Behavioral profiling of service access using intent to access in discovery protocols

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

correlating a network address of a user to a domain name in a domain name system of a computing network, based at least in part on a service log;

identifying a user group based at least in part on the domain name;

generating a watch list of servers from the user group that control access to a new resource from the user, based at least in part on the domain name;

establishing a baseline behaviour for a client device based at least in part on a first access and a last access to at least one server in the watch list of servers during a time to live period associated with the user group;

when the service log includes a true network address, adding the true network address and a correlated domain name to the baseline behaviour;

retrieving a timestamp of an access by the client device to the network address; and

flagging, as a violation, the access by the client device to the network address in response to the access being outside of a legitimate window around the baseline behaviour.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein correlating a network address of a user to a domain name in a domain name system of a computer network comprises applying a machine learning algorithm to the service log to compare a sequence of text characters in the domain name to a sequence of digits in the network address.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising updating the user group based on a request-response packet captured by a packet processor at a tap point in the computer network.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising updating the watch list of servers by removing a domain name that is unresolved after a last access to at least one server in the computer network.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising filtering the watch list of servers to form a historical baseline of resources accessed by a user.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein establishing a baseline behaviour for the client device comprises establishing a window of the baseline behaviour based on a maximum and a minimum behaviour tolerance in the service log.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the time to live period associated with the user group is the time to live period for a most recent domain name resolution associated with the user group, and establishing a baseline behaviour comprises selecting the last access as the time to live period.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein establishing a baseline behaviour for the client device comprises updating the baseline behaviour.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein retrieving a timestamp of an access by the client device to the network address comprises inspecting a domain name system transaction to identify an entity accessing the new resource and a time of access.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein retrieving a timestamp of an access by the client device to the network address comprises identifying a time of access deviation from a timestamp of a network transaction to resolve the server by a user, based on a baseline for the user.

11. A system, comprising:

a memory storing instructions; and

one or more processors configured to execute the instructions to cause the system to:

correlate a network address of a user to a domain name in a domain name system of a computing network, based at least in part on a service log;

identify a user group based at least in part on the domain name;

generate a watch list of servers from the user group that control access to a new resource from the user, based at least in part on the domain name;

establish a baseline behaviour for a client device based at least in part on a first access and a last access to at least one server in the watch list of servers during a time to live period associated with the user group;

when the service log includes a true network address, add the true network address and a correlated domain name to the baseline behaviour;

retrieve a timestamp of an access by the client device to the network address; and

flag, as a violation, the access by the client device to the network address in response to the access being outside of a legitimate window around the baseline behaviour.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein to correlate a network address of a user to a domain name in a domain name system of a computer network the one or more processors are configured to apply a machine learning algorithm to the service log to compare a sequence of text characters in the domain name to a sequence of digits in the network address.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to update the user group based on a request-response packet captured by a packet processor at a tap point in the computer network.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein to establish a baseline behaviour for the client device the one or more processors are configured to establish a window of the baseline behaviour based on a maximum and a minimum behaviour tolerance in the service log.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein to establish a baseline behaviour for the client device the one or more processors are configured to update the baseline behaviour.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein to retrieve a timestamp of an access by the client device to the network address comprises identifying a time of access deviation from a timestamp of a network transaction to resolve the server by a user, based on a baseline for the user.

17. A non-transitory, computer readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause a computer to perform a method, the method comprising:

correlating a network address of a user to a domain name in a domain name system of a computing network, based at least in part on a service log;

identifying a user group based at least in part on the domain name;

generating a watch list of servers from the user group that control access to a new resource from the user, based at least in part on the domain name;

establishing a baseline behaviour for a client device based at least in part on a first access and a last access to at least one server in the watch list of servers during a time to live period associated with the user group;

when the service log includes a true network address, adding the true network address and a correlated domain name to the baseline behaviour;

retrieving a timestamp of an access by the client device to the network address; and

flagging, as a violation, the access by the client device to the network address in response to the access being outside of a legitimate window around the baseline behaviour.

18. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein, in the method, correlating a network address of a user to a domain name in a domain name system of a computer network comprises applying a machine learning algorithm to the service log to compare a sequence of text characters in the domain name to a sequence of digits in the network address.

19. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the method further comprises updating the user group based on a request-response packet captured by a packet processor at a tap point in the computer network.

20. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein, in the method, establishing a baseline behaviour for the client device comprises establishing a window of the baseline behaviour based on a maximum and a minimum behaviour tolerance in the service log.