IP Library Granted Patent US 11,516,232
Granted Patent B1
US 11,516,232 · App. 17/491,989 · Granted Nov 29, 2022

Attack surface identification

Inventors: Jason Emile Sumpter (Abingdon, MD); James Christopher Foster (Baltimore, MD); Michael Morgan Price (Baltimore, MD)
Assignee: ZeroFOX, Inc.
H04L63/1416G06F16/9566H04L63/20
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,516,232
App. No.
17/491,989
Granted
Nov 29, 2022
Kind
B1
Abstract

Systems and methods are provided to generate an attack surface for a protected entity. The method an include receiving identifying information associated with the protected entity; scanning one or more third parties to identify a host associated with the protected entity; determining that the host resolves to a webpage; resolving the webpage; extracting a uniform resource locator (URL) from the resolved webpage; determining, based on at least one rule, that the URL is associated with the protected entity; and generating the attack surface for the protected entity, the attack surface comprising the URL.

Claims (72)

1. A method for generating an attack surface for a protected entity comprising:

receiving identifying information associated with the protected entity;

scanning one or more third parties to identify a host associated with the protected entity;

determining that the host resolves to a webpage;

resolving the webpage;

extracting a uniform resource locator (URL) from the resolved webpage;

determining, based on at least one rule, that the URL is associated with the protected entity by determining that the URL is associated with at least one social network;

generating the attack surface for the protected entity, the attack surface comprising the URL;

identifying an identity associated with the at least one social network;

comparing the identity to an employee list associated with the protected entity;

determining that the identity is an employee of the protected entity; and

modifying the attack surface for the protected entity to include at least one social media account associated with the identity.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein extracting the URL comprises crawling the resolved webpage.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein extracting the URL comprises scraping the resolved webpage.

4. The method of claim 1 comprising:

determining that a social media account from the URL is associated with the protected entity; and

modifying the attack surface for the protected entity to include the social media account.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining, based on the at least one rule, that the URL is associated with the protected entity comprises determining that the URL is associated with GitHub.

6. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon for execution by a server to implement a method for generating an attack surface for a protected entity, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving identifying information associated with the protected entity;

scanning one or more third parties to identify a host associated with the protected entity;

determining that the host resolves to a webpage;

resolving the webpage;

extracting a uniform resource locators (URLs) from the resolved webpage;

determining, based on at least one rule, that the URL is associated with the protected entity by determining that the URL is associated with at least one social network;

generating the attack surface for the protected entity, the attack surface comprising the URL;

identifying an identity associated with the at least one social network;

comparing the identity to an employee list associated with the protected entity;

determining that the identity is an employee of the protected entity; and

modifying the attack surface for the protected entity to include at least one social media account associated with the identity.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6 , wherein extracting the URL comprises crawling the resolved webpage.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6 , wherein extracting the URL comprises scraping the resolved webpage.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6 ,

wherein the method further comprises:

determining that a social media account from the URL is associated with the protected entity; and

modifying the attack surface for the protected entity to include the social media account.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6 , wherein

determining, based on the at least one rule, that the URL is associated with the protected entity comprises determining that the URL is associated with GitHub.

11. A method for generating an attack surface for a protected entity comprising:

receiving identifying information associated with the protected entity;

scanning a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP);

identifying, as a result of the scanning, at least one Autonomous System (AS) associated with the protected entity;

analyzing the at least one AS to identify one or more Internet Protocol (IP) prefixes and a first set of IP addresses associated with the protected entity;

obtaining owner information for the one or more IP addresses;

performing a lookup to identify at least one domain name associated with the owner information; and

generating the attack surface for the protected entity, the attack surface comprising the first set of IP addresses and the at least one domain name.

12. The method of claim 11 comprising:

performing, via a security service, a pivot on the at least one domain name to identify at least one of a subdomain and a second set of IP addresses; and

modifying the attack surface for the protected entity to comprise the at least one of the subdomain and the second set of IP addresses.

13. The method of claim 11 comprising evaluating at least one of the at least one domain name and the first set of IP addresses to confirm association with the protected entity.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein evaluating an IP address of the first set of IP addresses comprises:

obtaining Whois information for the IP address; and

comparing the Whois to the identifying information associated with the protected entity.

15. The method of claim 11 comprising receiving, from an analyst device, information confirming association of with the protected entity.

16. A method for managing an attack surface for a protected entity comprising:

receiving identifying information associated with the protected entity from a client device;

receiving physical asset information for one or more physical assets associated with the protected entity from the client device;

scanning one or more networks to discover one or more network assets associated with the protected entity;

scanning one or more networks to discover one or more personnel-based assets associated with the protected entity;

generating the attack surface for the protected entity, the attack surface comprising the one or more physical assets, the one or more network assets, and the one or more personnel-based assets; and

causing an asset report to be display on the client device, the asset report comprising a selectable visualization of the one or more physical assets, the one or more network assets, and the one or more personnel-based assets.

17. The method of claim 16 comprising:

receiving a selection of one of a physical asset, a network asset, or a personnel-based asset; and

in response to the selection, causing information on the selected asset to be displayed on the client device.

18. The method of claim 16 comprising:

receiving a selection of a download selector; and

causing the selectable visualization to be downloaded onto the client device.

19. The method of claim 16 further comprising causing a list of the one or more physical assets, the one or more network assets, and the one or more personnel-based assets to be displayed, wherein each entry comprises an associated status indicator.

20. The method of claim 16 comprising:

causing a risk level to be displayed on the client device for at least one of the one or more network assets, the one or more physical assets, or the one or more personnel-based assets; and

causing an overall risk level for the protected entity to be displayed on the client device.

21. The method of claim 16 comprising causing an asset breakdown diagram to be displayed on the client device, the asset breakdown diagram illustrating proportions of assets that fall within one or more asset classes.

Assignments (4)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 16, 2024
From: STIFEL BANK
To: ZEROFOX, INC.
Reel/Frame 067429/0328 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 13, 2024
From: ZEROFOX, INC.; LOOKINGGLASS CYBER SOLUTIONS, LLC; IDENTITY THEFT GUARD SOLUTIONS, INC.
To: MONROE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT ADVISORS, LLC
Reel/Frame 067396/0304 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 16, 2023
From: ZEROFOX, INC.
To: STIFEL BANK
Reel/Frame 063976/0113 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 4, 2021
From: SUMPTER, JASON EMILE; FOSTER, JAMES CHRISTOPHER; PRICE, MICHAEL MORGAN
To: ZEROFOX, INC.
Reel/Frame 057685/0502 →
Cited By (3)
US 12,348,547 US 12,470,596 US 12,506,729