Device security for cable threat actors

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12380255-B2
Application number	US-202218060131-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 30, 2022
Priority date	Nov 30, 2022
Publication date	Aug 5, 2025
Grant date	Aug 5, 2025

Abstract

A system and method for hardening security within a physical location. At least one cable in the physical location is monitored for errors. In response to detecting an error on the cable a cable fault analysis procedure is performed to determine the location of the fault on the cable. A probability that the fault is caused by a threat actor is calculated based upon the location of the fault on the cable. The probability can be calculated using mixture modules of known nonthreat locations using supervised learning approaches. At least one security protocol at the physical location is implemented in response to the location of the fault having a probability that the fault location is related to a threat actor exceeding a threshold value.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for hardening security within a data center, the method comprising:
monitoring a cable for errors;
detecting an error within the cable;
performing a cable fault analysis procedure to determine a location of a fault on the cable;
determining whether the location of the fault is within a high-risk area of the cable located between two connectors located at two ends of the cable and not inside the two connectors;
when the fault is within the high-risk area, calculating a probability that the fault is caused by a threat actor based upon the location of the fault on the cable being in the high-risk area; and
implementing at least one security measure in the data center in response to the probability exceeding a threshold value.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the calculating is performed using at least one Artificial Intelligence (AI) mixture module.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the at least one AI mixture module includes a mixture model for each cable type monitored at the data center.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the mixture model for each cable type monitored is built using supervised input from previous cable faults.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detected error is one selected from a group consisting of bit errors, correctable errors, a disconnected cable, a loss of signal, a loss of power, and an open circuit.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cable fault analysis procedure includes at least one selected from a group consisting of time domain reflectometer, arc reflection, and magnetic field detection.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the implementing at least one security measure implements the at least one security measure in response to the fault falling below a threshold clustering density.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
in response to the probability not exceeding the threshold value, generating an indication that the cable needs repair.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the implementing at least one security measure comprises implementing one or more measures selected from the group of:
transitioning a workload to another system at a different data center;
enabling a door lock on all other systems within the different data center; and
enacting a data backup routine at the different data center.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the implementing at least one security measure further comprises:
enacting an enhanced data encryption on a corresponding system associated with the fault.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the implementing at least one security measure further comprises:
shutting down a corresponding system associated with the fault.

12. A computer readable storage medium having computer executable instructions that when executed by at least one computing device to harden security at a data center, comprising instructions to:
monitor a cable for errors;
detect an error within the cable;
perform a cable fault analysis procedure to determine a location of a fault on the cable;
determine whether the location of the fault is within a high-risk area of the cable located between two connectors located at two ends of the cable and not inside the two connectors;
when the fault is within the high-risk area, calculate a probability that the fault is caused by a threat actor based upon the location of the fault on the cable; and
implement at least one security measure in the data center in response to the probability exceeding a threshold value.

13. The computer readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the calculate the probability of the fault is performed using at least one Artificial Intelligence (AI) mixture module.

14. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the at least one AI mixture module includes a mixture model for each cable type monitored at the data center.

15. The computer readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the mixture model for each cable type monitored is built using supervised input from previous cable faults.

16. The computer readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein the instructions to implement the at least one security measure implements the at least one security measure in response to the cable fault falling below a threshold clustering density.

17. The computer readable storage medium of claim 12 , further comprising instructions to:
in response to the probability not exceeding the threshold value, generate an indication that the cable needs repair.

18. A system for providing enhanced security at a data center, the system comprising:
a plurality of servers within the data center;
a plurality of cables connected to the plurality of servers;
a cable fault detector configured to detect a location of a fault on at least one cable of the plurality of cables;
a supervised mixture module builder configured to build a mixture module for each cable type of the plurality of cables by clustering failures that were not caused by a threat;
a cable fault analysis module analyzer configured to detect the location of the fault on the at least one cable;
a cable fault mixture module database configured to store a latest mixture module for each cable type; and
a threat actor security hardening module hardener configured to:
receive an indication of cable the fault on the at least one cable from the cable fault detector;
receive a location of the cable fault from the cable fault analysis module analyzer;
determine whether the location of the fault is within a high-risk area of the at least one cable located between two connectors located at two ends of the at least one cable and not inside the two connectors;
when the fault is within the high-risk area, calculate a probability that the fault is caused by a threat actor based upon the location of the fault on the at least one cable and a corresponding mixture module for the cable type; and
implement at least one security measure in the data center in response to the probability exceeding a threshold value.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the mixture module is generated using supervised learning.

20. The system of claim 18 , wherein the threat actor security module hardener is further configured to:
in response to the probability not exceeding the threshold value, generate an indication that the at least one cable needs repair.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Werner John S
• Wise Abigail E
• Olson Kyle
• Shafer Steven Leslie

Classifications

• G06F21/554 Primary

  involving event detection and direct action · CPC title

• G06F11/079

  Root cause analysis, i.e. error or fault diagnosis (in a hardware test environment G06F11/22; in a software test environment G06F11/36) · CPC title

• G06F21/85 Primary

  interconnection devices, e.g. bus-connected or in-line devices · CPC title