IP Library › Granted Patent US 11,496,440
Granted Patent B2
US 11,496,440 · App. 16/403,881 · Granted Nov 8, 2022

Systems, methods, and media for intelligent split-tunneling

Inventors: Tirumaleswar Reddy Konda (Bengaluru, IN); Harsha R. Joshi (Bengaluru, IN); Eric Wuehler (Beaverton, OR); Shashank Jain (Bangalore, IN)
Assignee: McAfee, LLC
H04L61/2592H04L12/4633H04L12/4641H04L29/06836H04L61/1511H04L61/1576H04L63/029H04L63/0272H04L63/0414H04L63/0876H04L63/102H04L63/126H04L63/166H04L63/20H04L67/146H04L67/147H04L67/12
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,496,440
App. No.
16/403,881
Granted
Nov 8, 2022
Kind
B2
Abstract

Mechanisms for split tunneling are provided. The mechanisms identify user devices and determine that communications for a first device of the user devices are to be tunneled. These mechanisms also receive a DNS request from a second device of the user devices, modify the DNS request to request meta information corresponding to a domain identified in the DNS request, and send the DNS request to a DNS server. The mechanisms further receive a response to the DNS request, wherein the response includes the meta information, determine that communications for the second device are not to be tunneled based at least in part on the meta information, and cause the communications for the first device to be tunneled and the communications for the second device to not be tunneled.

Claims (46)

1. A system for split tunneling comprising:

a memory; and

a hardware processor coupled to the memory and configured to:

identify a plurality of user devices;

determine that communications for a first device of the plurality of user devices are to be tunneled;

receive a DNS request from a second device of the plurality of user devices;

modify the DNS request to request meta information corresponding to a domain identified in the DNS request;

send the DNS request to a DNS server;

receive a response to the DNS request, wherein the response includes the meta information;

determine that communications for the second device are not to be tunneled based at least in part on the meta information; and

cause the communications for the first device to be tunneled and the communications for the second device to not be tunneled.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the determining that communications for the second device are not to be tunneled is based at least in part on the meta information and a privacy protection policy for the second device.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the determining that communications for the second device are not to be tunneled is based at least in part on the meta information and whether a TLS ClientHello message is detected in the communications for the second device.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the hardware processor is also configured to provide a VPN client that performs tunneling of the communications for the first device.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the meta information includes a category of the domain.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the meta information includes a version of TLS being used by the domain.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the meta information indicates whether other domains have an Internet Protocol (IP) address matching an IP address of the domain.

8. A method for split tunneling comprising:

identifying a plurality of user devices using a hardware processor;

determining that communications for a first device of the plurality of user devices are to be tunneled using the hardware processor;

receiving a DNS request from a second device of the plurality of user devices using the hardware processor;

modifying the DNS request to request meta information corresponding to a domain identified in the DNS request using the hardware processor;

sending the DNS request to a DNS server using the hardware processor;

receiving a response to the DNS request, wherein the response includes the meta information using the hardware processor;

determining that communications for the second device are not to be tunneled based at least in part on the meta information using the hardware processor; and

causing the communications for the first device to be tunneled and the communications for the second device to not be tunneled using the hardware processor.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the determining that communications for the second device are not to be tunneled is based at least in part on the meta information and a privacy protection policy for the second device.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the determining that communications for the second device are not to be tunneled is based at least in part on the meta information and whether a TLS ClientHello message is detected in the communications for the second device.

11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising providing a VPN client that performs tunneling of the communications for the first device.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein the meta information includes a category of the domain.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the meta information includes a version of TLS being used by the domain.

14. The method of claim 8 , wherein the meta information indicates whether other domains have an Internet Protocol (IP) address matching an IP address of the domain.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing computer executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method for split tunneling, the method comprising:

identifying a plurality of user devices;

determining that communications for a first device of the plurality of user devices are to be tunneled;

receiving a DNS request from a second device of the plurality of user devices;

modifying the DNS request to request meta information corresponding to a domain identified in the DNS request;

sending the DNS request to a DNS server;

receiving a response to the DNS request, wherein the response includes the meta information;

determining that communications for the second device are not to be tunneled based at least in part on the meta information; and

causing the communications for the first device to be tunneled and the communications for the second device to not be tunneled.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the determining that communications for the second device are not to be tunneled is based at least in part on the meta information and a privacy protection policy for the second device.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the determining that communications for the second device are not to be tunneled is based at least in part on the meta information and whether a TLS ClientHello message is detected in the communications for the second device.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the method further comprises providing a VPN client that performs tunneling of the communications for the first device.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the meta information includes a category of the domain.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the meta information includes a version of TLS being used by the domain.

Assignments (3)
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE THE PATENT TITLES AND REMOVE DUPLICATES IN THE SCHEDULE PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL: 059354 FRAME: 0335. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE ASSIGNMENT. Recorded Jun 23, 2022
From: MCAFEE, LLC
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 060792/0307 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 3, 2022
From: MCAFEE, LLC
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT AND COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 059354/0335 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 8, 2019
From: KONDA, TIRUMALESWAR REDDY; JOSHI, HARSHA R.; WUEHLER, ERIC; JAIN, SHASHANK
To: MCAFEE, LLC
Reel/Frame 050652/0357 →
Priority Claims (1)
IN 201941011245 · Mar 22, 2019 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20200304459A1 · Sep 24, 2020