Network Security Assessment Engine for Multitenant Risk Scoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional techniques fail to accurately identify and communicate security risks within local networks, despite the importance of network security due to threats from malware and other vulnerabilities.
Innovation Solution
A network security assessment engine that executes security tests on various properties of computing devices and networks, receives and analyzes test results, determines security scores, and presents an overall network security score along with contributing factors, enabling effective risk communication and remediation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional monitoring services are used to track network performance and activity, then basic network management is achieved, but security risks cannot be identified or communicated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the security assessment process into multiple independent security tests, each evaluating specific properties (firewall configuration, encryption, authentication, etc.). Each test operates independently and contributes to the overall security score, allowing comprehensive assessment without overwhelming complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary assessment engine that collects data from multiple security tests and synthesizes it into a comprehensive security evaluation. This intermediary layer translates raw test results into actionable security insights and risk communications.
2Measurement precision
If multiple security tests are executed on network properties, then comprehensive security assessment is achieved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal assessment engine that handles multiple types of security tests through a single unified system. The engine can execute diverse security tests (firewall, encryption, authentication, malware detection) using the same underlying infrastructure, reducing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of assessment from qualitative security evaluations to quantitative security scores. By converting various security test results into standardized numerical scores, the system simplifies complexity while maintaining measurement precision.
3Measurement precision
If detailed security test results are collected from all computing devices, then accurate security scoring is achieved, but data processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential security-relevant data from comprehensive device information. The assessment engine selectively collects and processes only those properties that directly impact security scoring, filtering out unnecessary data to reduce processing requirements while maintaining accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements partial action by not processing all possible device data, but only the critical security-related subset. This approach achieves sufficient measurement precision without the excessive data processing burden of analyzing every device parameter.
Data Source
AI summary
A network security assessment engine can assess security on a remote computer network. Agent programs on computing devices on the remote network can execute security tests. The network security assessment engine receives security test results produced by the security tests. The network security assessment engine can determine security test scores based, at least in part, on the security test results. The network security assessment engine can determine an overall network security score based, at least in part, on the security test scores and present the overall network security score. As an example, a network services provider can utilize the network security assessment engine to provide an adaptive, expressive scoring mechanism, allowing the network services provided to more efficiently digest, assess, and report network anomalies within a multitenant context.