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US 10,749,893 B1Granted
Systems and methods for inferring entity relationships via network communications of users or user devices
AssigneeBitSight Technologies, Inc.
InventorDaniel Dahlberg
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A number of techniques facilitate generation of data points from observations about network traffic. An inferencing system can use these data points to determine whether a relationship exists between two entities or whether an existing relationship has terminated, without any external knowledge of the existence of or termination of such a relationship.
Claims25
A method for inferring a relationship between two entities, the method comprising the steps of:
- receiving at a server a network observation dataset, each data point in the dataset comprising (a) a device identifier, and (b) (i) a network address or (b) (ii) a device location;
- selecting from the dataset a first-type data point comprising:
- (A) a first device identifier, and (B)(i) a first network address or (B)(ii) a first device location;
- identifying a first entity associated with the first network address or the first device location;
- selecting from the dataset a second-type data point comprising:
- (A) the first device identifier, and (C)(i) a second network address different from the first network address or (C)(ii) a second device location different from the first device location;
- identifying a second entity that is different from the first entity and that is associated with the second network address or the second device location;
- inferring, at a baseline confidence level, a relationship between the first entity and the second entity;
- determining that:
- a total number or frequency of the first-type data points in the dataset is at least equal to a specified home-count or home-frequency threshold;
- and
- determining that:
- a total number or frequency of the second-type data points in the dataset is at least equal to a specified visitor-count or visitor-frequency threshold.
10 more elements
A system for inferring a relationship between two entities, comprising:
- a processor;
- a network port in communication with the processor and adapted to receive from a data source a network observation dataset, each data point in the dataset comprising one or more of:
- (i) a device identifier, (ii) a user identifier, (iii) a network address, or (iii) a device location;
- and
- a memory coupled to the processor and comprising instructions, which when executed by the processor, program the processor to:
- select from the dataset a first-type data point comprising:
- (A)(i) a first device identifier or (A)(ii) a first user identifier, and (B)(i) a first network address or (B)(ii) a first device location;
- identify a first entity associated with the first network address or the first device location;
- select from the dataset a second-type data point comprising:
- (A)(i) the first device identifier or (A)(ii) the first user identifier, and (C)(i) a second network address or (C)(ii) a second device location;
- identify a second entity associated with the second network address or the second device location;
- infer a relationship between the first entity and the second entity and designate to the inferred relationship a baseline confidence level;
- determining that:
- a total number or frequency of the first-type data points in the dataset is at least equal to a specified home-count or home-frequency threshold;
- and
- determining that:
- a total number or frequency of the second-type data points in the dataset is at least equal to a specified visitor-count or visitor-frequency threshold.
14 more elements
A method for inferring a relationship between two entities, the method comprising the steps of:
- receiving at a server a network observation dataset, each data point in the dataset comprising a user identifier and a network address;
- selecting from the dataset a first-type data point comprising a first user identifier and a first network address;
- identifying a first entity associated with the first network address;
- selecting from the dataset a second-type data point comprising the first user identifier and a second network address different from the first network address;
- identifying a second entity that is different from the first entity and that is associated with the second network address;
- inferring at a baseline confidence level a relationship between the first entity and the second entity;
- determining that:
- a total number or frequency of the first-type data points in the dataset is at least equal to a specified home-count or home-frequency threshold;
- and
- determining that:
- a total number or frequency of the second-type data points in the dataset is at least equal to a specified visitor-count or visitor-frequency threshold.
8 more elements
A system for inferring a relationship between two entities, comprising:
- a processor;
- a network port in communication with the processor and adapted to receive from a data source a network observation dataset, each data point in the dataset comprising a user identifier and a network address;
- and
- a memory coupled to the processor and comprising instructions, which when executed by the processor, program the processor to:
- select from the dataset a first-type data point comprising a first user identifier and a first network address;
- identify a first entity associated with the first network address;
- select from the dataset a second-type data point comprising the first user identifier and a second network address different from the first network address;
- identify a second entity that is different from the first entity and that is associated with the second network address;
- infer at a baseline confidence level a relationship between the first entity and the second entity;
- determine that:
- a total number or frequency of the first-type data points in the dataset is at least equal to a specified home-count or home-frequency threshold;
- and
- determine that:
- a total number or frequency of the second-type data points in the dataset is at least equal to a specified visitor-count or visitor-frequency threshold.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.