Granted Patent B2

US 9,231,976 · App. 13/976,303 · Granted Jan 5, 2016

Abstract

Claims (108)

1. At least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium that includes code for execution for managing network data, and when executed by at least one processor is operable to:

perform a number of actions on the network data to identify network information about the network data, wherein the network data is to be forwarded to a next network device en route to a destination device after the number of actions are performed;

determine whether the next network device is one of a group of network devices operable to perform at least a number of other actions on the network data; and

responsive to a determination that the next network device is one of the group of network devices:

generate a metadata tag with a number of fields to include data indicating the network information, wherein at least one of the fields is included in the metadata tag based on a type of information used by the next network device;

generate an identifier for the network data;

encrypt the metadata tag using an encryption key and the identifier for the network data;

associate the metadata tag with the network data; and

transmit the network data with the metadata tag to the next network device.

2. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the code when executed by the at least one processor is operable to;

receive the network data with an initial metadata tag; and

identify initial network information from the initial metadata tag.

3. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 2 , wherein the code when executed by the at least one processor is operable to:

perform the number of actions on the network data based on the initial network information to identify the network information.

4. The at least one non-transitory computer readable rage medium of claim 2 , wherein the code when executed by the at least one processor is operable to:

responsive to a determination that the next network device for the network data is not within the group of network devices, remove the initial metadata tag; and

transmit the network data without the metadata tag.

5. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 2 , wherein the code when executed by the at least one processor is operable to:

determine whether the initial metadata tag is encrypted;

responsive to a determination that the initial metadata tag encrypted decrypt the initial metadata tag; and

encrypt the metadata tag prior to transmitting the network data and the metadata tag.

6. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the number of actions is selected from a group consisting of:

a) a virus scan;

b) a protocol flow analysis;

c) a host identification;

d) sharing private data; and

e) an intrusion protection scan.

7. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the network information is selected from a group consisting of:

a) protocol flow information;

b) a security risk analysis;

c) an identification of a blocked source address;

d) an antivirus scan result; and

e) an intrusion protection scan result.

8. An apparatus for managing network data, comprising:

a first network device including at least one hardware processor;

an analysis module coupled to the first network device, wherein the analysis module, when running on the at least one hardware processor, is to perform a number of actions on the network data to identify network information about the network data, wherein the network data is to be forwarded to a second network device en route to a destination device after the number of actions are performed; and

a tag module coupled to the network device and the analysis module, wherein the tag module, when running on the at least one hardware processor, is to determine whether the second network device is one of a group of network devices operable to perform at least a number of other actions on the network data; and responsive to a determination that the second network device is one of the group of network devices:

generate a metadata tag with a number of fields to include data indicating the network information, wherein at least one of the fields is included in the metadata tag based on a type of information used by the next network device;

generate an identifier for the network data;

encrypt the metadata tag using an encryption key and the identifier for the network data;

associate the metadata tag with the network data; and

transmit the network data with the metadata tag to the second network device.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the network device is further configured to:

receive the network data with an initial metadata tag; and

identify initial network information from the initial metadata tag.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the analysis module is further configured to:

perform the number of actions on the network data based on the initial network information to identify the network information.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the tag module is further configured to:

responsive to a determination that the second network device for the network data is not within the group of network devices, remove the initial metadata tag; and wherein the first network device is further configured to:

transmit the network data without the metadata tag.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the tag module is further configured to:

determine whether the initial metadata tag is encrypted;

responsive to a determination that the initial metadata tag is encrypted, decrypt the initial metadata tag; and

encrypt the metadata tag prior to transmitting the network data and the metadata tag.

13. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the number of actions is selected from a group consisting of:

a) a virus scan;

b) a protocol flow analysis;

c) a host identification;

d) sharing private data; and

e) an intrusion protection scan.

14. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the network information is selected from a group consisting of:

a) protocol flow information;

b) a security risk analysis;

c) an identification of a blocked source address;

d) an antivirus scan result; and

e) an intrusion protection scan result.

15. A method for managing network data, comprising:

receiving the network data at a network device;

performing a number of actions on the network data to identify network information about the network data, wherein the network data is to be forwarded to a next network device en route to a destination device after the number of actions are performed;

determining whether the next network device is one of a group of network devices operable to perform at least a number of other actions on the network data; and

responsive to a determination that the next network device is one of the group of network devices:

generating, by a hardware processor of the network device, a metadata tag with a number of fields to include data indicating the network information, wherein at least one of the fields is included in the metadata tag based on a type of information used by the next network device;

generating an identifier for the network data;

encrypting the metadata tag using an encryption key and the identifier for the network data;

associating the metadata tag with the network data; and

transmitting the network data with the metadata tag to the next network device.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein receiving the network data comprises:

receiving the network data with an initial metadata tag; and

identifying initial network information from the initial metadata tag.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the performing the number of actions on the network is based on the initial network information to identify the network information.

18. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

responsive to a determination that the next network device for the network data is not within the group of network devices, removing the initial metadata tag; and

transmitting the network data without the metadata tag.

19. An apparatus for managing network data, comprising:

a memory element comprising instructions;

a first network device including at least one hardware processor that, when executing the instructions is to:

receive the network data with an initial metadata tag;

determine whether the initial metadata tag is encrypted;

responsive to a determination that the initial metadata tag is encrypted, decrypt the initial metadata tag to generate a decrypted initial metadata tag; and

identify initial network information from the decrypted initial metadata tag;

an analysis module coupled to the first network device, wherein the analysis module is configured to perform a number of actions on the network data based, at least in part, on the initial network information to identify other network information, wherein the network data is to be forwarded to a second network device after the number of actions are performed; and

a tag module coupled to the first network device and the analysis module, wherein the tag module is configured to: determine whether the second network device is one of a group of network devices operable to perform at least a number of other actions on the network data; and responsive to a determination that the second network device is not one of the group of network devices:

remove the initial metadata tag; and

transmit the network data without the initial metadata tag to the second network device.

20. At least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium that includes code for execution for managing network data, and when executed by at least one processor is operable to:

receive the network data with an initial metadata tag;

determine whether the initial metadata tag is encrypted;

responsive to a determination that the initial metadata tag is encrypted, decrypt the initial metadata tag to generate a decrypted initial metadata tag;

identify initial network information from the decrypted initial metadata tag;

perform a number of actions on the network data based, at least in part, on the initial network information to identify other network information, wherein the network data is to be forwarded to a next network device after the number of actions are performed;

determine whether the next network device is one of a group of network devices operable to perform at least a number of other actions on the network data; and

responsive to a determination that the next network device is not one of the group of network devices:

remove the initial metadata tag; and

transmit the network data without the initial metadata tag to the next network device.

21. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 20 , wherein at least one of the group of network devices is implemented as a virtual machine in a virtual environment.

22. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the group of network devices is implemented as a virtual machine in a virtual environment.

23. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the data in the metadata tag is to be used by the next network device to identify one or more actions not to be performed on the transmitted network data.

24. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein at least one of the group of network devices is implemented as a virtual machine in a virtual environment.

Assignments (9)