Abstract:
Mechanisms are disclosed for detecting protocols independently of the ports used by streams associated with the protocols or applications that may send out such streams. The detecting may entail using a content filter that is hosted on a networking stack, where the content filter may be composed of a stream buffer and handlers for detecting the protocols. The handlers may be further used to modify streams incoming to a port or streams outgoing from an application. The handlers can modify the streams in a variety of ways, including reading, inserting, replacing, deleting, and completing data in the streams according to some policy criteria, such as those set by parental controls. Individual handlers may be selected from a plurality or set of handlers so that they can be matched up to the appropriate streams.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims benefit to application Ser. No. 60/716,294, filed Sep. 12, 2005, titled “Protocol-Level Filtering”. This application is also related to application Ser. No. 11/266,143, filed Nov. 3, 2005, titled “Compliance Interface For Compliant Applications; and application Ser. No. 60/716,062, filed Sep. 12, 2005, titled “Internet Content Filtering”, and its non-provisional counterpart bearing the same title, application Ser. No.______ (attorney docket number MSFT 5442/314367.02). 
     
    
     BACKGROUND  
       [0002]     Current content filtering mechanisms, such as those based on parental controls, may use network protocol detection and manipulation that is port and/or application specific. In such a set-up, assumptions can be made regarding content filtering based on the type of application a user is using, or a designated port that is being used for sending and/or receiving data. Thus, if a user is using a web browsing application, for instance, an assumption can be made that the protocol may be HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) or FTP (File Transfer Protocol). Similarly, if some specific port is being used to send and receive data subscribing to a specific protocol, such as HTTP or FTP, an assumption can be made that any current or future traffic sent through this port will subscribe to the same protocol used in the past.  
         [0003]     However, it would be advantageous to provide mechanisms that allow for protocol-level content filtering at least in an application and port agnostic manner-which may allow for a more complete solution for protocol filtering, given that any instance of a protocol can be handled that either enters or exists at a system. Moreover, it would be advantageous to provide mechanisms that can handle multiple protocol detection and manipulation scenarios.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0004]     Various mechanisms are provided that allow for protocol-level content filtering in at least a port and application agnostic manner. For instance, protocol detection components, such as protocol handlers, are able to identify protocols associated with some data streams. Such handlers may work in concert with data stream buffers to identify any given incoming or outgoing data stream from a computing system. These handlers may identify the protocols by being part of content filters that may reside on networking stacks.  
         [0005]     Upon determination of any given protocols, the handlers can modify the associated data streams in a variety of ways, per policies set out by policy services. For example, the handlers can delete data in the data stream, insert data into those streams, or replace such data. Such modifications can be performed with the aid of data stream markers and handler interfaces. In the end, the handlers, representing a part of content filtering mechanisms, can allow for the filtering of content at the protocol level.  
         [0006]     It should be noted, that this Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]     The foregoing Summary, as well as the following Detailed Description, is better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. In order to illustrate the present disclosure, various aspects of the disclosure are shown. However, the disclosure is not limited to the specific aspects discussed. The following FIGS. are included:  
         [0008]      FIG. 1  illustrates a general architecture of protocol-level content filtering;  
         [0009]      FIG. 2  focuses on the networking stack of the protocol-level content filtering architecture, and specifically on the content filter that is hosted by the networking stack and the various components of the content filter;  
         [0010]      FIG. 3  illustrates a stream buffer of the content filter, and the various markers that may accompany the stream buffer;  
         [0011]      FIG. 4  shows that the stream buffer may not only handle incoming traffic data but also outgoing traffic data;  
         [0012]      FIG. 5  illustrates a variety of operations that may be performed on the stream buffer subject to modifying the stream buffer according to some filtering policy;  
         [0013]      FIG. 6  illustrates a variety of protocol handler interfaces;  
         [0014]      FIG. 7  illustrates the various states of a typical handler, when the handler is in the process of identifying a protocol associated with a data stream;  
         [0015]      FIG. 8  shows that a content filter, however embodied in various modules, may reside just about anywhere on a networking stack; and  
         [0016]      FIG. 9  provides in block diagram form an exemplary implementation of the presently disclosed subject matter. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0000]     Overview  
         [0017]     Protocol-level filtering may comprise of various aspects. In this Detailed Description, an overview of the general architecture is considered in the first two FIGS.,  FIGS. 1 and 2 , and thereafter various specific components and areas of the architecture are considered in  FIGS. 3-8 . Lastly, in  FIG. 9 , an exemplary implementation is considered. In short, these figures. and the discussion below disclose how protocols associated with data streams are identified, and how such data streams may be modified.  
