Secure Alert Message Buffering for Stealthy Transmission
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current Security Alerting Systems (SASs) are vulnerable to attackers who can detect and suppress alert messages, leading to undetectable compromises and loss of critical security information, especially during Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), as they lack effective protections against sophisticated attackers.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a message-locking channel that authenticates and encrypts alert messages using a forward-secure secret key, buffers them on the host, and transmits them securely to a server, ensuring integrity, stealthiness, and persistence, even after a host is compromised.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If alert messages are transmitted on-the-fly to a remote server, then real-time detection is achieved, but the messages become vulnerable to disruption, deletion, or modification by attackers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by buffering alert messages locally on the host before transmission to the remote server. This allows the system to prepare and secure messages in advance, ensuring they are protected even if the transmission channel is compromised. The buffer stores authenticated messages securely, enabling later reliable transmission regardless of real-time network conditions or attacker interference.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism by implementing a secure buffer as an intermediate storage layer between the alert generation component and the network transmission channel. This buffer acts as a mediator that decouples message generation from transmission, allowing messages to be securely stored and transmitted at a later time through a protected channel, thus preventing direct exposure to attacker suppression.
2Reliability
If alert messages are buffered on the host, then protection against attacker suppression is achieved, but the complexity of the transmission system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the extraction principle by isolating the buffering and authentication functions into a separate, dedicated component that operates independently from the main alert generation and transmission processes. This extracted buffer module handles security functions separately, reducing the complexity burden on the overall system while maintaining protection against alert suppression.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs disposable security mechanisms by using forward-secure pseudorandom numbers that are generated fresh for each buffer operation and then discarded. These single-use cryptographic keys provide strong security without requiring complex key management systems, as each key is used once and then discarded, simplifying the overall system architecture while maintaining high security standards.
3Reliability
If a secure authentication mechanism is implemented, then message integrity is protected, but the performance of alert transmission decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent maintains continuity of useful action by implementing continuous buffer operations where alerts are continuously authenticated and stored in the buffer, then continuously transmitted to the server. This ongoing process ensures that security measures are applied consistently without interrupting the alert transmission flow, balancing integrity protection with transmission performance through sustained operation rather than periodic checks.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies parameter changes by dynamically adjusting the authentication and encryption parameters based on the operational context. The system uses forward-secure pseudorandom numbers that evolve over time, changing cryptographic parameters adaptively to maintain security while optimizing performance. This dynamic parameter adjustment allows the system to maintain high security standards without fixed performance penalties.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus are provided for secure transmission of alert messages over a message locking channel. An alert message is transmitted from a Security Alerting System indicating a potential compromise of a protected resource by obtaining the alert message from the Security Alerting System; authenticating the alert message using a secret key known by a server, wherein the secret key evolves in a forward-secure manner; storing the authenticated alert message in a buffer; and transmitting the buffer to the server. The alert message is authenticated by digitally signing the alert message or applying a message authentication code and is possibly encrypted using a secret key known by a server, wherein the secret key evolves in a forward-secure manner. The authenticated alert message can be maintained in the buffer after the transmitting step. The buffer optionally has a fixed-size and alert messages can be stored in a round-robin manner, for example, from a random position. The buffer can be encrypted prior to transmission to the server.