Application Traffic Analyzer for Remote Profiling Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Malicious actors can exploit network-enabled applications by profiling their behavior, which existing security measures fail to detect proactively, allowing potential vulnerabilities to be identified and exploited.
Innovation Solution
Implementing an application traffic analyzer that compares incoming network requests to a communications profile associated with the application, identifying deviations from the expected API to differentiate between legitimate clients and attackers, and taking defensive actions such as blocking IP addresses to prevent further profiling and potential attacks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If existing security measures are used to protect network applications, then basic security is maintained, but malicious profiling activity cannot be detected proactively
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by establishing a communications profile of legitimate traffic patterns before actual attacks occur. This proactive approach enables the detection of deviations that indicate malicious profiling activity, allowing security measures to be triggered before vulnerabilities are exploited.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary detection layer that monitors and analyzes network traffic between legitimate clients and the application. This intermediary system compares incoming requests against the established communications profile to identify suspicious profiling behavior without interfering with legitimate operations.
2Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If network traffic monitoring is implemented to detect profiling, then security detection capability is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system monitors changes in traffic parameters by comparing incoming requests against the established communications profile. Instead of implementing complex new monitoring infrastructure, the solution focuses on detecting parameter deviations in existing traffic flows, such as unusual request patterns, frequencies, or content that differ from legitimate usage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a copy or model of legitimate communications patterns through the communications profile. This profile serves as a reference template that simplifies detection by allowing direct comparison of incoming traffic against the established pattern, rather than requiring complex analysis of each individual request.
3Reliability
If proactive detection of profiling is implemented, then security is enhanced, but false positives may increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different levels of scrutiny to different types of traffic based on the communications profile. Legitimate traffic patterns match the profile and are allowed to pass through with minimal interference, while deviations that indicate profiling activity trigger detection and blocking mechanisms. This localized approach ensures that only suspicious traffic is affected.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms where detection results inform subsequent security decisions. When profiling activity is detected, the system can adjust its response based on the confidence level and nature of the deviation, allowing for graduated responses that reduce false positives while maintaining security effectiveness.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, methods, and software can be used to detect remote application profiling. In some aspects, one computer-implemented method includes receiving, over a network, a request from a network client directed to a particular application executed by an application server; determining whether the received request deviates from a communications profile associated with the particular application; in response to determining that the received request deviates from the communications profile, identifying the network client as an attacker; and in response to identifying the network client as an attacker, performing a defensive response with respect to the network client.