Network Risk Assessment via Topology Visualization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current network risk assessment methods fail to efficiently determine network topology and user access rights, leading to unidentified communication paths between secure and insecure network segments, and lack quantification of risks associated with compromised devices or accounts.
Innovation Solution
A computerized method that processes network traffic data to determine network topology, associates user account access rights with nodes, and generates interactive graphs to visualize access rights and potential risks, recommending segmentation and alerting administrators to vulnerabilities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If network administrators manually assess network topology and user access rights, then they can identify security risks, but the process is time-consuming and inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically discovers network topology by monitoring network traffic flows and packet metadata without requiring manual intervention. The topology mapping is self-updated as networks dynamically change, eliminating the need for administrators to manually reassess networks periodically.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors network traffic and user access patterns, providing real-time feedback to update the topology map and identify security risks. This continuous feedback loop enables dynamic risk assessment that adapts to changing network conditions without manual intervention.
2Reliability
If comprehensive network monitoring is implemented to identify all communication paths, then security risks can be detected, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the essential information needed for topology mapping and risk assessment from network traffic, such as source/destination addresses, port information, and flow metadata. This selective extraction avoids the complexity of analyzing entire packet contents while still achieving comprehensive topology discovery.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces a centralized topology mapping service that acts as an intermediary between network traffic and security analysis tools. This mediator consolidates complex monitoring data into simplified topology representations, making security risk detection more manageable without requiring direct complex monitoring throughout the entire network.
3Measurement precision
If detailed user access rights are tracked for all network devices, then access control vulnerabilities can be identified, but data processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the network into discrete topology nodes and edges, allowing access rights to be evaluated on a per-node basis rather than analyzing the entire network at once. This segmentation enables processing of user access data in manageable chunks corresponding to specific network segments, reducing overall data processing requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The system focuses on tracking and analyzing only the access rights and traffic patterns that are relevant to security risk assessment, rather than processing all possible user access data. By applying partial action to only the necessary data subsets, the system maintains high verification accuracy while minimizing data processing volume.
Data Source
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AI summary
Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for network risk assessment. One of the methods includes accessing information describing network traffic between network devices. A network topology of the network is determined based on the information describing network traffic, where the network topology includes nodes connected by an edge to one or more other nodes, and each node is associated with a network device and each edge represents two nodes that can communicate with each other. User account access information indicating access rights and/or access records may be overlaid on the network topology and the system can provide various visualizations of the network topology to illustrate security risks associated with specific user accounts or nodes, identify compromise values/likelihoods/risks of particular user accounts and/or network accounts, and identify network segmentation issues, among others.