         [0000]     Aspects of Protocol-Level Filtering  
         [0018]      FIG. 1  illustrates one exemplary architecture  100  where protocol-level filtering may be used. Per  FIG. 1 , a local computing system  102  may have an application  104  running on it. The local computing system  102  may be a personal computer (PC), a hand-held device, and so on. The application  104  may be any computer executable application, such as a web browser. When the application  104  wants to communicate with other computing systems  110  via the internet  108 , it may do so using a networking stack  106 .  
         [0019]     In one aspect of the presently disclosed subject matter, data traffic  112  and  114  can be monitored  116  via a content filter (shown in the next FIG.). Both data incoming  114  from the internet (or intranet, for that matter)  108 , and data outgoing  112  from the application  104 , can be monitored  116 . Such monitoring may entail the determining of the type of protocol that is used by the data (or data stream, in some implementations). Thus, for example, if some client computing system  110  requests data from the application  104 , the request may be monitored as incoming data  114  to the application, and a response by the application  104  may be monitored as outgoing data  112 . It should be noted, that “data” is used in the present disclosure as one type of “information” that can be trafficking between a local computing system  102  and some client computing system  110 —other types of information, such as “code” can also be exchanged between these computing systems  102  and  110 .  
         [0020]     Moreover, the illustrated local computing system  102  and the client computing system  110  are also merely exemplary, since other computing systems, such as client servers, proxy servers, hand-held computing system, etc. can also be involved. Furthermore, such involvement can be spread out across a plurality of distributed (or non-distributed) computing systems.  
         [0021]     The illustrated monitoring  116  extends to not only the determination of the protocol used by data traffic  112  and  114 , but also to the manipulation of such traffic  112  and  114 . Thus, in another aspect of the presently disclosed subject matter, either incoming or outgoing data can be read by some protocol detection component, or additional data can be inserted into the trafficking data stream, or deleted from the stream, or replaced in the stream.  
         [0022]     Additionally, the stream may also be completed in the sense that the stream has enough data for a positive identification of the protocol used by the steam. This means that a few packets in the stream may need to be released if they don&#39;t provide useful identification information (because, for example, other protocols may use the same few packets, and so an individualized identification cannot be made based on these packets), and the once enough identification-wise useful data is gathered, for example, in a stream buffer, the protocol of data may be identified.  
         [0023]     Moreover, this also means that if a protocol detection component, such as a handler, uses completes the stream, it may also claim ownership of the stream so that all other potential handlers are removed from consideration. More detail is provided below regarding the identification of protocols and the manipulation of the associated data.  
         [0024]      FIG. 2  focuses on the components of the networking stack  108  depicted in  FIG. 1 , and the content filter that is hosted on the stack  108 . Thus, the networking stack  108  may have a content filter, such as a resident layer service provider  204  (or extension thereof). This provider  204  can sit anywhere in the stack  108 , and in the illustrated implementation it may be located near the top of the stack  108 . The networking stack  108  may host the layer service provider  204  in each process that uses it. However, if increased security and anti-hacking concerns are present, such a provider  204 , whether in the form of transport driver interface (TDI) or a firewall or a proxy, could be easily located nearer the bottom of the networking stack  108 .  
         [0025]     Once the layer service provider  204  is set-up, it may implement an interface between any set or a plurality of protocol handlers  210 ,  212 ,  214  (or just “handlers”) and the networking stack  108 . The provider  204  may also function as the main interception point of stream data. In other words, it may function as a hook into the network stack that allows for the interception of network traffic.  
         [0026]     The layer service provider  204  may also see each TCP (transmission control protocol)  206  that is established between computing systems. In so doing, the provider  204  may generate context information for the connection  206 . This context information can maintain which handlers  210 ,  212 ,  214 , are processing a stream. Furthermore, it may also implement a stream buffer  208  so that selected data may be buffered. Such buffering may be performed for a variety of reasons, such as to give the handlers  210 ,  212 ,  214  enough time to positively identify a protocol associated with a stream, or to give the handlers  210 ,  212 ,  214  the opportunity to manipulate a data stream associated with the TCP connection  206 .  
         [0027]     The steam buffer  208  may be an object that abstracts some or all of the operations that the handlers  210 ,  212 ,  214  may use, such as a read operation, delete operation, insert operation, replace operation, and complete operation (as discussed above). Of course, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize other additional operations that may be used with association with the stream buffer, or any buffer for that matter.  
