Autonomous management of temporal updates and rollbacks

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11662993-B2
Application number	US-202117323216-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 18, 2021
Priority date	May 18, 2021
Publication date	May 30, 2023
Grant date	May 30, 2023

Abstract

A processor may load one or more potential updates to a trusted source from an identified trusted source. The processor may determine acceptable update windows. The processor may apply at least one of the one or more potential updates to the computing device. The processor may identify if a steady state has been reached. The processor may determine whether the at least one update has succeeded.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computing device, comprising:
a memory; and
a processor that when executing instructions stored in the memory is configured to:
load one or more potential updates to a trusted source from an identified trusted source;
identify an acceptable window for an update of the computing device;
apply at least one potential update, of the one or more potential updates, to the computing device during the window to update the computing device;
analyze changes in a response of the computing device during a period from before a change resulting from the update to after the update;
compare an expected change in a response of the computing device to actual changes based on the analysis; and
identify whether the update is successful based on a determination of whether the computing device is operating at a steady state,
wherein, if the actual changes are less than a threshold variance identified based on the comparison, then the update is determined to be operating at the steady state, and
wherein if the update is determined to be unsuccessful, then the processor is further configured to:
identify whether the update was backed out based on a threshold value determined using a cognitive analysis of historical updates.

2. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the identified trusted source is a blockchain loaded from a trusted update source.

3. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein, when the processor is configured to identify the window, the processor is further configured to:
identify the window based on a cognitive analysis of historical updates.

4. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to:
log the update in a blockchain.

5. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to:
identify that the update needs to backout based on the threshold variance;
identify a last steady state; and
revert to a backout.

6. A method, comprising:
loading, by a computer device, one or more potential updates to a trusted source from an identified trusted source;
identifying, by the computer device, an acceptable window for an update of the computing device;
applying, by the computer device, at least one potential update, of the one or more potential updates, to the computer device during the window to update the computer device;
analyzing, by the computer device, changes in a response of the computing device during a period from before a change resulting from the update to after the update;
comparing, by the computer device, an expected change in a response of the computing device to actual changes based on the analysis; and
identifying, by the computer device, whether the update is successful based on a determining of whether the computing device is operating at a steady state,
wherein, if the actual changes are less than a threshold variance identified based on the comparison, then the update is determined to be operating at the steady state, and
wherein if the update is determined to be unsuccessful, then the method further comprises:
identifying, by the computer device, whether the update was backed out based on a threshold value determined using a cognitive analysis of historical updates.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the identified trusted source is a blockchain loaded from a trusted update source.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the identifying the window further comprises:
identifying the window based on a cognitive analysis of historical updates.

9. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
logging the update in a blockchain.

10. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:
identifying that the update needs to backout based on the threshold variance.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
identifying a last steady state; and
reverting to a backout.

12. A non-transitory computer readable medium storage storing instructions that when executed by a processor to cause the processor to perform:
loading one or more potential updates to a trusted source from an identified trusted source;
identifying an acceptable window for an update of the computing device;
applying at least one potential update, of the one or more potential updates, to the computing device during the window to update the computing device;
analyzing changes in a response of the computing device during a period from before a change resulting from the update to after the update;
comparing an expected change in a response of the computing device to actual changes based on the analysis; and
identifying whether the update is successful based on a determining of whether the computing device is operating at a steady state,
wherein, if the actual changes are less than a threshold variance identified based on the comparison, then the update is determined to be operating at the steady state, and
wherein if the update is determined to be unsuccessful, then the instructions further cause the processor to perform:
identifying whether the update was backed out based on a threshold value determined using a cognitive analysis of historical updates.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the identified trusted source is a blockchain loaded from a trusted update source.

Assignees

• Kyndryl Inc

Inventors

• Childress Rhonda L
• Keen Martin G
• Fox Jeremy R
• Bender Michael

Classifications

• G06F8/65 Primary

  Updates (security arrangements therefor G06F21/57) · CPC title

• H04L9/0618

  Block ciphers, i.e. encrypting groups of characters of a plain text message using fixed encryption transformation · CPC title

• H04L9/0891

  Revocation or update of secret information, e.g. encryption key update or rekeying · CPC title

• H04L9/50

  using hash chains, e.g. blockchains or hash trees · CPC title

• G06F21/57

  Certifying or maintaining trusted computer platforms, e.g. secure boots or power-downs, version controls, system software checks, secure updates or assessing vulnerabilities · CPC title