thus, the threshold processing capacities associated with the preceding processing cores are not exceeded.

Patent number: 9483317

Context aware microsegmentation

Awarded: October 11, 2016

Abstract: Context aware microservice networks and contextual security policies for microservice networks are provided herein. In some embodiments, a system includes a plurality of microservices, each of the plurality of microservices having a plurality of distributed microservice components. At least a portion of the distributed microservice components execute on different physical or virtual servers in a data center or a cloud. The system also includes a plurality of logical security boundaries, with each of the plurality of logical security boundaries being created by a plurality of enforcement points positioned in association with the plurality of distributed microservice components. Each of plurality of microservices is bounded by one of the pluralities of logical security boundaries.

Patent number: 9467476

Microsegmented networks that implement vulnerability scanning

Awarded: September 6, 2016

Abstract: Systems for providing vulnerability scanning within distributed microservices are provided herein. In some embodiments, a system includes a plurality of microsegmented environments that each includes a hypervisor, an enforcement point that has an active probe device, and a plurality of virtual machines that each implements at least one microservice. The system also has a cloud data center server coupled with the plurality of microsegmented environments over a network. The cloud data center server has a security controller configured to provide a security policy to each of the plurality of microsegmented environments and an active probe controller configured to cause the active probe device of the plurality of microsegmented environments to execute a vulnerability scan.

Patent number: 9438634

Distributed computer network zone based security architecture

Awarded: August 16, 2016

Abstract: A method and apparatus is disclosed herein for distributed zone-based security. In one embodiment, the method comprises: determining an ingress security zone associated with an ingress of a first network device based on a first key and a media access control (MAC) address of a source of a packet; determining an egress security zone of a second network device based on a MAC address of a destination for the packet and a second key; performing a policy lookup based on the ingress security zone and the egress security zone to identify a policy to apply to the packet; and applying the policy to the packet.

Patent number: 9419941

Conditional declarative policies

Awarded: June 28, 2016

Abstract: Methods, systems, and media for producing a firewall rule set are provided herein. Exemplary methods may include receiving a declarative policy associated with a computer network security policy; collecting information from at least one external system of record; generating a firewall rule set using the declarative policy and information, the firewall rule set including addresses to or from which network communications are permitted, denied, redirected or logged, the firewall rule set being at a lower level of abstraction than the declarative policy; and provisioning the firewall rule set to a plurality of enforcement points of a distributed firewall, the firewall selectively policing network communications among workloads using the firewall rule set.

Patent number: 9380027

System and method for threat-driven security policy controls

Awarded: March 22, 2016

Abstract: Methods, systems, and media for a security system are provided herein. Exemplary methods may include: acquiring a firewall security policy from a policy compiler; receiving network traffic originating from a source machine and directed to a destination machine; analyzing the network traffic using the firewall security policy; forwarding or dropping each of the network traffic according to the security policy; accumulating the network traffic and metadata associated with the network traffic; and initiating an update to the firewall security policy by the policy compiler using at least one of the accumulated network traffic and metadata.

Patent number: 9294442

Non-fragmented IP packet tunneling in a network

Awarded: March 22, 2016

Abstract: A method and apparatus is disclosed herein for IP packet tunneling in a network. In one embodiment, the method comprises receiving, at a first network device, a first IP packet of an IP connection; creating a second IP packet by replacing information in a field in the first IP packet with a session ID identifying the IP connection; and forwarding, by the first network device, the second IP packet to the second network device in the distributed network environment.

Patent number: 9294302

System and method for dynamic security insertion in network virtualization

Awarded: February 9, 2016

Abstract: A method and apparatus for dynamic security insertion into virtualized networks is described. The method may include receiving, at a network device from a second network device, a data packet and application data extracted from the data packet. The method may also include generating a routing decision for a network connection associated with the data packet based, at least in part, on the application data. Furthermore, the method may include transmitting the routing decision for the data packet to the second device for the second device to route the data based on the routing decision.

Patent number: 9258275

Distributed service processing of network gateways using virtual machines

Awarded: November 17, 2015

Abstract: A network gateway device includes an ingress interface, an egress interface, and a load balancing module coupled to the ingress and egress interfaces. The load balancing module configured to receive a packet from the ingress interface, determine a set of a plurality of processes corresponding a connections session associated with the packet based on a policy. For each of the identified processes, the load balancing module is to identify a service processing module executed by a virtual machine that can handle the identified process, and to send the packet to the identified service processing module to perform the identified process on the packet. The packet is then transmitted to the egress interface of the gateway device to be forwarded to a destination.

Patent number: 9191327

Dynamic session migration between network security gateways

Awarded: March 17, 2015

Abstract: A method and apparatus is disclosed herein for migrating session information between security gateways are disclosed. In one embodiment, receiving, at a first security gateway, session information associated with a session corresponding to a network connection, the session information having been transferred from a second security gateway, the first and second security gateway being separate physical devices; and thereafter performing security processing for the session at the first security gateway.

Patent number: 8984114

Cooperative network security inspection

Awarded: February 10, 2015

Abstract: A network system includes a security device and a network access device. The network access device is to receive a packet from a source node destined to a destination node, and to examine a data structure maintained by the network access device to determine whether the data structure stores a data member having a predetermined value, the data member indicating whether the packet should undergo security processing. If the data member matches the predetermined value, the packet is transmitted to a security device associated with the network access device to allow the security device to perform content inspection, and in response to a response received from the security device, the packet is routed to the destination node dependent upon the response. The packet is routed to the destination node without forwarding the packet to the security device.

Patent number: 8955093

Virtual security boundary for physical or virtual network devices

Awarded: August 19, 2014

Abstract: A method and apparatus is disclosed herein for using a virtual security boundary. In one embodiment, the method comprises receiving information from a virtual machine after the virtual machine has been moved from a first physical location in a network to a second physical location in the network, where the information identifies the virtual machine as one previously assigned to a security boundary; determining that access to the virtual machine at the first physical location was permitted by the security gateway; assigning the virtual machine at the second physical location to the security boundary, and applying a security policy associated with the security boundary to communications between the network and the virtual machine at the second physical location.

Patent number: 8813169

Distributed firewall architecture using virtual machines

Awarded: December 17, 2013

Abstract: A distributed firewall of a gateway device includes at least one IO module for performing IO functionality of the distributed firewall, at least one security processing module for performing security functionality of the distributed firewall and a firewall controller for managing the IO module and the security processing module. Each of the at least one IO and security processing modules is executed within a virtual machine. In response to a packet received from an ingress interface, the at least one IO module is to identify a security processing module corresponding to a connections session associated with the packet, to transmit the packet to the identified security processing module to perform a security process on the packet, and in response to a signal received from the identified security processing module indicating that the security process has been completed, to transmit the packet to the egress interface.

Patent number: 8612744