         [0028]     The handlers  210 ,  212 ,  214  may be protocol specific objects that know how to find and manipulate data traffic. In other words, they may specialize in identifying and manipulating the data traffic. In so doing these handlers  210 ,  212 ,  214  may determine if a specific piece of traffic is to be allowed or blocked. As indicated above already, any number of handlers can be provided, whether one handler, a set of handlers, or a great plurality of handlers. For example, a handler can be provided that knows how to handle a data stream that subscribes to HTTP; another handler can be provided that knows how to handle a data stream that subscribes to FTP; yet another handler can be provided that knows how to handle a data stream that subscribes to SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol), and so on.  
         [0029]     Furthermore, a protocol control service  216  may be used in conjunction with aforementioned components of the layer service provider  204 , such that the protocol control service  216  may communicate policies with the handlers  210 ,  212 ,  214 . Such policies may be set by some users or administrators of the computing system  102  where the networking stack  108  resides. These policies associated with the protocol control service  216  may allow some content in a data stream to pass through, and block other content—whether the content is embodied in incoming or outgoing traffic.  
         [0030]     Thus, in short, the layer service provider  204  can manage the protocol handlers  210 ,  212 ,  214  by handling all the networking stack  108  integration, synchronization, and buffering aspects. If, for example, there may be any handlers  210 ,  212 ,  214  viewing a connection  206 , all data stream packet processing will be synchronized by the layer service provider  204 . Furthermore, if, for instance, all the handlers disclaim a data stream, then the layer service provider  204  will process all incoming and/or outgoing data asynchronously to enable maximum performance.  
         [0031]      FIG. 3  depicts in detail various specific aspects of the stream buffer  208  depicted in  FIG. 2 . When a piece of data is received from outside a computing system, for example, via the internet, or when it is generated by an application internal to the computing system, the aforementioned layer service provider  204  may process the data either by absorbing it or passing it through. In the former case, data may be absorbed or buffered in a stream buffer—whether it is incoming or outgoing data.  
         [0032]     The stream buffer  208  may use buffer markers to organize an incoming or outgoing data stream. Such markers may be used by the aforementioned protocol handlers  210 ,  212 ,  214  to find the beginning and end of each piece of data that is relevant to content filtering. For example, a “completed” marker  304  may be used to identify the beginning of the portion of the stream buffer  208  that has been marked as completed. This means that the completed data is ready to be sent on through the layer service provider  204 .  
         [0033]     A “start” marker  306  may be used to signify that this is the beginning of the buffered data. This buffered data may contain currently received data and received data from a previous call. A “received” marker  308  may be used to mark the beginning of the last-most received data. This may allow protocol handlers to know which data is “new” even if the handlers have to process a lot of data that has been buffered up already. Finally, an “end” marker may be used to mark the current end of the buffer where new data is added for handlers to inspect. As those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate, other markers that will aid in the processing of information, in a general sense, and the processing of filtered content, specifically, may also be used.  
         [0034]      FIG. 4  illustrates that the buffers discussed in  FIG. 3  may be implemented separately for incoming  408  and outgoing  406  data traffic. Thus,  FIG. 4  depicts outgoing traffic  406  from an application (shown in  FIG. 1 ), where the traffic is buffered in an outgoing data stream buffer  402 . Likewise, incoming traffic  408  is depicted, where the incoming traffic  408  is buffered in an incoming data stream buffer  404 . Some hander  214 , may then have access to either buffer  402  or  404  so that it can identify the protocol associated with the respective outgoing  406  or incoming traffic  408 , and have the opportunity to manipulate the data stored in the buffers  402  and  404 .  
         [0035]      FIG. 5  illustrates the type of operations that may be performed on a data stream buffer  208 . A data stream may have a variety of operations that the protocol handlers can use, of which only an exemplary sample is disclosed—those of skill in the art will appreciate other such operations. These operations may allow the protocol handlers to manipulate the data stream without needing to directly work with data stream buffer.  
         [0036]     For example, one operation might provide a “Read” functionality  507 , as discussed above, where some data  506  is read from the stream buffer  208 . Specifically, such an operation may be implemented as: Read (int nStart, int nLen). This operation may return nLen bytes of data starting at the nStart offset in the buffer. nStart can be indexed beginning at the “Start” marker, as discussed with respect to  FIG. 3 .  
         [0037]     Another operation that may be provided is the “Insert” operation  503 , such as Insert (int nIndex, BYTE * pBytes, int nLen), that may insert some data  502  into the stream buffer  208 . Specifically, this operation may insert nLen bytes (pBytes) at nIndex from the “Start” marker. This will then push all the rest of the data back. If nIndex is before the “Received” marker, “Received” may then be moved back nLen to compensate.  
