IP Library Granted Patent US 12,355,725
Granted Patent B2
US 12,355,725 · App. 18/640,567 · Granted Jul 8, 2025

Systems and methods for blocking spoofed traffic

Inventor: Brent W. Smith (Arvada, CO)
Assignee: Level 3 Communications, LLC
H04L63/0236H04L12/66H04L45/72H04L45/748H04L61/5007H04L63/0263H04L63/1416H04L63/1466H04L69/325H04L45/04
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,355,725
App. No.
18/640,567
Granted
Jul 8, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

Systems and methods for blocking spoofed traffic within communications networks include obtaining, at a computing system, routing information for an autonomous system of a communications network, the routing information identifying Internet Protocol (IP) addresses associated with the autonomous system. In response to receiving the routing information, the computing system generates a prefix list based on the routing information, the prefix list including one or more prefixes encompassing the IP addresses identified by the routing information. The computing system then transmits instructions to a network device of the communications network configured to cause the network device to update a filter function of the network device based on the prefix list such that the network device permits network traffic that originates from IP addresses within the prefixes of the prefix list.

Claims (38)

1. A method for blocking spoofed traffic within communications networks, the method comprising:

obtaining, at a computing system, routing information for an autonomous system of a communications network, the routing information identifying Internet Protocol (IP) addresses associated with the autonomous system;

in response to receiving the routing information, generating, at the computing system, a prefix list based on the routing information, the prefix list including one or more prefixes encompassing the IP addresses identified by the routing information; and

transmitting, from the computing system to a network device of the communications network, instructions configured to cause the network device to update an interface filter of the network device based on the prefix list such that the network device permits network traffic that originates from IP addresses within the one or more prefixes of the prefix list and blocks network traffic that originates from IP addresses not within the one or more prefixes of the prefix list from a second network.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the routing information includes at least one of Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing information and Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) routing information announced by the autonomous system.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the prefix list comprises extracting and aggregating prefixes included in the routing information.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are first instructions, the method further comprising:

obtaining a source address at the computing system, the source address associated with a source of traffic to be blocked within the communications network; and

transmitting second instructions from the computing system to the network device, the second instructions configured to cause the network device to update the filter function such that the network device blocks traffic that originates from the source address.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining the routing information comprises retrieving the routing information from a route registry, the route registry storing routing information provided to the route registry by a computing device associated with the autonomous system.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the network device is a first network device and the instructions are first instructions, the method further comprising:

transmitting, from the computing system to a second network device, second instructions configured to cause the second network device to update a filter function of the second network device based on the prefix list such that the second network device permits network traffic that originates from IP addresses within the one or more prefixes of the prefix list.

7. A system for use in blocking spoofed traffic within communications networks, the system comprising:

a computing system comprising at least one processor and a memory, the memory comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:

obtain routing information for an autonomous system of a communications network, the routing information identifying Internet Protocol (IP) addresses associated with the autonomous system;

in response to receiving the routing information, generate a prefix list based on the routing information, the prefix list including one or more prefixes encompassing the IP addresses identified by the routing information; and

transmit, to a network device of the communications network, first instructions configured to cause the network device to update an interface filter of the network device based on the prefix list such that the network device permits network traffic that originates from IP addresses within the one or more prefixes of the prefix list and blocks network traffic that originates from IP addresses not within the one or more prefixes of the prefix list from a second network.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the routing information includes at least one of Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing information and Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) routing information.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the instructions further cause the at least one processor to:

obtain a source address associated with a source of traffic to be blocked; and

transmit second instructions to the network device, the second instructions configured to cause the network device to update the filter function such that the network device blocks traffic that originates from the source address.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the instructions further cause the at least one processor to obtain the routing information by retrieving the routing information from a route registry, the route registry storing routing information provided to the route registry by a computing device associated with the autonomous system.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein the network device is a first network device and the instructions further cause the processor to:

transmit second instruction to a second network device within the communications network, the second instructions configured to cause the second network device to update a filter function of the second network device based on the prefix list such that the second network device permits network traffic that does originates from IP addresses within the one or more prefixes of the prefix list.

12. The system of claim 7 , wherein the instructions cause the at least one processor to generate the prefix list by extracting and aggregating prefixes included in the routing information.

13. A method for blocking spoofed traffic within communications networks, the method comprising:

generating, at a computing system, a prefix list from routing information associated with an autonomous system of a communications network, the prefix list including a plurality of prefixes encompassing trusted addresses within the autonomous system; and

distributing the plurality of prefixes from the computing system to an interface filter within the communications network, the distributing for implementation of a filter rule at the filter device, the filter rule permitting network traffic originating from addresses within the plurality of prefixes and blocking network traffic that originates from IP addresses not within the plurality of prefixes from a second network.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the routing information includes at least one of Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) routing information and Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) routing information for the autonomous system.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein distributing the portion of the prefix list comprises transmitting instructions from the computing system to the filter device, the instructions to cause the filter device to update the filter rule to permit network traffic originating from addresses within the plurality of prefixes.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein distributing the portion of the prefix list comprises:

receiving, at the computing system, a request for the prefix list from at least one of the filter device and a computing device associated with the filter device; and

providing the plurality of prefixes from the computing system to the at least one of the filter device and the computing device.

17. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

generating, at the computing system, an address blacklist including a blocked address corresponding to a source from which traffic is to be blocked; and

distributing the address blacklist, from the computing system to the filter device, the distributing of the address blacklist for implementing a second filter rule at the filter device, the second filter rule to block network traffic originating from addresses on the blacklist including the blocked address.

18. The method of claim 13 further comprising distributing the plurality of prefixes from the computing system to a second filter device within the communications network, the distributing to the second filter device for implementation of a second filter rule at the second filter device, the second filter rule permitting network traffic originating from addresses encompassed by the plurality of prefixes.

19. The method of claim 13 further comprising obtaining the routing information from a route registry containing routing information provided by a computing device associated with the autonomous system during a route registration process.

Assignments (3)
NOTICE OF GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST IN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (SECOND LIEN) Recorded Nov 4, 2024
From: LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC; GLOBAL CROSSING TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC
To: WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 069295/0749 →
NOTICE OF GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST IN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY (FIRST LIEN) Recorded Nov 4, 2024
From: LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC; GLOBAL CROSSING TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC.
To: WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 069295/0858 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Apr 20, 2024
From: SMITH, BRENT W.
To: LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS, LLC
Reel/Frame 067173/0625 →