VoIP Spam Detection via Centralized Security Attributes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony lack effective methods to filter out spam calls (SPIT) across different trust domains without requiring peer-to-peer trust relationships or exchanging confidential user information.
Innovation Solution
A central trusted authority, referred to as an 'anchor,' computes and attaches security attributes to call signaling, allowing end-users or aggregating organizations to filter calls based on these attributes without needing specific information about the originating user or domain, using protocols like Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML).
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a central trusted authority computes and attaches security attributes to call signaling, then spam call filtering effectiveness is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a central trusted authority (CTA) as an intermediary between calling and called parties. The CTA computes security attributes (SA) and attaches them to SIP signaling messages, enabling filtering without requiring direct trust relationships between endpoints. This mediator approach resolves the contradiction by centralizing the complex security computation while maintaining simple filtering logic at edge devices.
2Measurement precision
If security attributes are attached to call signaling for spam detection, then spam detection precision is improved, but information processing overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts essential security information into standardized security attributes (SA) that are attached to SIP signaling. Instead of processing all call signaling information, the system focuses on specific extracted attributes (e.g., trust scores, authentication results) that directly indicate spam likelihood. This extraction approach improves detection precision while minimizing processing overhead by dealing only with critical attributes.
3Reliability
If multiple trust relationships are established between islands for spam filtering, then filtering reliability is improved, but device complexity and trust management burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple distributed trust relationships into a single centralized trust authority. Instead of each island maintaining separate trust relationships with every other island, all trust verification is consolidated at the CTA. The CTA computes security attributes based on aggregated trust information from multiple sources, enabling reliable filtering across islands without requiring complex peer-to-peer trust management at each endpoint.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method for packet telephony includes receiving over a packet communication network (22) a first message originating from a first end-user (32A) in a first aggregating organization (28) to place a call to a second end-user (32D) in a second aggregating organization (30). Responsively to the first message, respective values are assigned to one or more security attributes that are indicative of a likelihood that the call is a spam call. A second message is transmitted over the packet communication network toward the second end-user, the second message containing at least one of the respective values that was assigned to at least one of the security attributes.