         [0038]     Another operation may be the “Replace” operation  509 , Replace (int nIndex, BYTE * pBytes, int nLen), which may replace nLen bytes (pBytes) at nIndex from the “Start” marker. Furthermore, a “Delete” operation  505  could also be provided, Delete (int nIndex, int nLen), which may remove nBytes from the stream at nIndex. There may also be a “Complete” operation (not shown), Complete (int nLen), which completes nLen bytes starting at the “Start” marker. In one aspect of this disclosure, if a protocol handler calls this operation, it may also claim ownership of the stream, and this may allow for the removal of all the other potential handlers.  
         [0039]     Next,  FIGS. 6 and 7  illustrate various aspects of typical protocol handlers. The protocol handlers may encapsulate the parsing and applying of parental control policies for a given protocol such as HTTP, FTP, SMTP, etc. As discussed above, the handlers can be managed via the layer service provider in terms of being created, destroyed, and sent new stream data. The protocol handlers may work with the stream buffer to view and manipulate the network traffic.  
         [0040]     In one aspect, in  FIG. 6 , a protocol handler interface  602  is illustrated. The protocol handler interface  602  may provide various interfaces that perform specified functions. It should be noted that the illustrated interfaces  604 ,  606 ,  608 ,  610 , and  612  are merely exemplary and not limiting.  
         [0041]     For example, regarding the OnConnect interface  604 , it may be called when a new transmission control protocol connection, such as connection  206  depicted in  FIG. 2 , is established. In a scenario where a handler may not care to even look at traffic data for this connection, it can say so at this point. Next, an OnSend interface  606  may be provided. This interface  606  may be called when data is sent from an application. A call to this interface  606  may involve a stream buffer for both the incoming and outgoing streams. Similarly, an OnReceive interface  608  may be provided, which may be called when data is sent to an application (as opposed to being sent from an application, as in the OnSend interface  606  scenario). This call may also include the stream buffer for both the incoming and outgoing streams. In both the OnReceive  608  and OnSend  606  scenarios, any given handler may have the option to remove its self from the connection.  
         [0042]     Additionally, an OnDisconnect interface  610  may be provided. This interface  610  may be called when the connection is lost. This is to give the handler a chance to clean up any allocated data or complete any outstanding asynchronous operations. Lastly, an OnStreamClaimed interface  612  may be provided. This interface  612  may be called when another protocol handler has claimed the stream. As before, this is to give the handler a chance to clean up any allocated data or complete any outstanding asynchronous operations.  
         [0043]      FIG. 7  illustrates the various states that a handler may find itself in. A typical handler  214 , when attempting to recognize a protocol associated with a data stream may either recognize  702  the protocol, not recognize it  704 , or it may delay temporarily the recognition  706  of the protocol subject to obtaining more data. When enough data is obtained, the possible recognition state  706  may revert to a positive recognition  702  of a protocol or a positive conclusion that it the handler  214  does not recognize the protocol.  
         [0044]     In fact, there may be myriad of algorithms that are used in the process of recognizing incoming or outgoing data stream-associated protocols. In one aspect of the presently disclosed subject matter, when a new connection is established, protocol determination may use a “greedy” algorithm. In other words, the first handler that identifies the data stream to be using their protocol wins. For example, the following algorithm may be used:  
                                   ON new TCP Connection         FOR EACH registered handler           Create new Handler instance         NEXT       END       ON new data         // If there are no attached handlers to the current connection         // just pass the data through as fast as possible         IF Count(Handlers) == 0 THEN           Pass data through LSP         // if there is one handler attached, send it the data directly         // NOTE: this is assuming the 1 handler has indicated a positive         // match to the current connection         ELSE IF Count(Handlers) == 1           Send data to handler         // At this point, no handlers have identified themselves as an         // owner of this stream. Send the data to all the remaining handlers         // and let them see if they can determine if they are the appropriate         // handler.       ELSE IF Count(Handlers) &gt; 1         // Send data to each handler           FOR EACH Handler H             Send data to H             SWITCH Response(H)               // This handler has determined it is the correct owner               // for this connection               CASE Positive Match                 FOR EACH Handler != H                   Disconnect Handler from Stream                 NEXT               // This handler has determined it is NOT a possible               // owner for this connection.               CASE Negative Match                 Disconnect Handler from Stream               // This handler is unable to determine definitively if               // this connection is a protocol it handles.               CASE No Deterministic Match                 Continue             END SWITCH           NEXT Handler         END IF       END ON new data                  
 
 Of course, this is merely an exemplary algorithm, and those of skill in the art would readily appreciate other appropriate algorithms that could allow a handler or a set of handlers to identify any given protocol, originating from any given port or application. 
