Systems and methods for utilizing uni-directional inter-host communication in an air gap environment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9306906-B2
Application number	US-201414225164-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 25, 2014
Priority date	Mar 25, 2013
Publication date	Apr 5, 2016
Grant date	Apr 5, 2016

Abstract

A request message is generated with a trusted network entity executing trusted code on a first network layer. The request message to target a non-trusted network entity executing non-trusted code on a second network layer. The request message is transmitted from the trusted network entity to the non-trusted network entity through at least a policy enforcement entity. The policy enforcement entity applies one or more network traffic rules to enforce a unidirectional flow of traffic from the first network layer to the second network layer. A response check message is generated with the trusted network entity. The response check message to determine whether response information is available on the non-trusted network entity in response to the request message. The response check message is transmitted from the trusted network entity to the non-trusted network entity through at least the policy enforcement entity. The response check message to determine whether the response information is stored in a conceptual mailbox on the non-trusted network entity.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
generating a request message, with a trusted network entity executing trusted code on a first network layer, the request message to target a non-trusted network entity executing non-trusted code, on a second network layer;
transmitting the request message from the trusted network entity to the non-trusted network entity through at least a policy enforcement entity, wherein the policy enforcement entity applies one or more network traffic rules to enforce a unidirectional flow of traffic from the first network layer to the second network layer;
generating a response check message with the trusted network entity, the response check message to determine whether response information is available on the non-trusted network entity in response to the request message; and
transmitting the response check message from the trusted network entity to the non-trusted network entity through at least the policy enforcement entity, the response check message to determine whether the response information is stored in a conceptual mailbox on the non-trusted network entity.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the trusted network entity comprises a management server.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the non-trusted network entity comprises a compute layer server.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the trusted network entity is part of a first virtual private network (VPN), the non-trusted network entity is part of a second VPN, and the firewall is configured to communicate with both the first VPN and the second VPN.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the trusted network entity is part of a first virtual local area network (VLAN), the non-trusted network entity is part of a second VLAN, and the firewall is configured to communicate with both the first VLAN and the second VLAN.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the trusted network entity is a management server within an on demand services environment and the non-trusted network entity is a content server within the on demand services environment.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the on demand services environment comprises a multi-tenant database environment.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, is configurable to:
generate a request message, with a trusted network entity executing trusted code on a first network layer, the request message to target a non-trusted network entity executing non-trusted code, on a second network layer;
transmit the request message from the trusted network entity to the non-trusted network entity through at least a policy enforcement entity, wherein the policy enforcement entity applies one or more network traffic rules to enforce a unidirectional flow of traffic from the first network layer to the second network layer;
generate a response check message with the trusted network entity, the response check message to determine whether response information is available on the non-trusted network entity in response to the request message; and
transmit the response check message from the trusted network entity to the non-trusted network entity through at least the policy enforcement entity, the response check message to determine whether the response information is stored in a conceptual mailbox on the non-trusted network entity.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 wherein the trusted network entity comprises a management server.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9 wherein the non-trusted network entity comprises a compute layer server.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 wherein the trusted network entity is part of a first virtual private network (VPN), the non-trusted network entity is part of a second VPN, and the firewall is configured to communicate with both the first VPN and the second VPN.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 wherein the trusted network entity is part of a first virtual local area network (VLAN), the non-trusted network entity is part of a second VLAN, and the firewall is configured to communicate with both the first VLAN and the second VLAN.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8 wherein the trusted network entity is a management server within an on demand services environment and the non-trusted network entity is a content server within the on demand services environment.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 wherein the on demand services environment comprises a multi-tenant database environment.

Assignees

• Salesforce Com Inc

Inventors

• Fry Benjamin
• Kral Timothy
• Chen Simon
• Falko Andrey

Classifications

• H04L63/0209 Primary

  Architectural arrangements, e.g. perimeter networks or demilitarized zones · CPC title

• H04L63/105

  Multiple levels of security · CPC title

• H04L63/0227

  Filtering policies (mail message filtering H04L51/212) · CPC title

• H04L63/0272 Primary

  Virtual private networks · CPC title

• H04L63/20 Primary

  for managing network security; network security policies in general (filtering policies H04L63/0227) · CPC title