Agentless Network Device Validation Using File Integrity Baselines
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current network monitoring and troubleshooting systems are monolithic, inflexible, and resource-intensive, struggling to scale with the increasing data demands of next-generation networks, and often require third-party agents that impact device performance and introduce security vulnerabilities.
Innovation Solution
An agentless validation platform that collects and analyzes file and directory attributes, such as checksums, permissions, and ownership, to verify the security posture of network devices, using built-in capabilities of network operating systems to ensure compliance and integrity without third-party agents.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If third-party agents are deployed to verify network device security, then security verification capability is improved, but device performance deteriorates and security vulnerabilities are introduced
Solution Approach 1:
The network device uses its own built-in capabilities (file system, registry, process enumeration) to verify its security posture without external agents. The device self-collects baseline attributes and snapshot attributes, performs integrity verification locally, and reports results to the management system, eliminating the need for third-party agents that impact performance and introduce vulnerabilities
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the security verification function from external third-party agents and relocates it to the network device's native operating system capabilities. By using built-in file system access, registry operations, and process enumeration, the system removes the harmful external component while preserving the essential security verification functionality
2Reliability
If passive probe infrastructure is built to monitor network functions, then monitoring capability is improved, but resource consumption increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of deploying separate passive probe infrastructure that consumes network resources, the network devices themselves perform monitoring by collecting their own baseline attributes and snapshot attributes. The devices use their own processing power and storage to generate integrity reports, eliminating the need for resource-intensive external monitoring infrastructure
Solution Approach 2:
The network device's operating system performs multiple functions: it runs the network device's primary functions while simultaneously collecting security attributes, generating integrity reports, and maintaining baseline data. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for dedicated monitoring infrastructure, reducing overall resource consumption
3Speed
If real-time network traffic monitoring is implemented, then security detection speed is improved, but computational cost and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-collects baseline attributes (file checksums, registry keys, process lists) during device installation or configuration. When security verification is needed, the system only needs to compare current snapshot attributes against these pre-established baselines, enabling rapid real-time verification without the computational overhead of analyzing all network traffic in real-time
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of monitoring all network traffic comprehensively, the system focuses on specific critical attributes (file integrity, registry configurations, running processes) that are most relevant to security. This partial monitoring approach provides sufficient security detection capability with significantly reduced computational complexity compared to full traffic analysis
Data Source
AI summary
A processing system may obtain baseline attributes associated with a plurality of representative files of a first type of network equipment, where the baseline attributes comprise a plurality of baseline checksums associated with the plurality of representative files, obtain snapshot attributes associated with a first plurality of files of a first device deployed in a communication network, where the first device is of the first type of network equipment, and where the first plurality of files is associated with at least a portion of the plurality of representative files, identify at least one file of the first plurality of files or at least one directory associated with the first plurality of files, for which a respective one of the snapshot attributes fails to match a respective one of the baseline attributes, and perform at least one remedial action in the communication network in response to the identifying.