Dynamic Privilege Management for Endpoint Security
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current endpoint security systems face challenges in detecting zero-day attacks and managing privileges effectively, particularly in preventing lateral movement of malware, while maintaining functionality for legacy applications and user expectations on BYOD devices.
Innovation Solution
Implementing dynamic privilege management techniques that detect application launches, evaluate elevation policies, and use reputation checking to grant or deny administrator privileges, allowing only trusted applications to run with elevated permissions, thereby reducing the risk of malware spread.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If administrator privileges are removed from domain user accounts to limit malware lateral movement, then endpoint security against lateral movement is improved, but legacy applications will not function correctly
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts privilege levels based on application trustworthiness. Instead of static privilege assignment, the privilege elevation manager continuously evaluates applications and grants elevated privileges only when policies are satisfied, allowing legacy applications to function while maintaining security against malware
Solution Approach 2:
Different privilege levels are assigned to different applications based on their individual trust assessments. Each application is evaluated independently against security policies, allowing specific legacy applications to receive elevated privileges while other applications remain restricted, creating localized quality in privilege distribution
2Adaptability or versatility
If full administrator privileges are retained on BYOD endpoints to maintain application functionality, then application compatibility is improved, but the risk of malware spread increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from static full administrator privileges to dynamic privilege management. Privileges are granted temporarily and selectively based on real-time policy evaluation, allowing legacy applications to maintain compatibility while minimizing the window of opportunity for malware exploitation
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of granting full administrator privileges unconditionally, the system provides only the minimum necessary privileges temporarily when needed for legacy application functionality. This partial action approach maintains application compatibility while reducing overall privilege exposure and malware risk
3Device complexity
If traditional signature-based antivirus software is used to protect endpoints, then implementation simplicity is improved, but detection capability against zero-day attacks deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary evaluation of applications against security policies before execution, checking trust indicators and reputation data in advance. This preliminary action prevents zero-day malware from executing while maintaining simple implementation through integration with existing operating system security features
Solution Approach 2:
The privilege elevation manager acts as an intermediary layer between applications and the operating system. It mediates privilege requests by evaluating applications against security policies and granting or denying elevation accordingly, providing enhanced detection capability without requiring complex antivirus software
Data Source
AI summary
An example method of dynamic privilege management in a computer system includes: detecting launch of an application by a user in a login session of a desktop executing on the computer system; determining identification information for the application; evaluating at least one policy that specifies requirements for privilege elevation using the identification information as parametric input; generating a privilege elevation result for the application, the privilege evaluation result including a positive or negative indication of whether the at least one policy permits privilege elevation of a process created for the application within the login session; and elevating privilege of the process in response to the positive indication in the privilege elevation.