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.
Claims21
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;
- and
- inferring, at a baseline confidence level, a relationship between the first entity and the second entity.
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;
- and
- infer a relationship between the first entity and the second entity and designate to the inferred relationship a baseline confidence level.
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;
- and
- inferring at a baseline confidence level a relationship between the first entity and the second entity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.