US 2025/0097213 A1 · ASSET SCAN EMPLOYING TWO-WAY AUTHENTICATION PROTOCOL

Abstract

A method for authenticated asset assessment is provided. The method involves executing a scan assistant on an asset to allow a remote scan engine to execute one or more scan operations on the asset for determining a state of the asset. The scan assistant may verify the identity of the scan engine by checking that a certificate received from the scan engine is signed with a private key associated with the scan engine. In some embodiments, the authentication may be performed as part of a TLS handshake process that establishes a TLS connection between the scan engine and the scan assistant. Once the scan engine is authenticated, the scan engine may communicate with the scan assistant according to a communication protocol to collect data about the asset. Advantageously, the disclosed technique reduces security risks associated with authenticated scans and improves the performance of authenticated scans.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method comprising:

performing, by a scan assistant on an asset of a network:
establishing a connection with a scan engine on a device having electronic communication with the asset, wherein the asset comprises at least one computing resource, wherein the scan engine is configured to use the scan assistant to perform scans of the asset based on a communication protocol, and wherein the scan assistant provides the scan engine access to perform the scans;
receiving, from the scan engine, one or more scan operations to execute on the asset according to the communication protocol;
executing the one or more scan operations on the asset to obtain results reflecting a state of the asset;
and
sending the results to the scan engine according to the communication protocol.

3 more elements

A system comprising:

a memory that stores program instructions;
and
one or more processor that executes the program instructions to implement a scan assistant on an asset, the scan assistant configured to:
establish a connection with a scan engine on a device having electronic communication with the asset, wherein the asset comprises at least one computing resource, wherein the scan engine is configured to use the scan assistant to perform scans of the asset based on a communication protocol, and wherein the scan assistant provides the scan engine access to perform the scans;
receive, from the scan engine, one or more scan operations to execute on the asset according to the communication protocol;
execute the one or more scan operations on the asset to obtain results reflecting a state of the asset;
and
send the results to the scan engine according to the communication protocol.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Asset scan employing two-way authentication protocol

Life of this patent

Asset scan employing two-way authentication protocol

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20