Threat Visualization and Automated Policy Deployment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current network security management systems require manual, labor-intensive processes for configuring policies to mitigate cyber threats, which are inefficient and inadequate in responding to the increasing sophistication of cyberattacks.
Innovation Solution
An integrated security management system that provides centralized threat visualization and automated control of security devices, featuring a sophisticated user interface and visualization engine for real-time threat visualization, a threat data aggregator, and a threat control module that automatically constructs and deploys security policies across the network.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual configuration processes are used to respond to cyber threats, then administrators can configure security policies, but the process is labor-intensive and inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically generates security policies and configures security devices without requiring manual administrator intervention. The automated policy generation module creates policies based on aggregated threat data, and the system self-configures devices through programmatic interfaces, eliminating the labor-intensive manual configuration process while maintaining security policy effectiveness
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by proactively monitoring threats, aggregating data from multiple sources, and pre-generating security policies before attacks occur. This advance preparation enables rapid automated response when threats are detected, improving productivity without requiring manual intervention during critical response moments
2Loss of information
If centralized threat visualization is implemented, then administrators can see aggregated threats from multiple devices, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The centralized management system acts as an intermediary between distributed security devices and administrators. It aggregates threat data from multiple devices through standardized interfaces, processes the information centrally, and presents unified visualizations to administrators. This intermediary approach consolidates information without requiring administrators to directly manage the complexity of individual devices
Solution Approach 2:
The centralized management system performs multiple functions including threat data aggregation from diverse device types, automated policy generation, device configuration, and visual threat presentation. This multi-functional approach consolidates what would otherwise require separate systems into a single unified platform, managing complexity through functional integration rather than proliferation of components
3Productivity
If automated policy construction is used, then security policies are deployed quickly, but automation extent increases system complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces manual mechanical configuration processes with automated computational mechanisms. The automated policy generation module uses algorithms to construct security policies based on aggregated threat data, and programmatic interfaces automatically deploy configurations to devices. This substitution of manual operations with automated systems achieves rapid policy deployment while the complexity is managed through software rather than human processes
Data Source
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AI summary
Techniques are described for taking direct actions, such as selectively blocking or allowing traffic and applications, while monitoring events from a graphical representation of threats. As such, the administrator in an enterprise interacts with the graphical representation of threats rendered by the security management system to automatically invoke a policy/rule module of the security management system to configure and update security policies for the security devices deployed throughout the computer networks of the enterprise. An administrator may, for example, interact with the representation of threats rendered by the threat control module based on the data aggregated from the distributed security devices and, responsive to the interaction, the security management system may identify a relevant set of the security devices, automatically construct security policies having ordered rules within the policies for the identified set of security devices, and automatically communicate and install the policies in the identified set of security devices.