 
         [0045]     Next,  FIG. 8  illustrates a notion mentioned above already, namely, that the location of a content filter could be just about anywhere on the networking stack  108 . In one implementation, the layer service provider  802  is placed near the top of the networking stack  108 . Other components which could manage the stream buffer and the handlers, such as a firewall  804 , a proxy  806 , or a TDI Driver  808  can be placed variously along the stack. The higher up implementation may be more easily implemented, but lower level networking stack  108  implementations are also contemplated by the presently disclosed subject matter.  
         [0046]     Last,  FIG. 9  illustrates in block diagram form an exemplary implementation of the disclosed subject matter. First, at block  900 , a protocol handler may be attached to a data stream, whether the data stream is incoming or outgoing, whether from an application or to a local computing system, respectively. At block  902 , upon attachment, the protocol associated with the data stream may be determined according so some algorithm, such as the one described with reference to  FIG. 7 .  
         [0047]     At block  904 , once the protocol has been identified by some handler, a determination can be made as to whether the data stream using the protocol should be modified or not. This determination may depend, at least in part, on some policy decision that may be communicated to a handler from some policy service—such as the one disclosed with reference to  FIG. 2 . At block  906 , once the modification question is asked, at block  908  either a modification can be performed using some kind of an operation, such as delete, insert, replace, etc., or, alternatively, at block  910  the data stream may be passed though a protocol-level content filter. Once a data stream has been modified or not modified, at block  912 , another selection of a subsequent protocol associated with a subsequent data stream may be performed, upon which, this process loops back to block  902 .  
         [0048]     It should be noted that the various techniques described herein may be implemented in connection with hardware or software or, where appropriate, with a combination of both. Thus, the methods and systems of the presently disclosed subject matter, or certain aspects or portions thereof, may take the form of program code (i.e., instructions) embodied in tangible media, such as floppy diskettes, CD-ROMs, hard drives, or any other machine-readable storage medium, where, when the program code is loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the subject matter.  
         [0049]     In the case of program code execution on programmable computers, the computing device may generally include a processor, a storage medium readable by the processor (including volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements), at least one input device, and at least one output device. One or more programs that may utilize the creation and/or implementation of domain-specific programming models aspects of the present subject matter, e.g., through the use of a data processing API or the like, are preferably implemented in a high level procedural or object oriented programming language to communicate with a computer system. However, the program(s) can be implemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. In any case, the language may be a compiled or interpreted language, and combined with hardware implementations.  
         [0050]     Lastly, while the present disclosure has been described in connection with the preferred aspects, as illustrated in the various FIGS., it is understood that other similar aspects may be used or modifications and additions may be made to the described aspects for performing the same function of the present disclosure without deviating therefrom. For example, in various aspects of the disclosure, protocol-level content filtering mechanism was disclosed. However, other equivalent mechanisms to these described aspects are also contemplated by the teachings herein. Therefore, the present disclosure should not be limited to any single aspect, but rather construed in breadth and scope in accordance with the appended claims.  
         [0000]     Summary  
         [0051]     In summary, various systems, methods, computer readable media, and the like may be provided that embody the various aspects disclosed herein. For example a system may be provided for protocol-level filtering of content, where the system may comprise of a stream buffer for buffering traffic data and at least one handler, where the handler may be configured to detect a protocol associated with the traffic data in a port agnostic manner and an application agnostic manner. Moreover, the handler may be further configured to manipulate the traffic data.  
         [0052]     Similarly, a method may be provided for filtering content at a protocol-level, where the method may comprise of attaching a first protocol detection component and a second protocol detection component to a stream upon establishing a connection with the stream, where the first protocol detection component and the second protocol detection component may be attached to the stream regardless of the type of port used by the stream and an application associated with the stream. Also, the method may comprise of determining a protocol associated with the stream, where the first protocol detection component and the second protocol detection component may establish the type of protocol that is associated with the stream. And, furthermore, the method may comprise of placing the first protocol detection component and the second protocol detection component in a state to modify the stream according to some policy.  
         [0053]     As mentioned, in addition to the system and method that may be provided, a computer readable medium bearing tangible computer executable instructions may be provided, again, for the purpose of filtering content on a protocol-level basis. These instructions may allow for the detecting of a protocol using a set of handlers, where the detecting is independent of either a port used by a stream or an application from which the stream originates. Also, the instructions may allow for the modifying of the stream using one handler of the set of handlers if a determination is made that the stream should be modified based on the content of the stream, where the determination may be based on at least one policy decision.