Patent Publication Number: US-7900038-B2

Title: Method and apparatus for a broker entity

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Technical Field 
     The invention relates to secure end-to-end transactions. More particularly, the invention relates to a broker entity having a high-speed embedded firewall, a message-processing router, secure session protocol, transport management, and integrated intrusion detection in a single-chip format. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Computer networks and related devices, such as smart cards, are established media for conducting electronic commerce (e-commerce) and other types of transactions. As with any industry having to do with commerce, the providers of the e-commerce industry technology continually strive to maintain the integrity and validity of the financial transactions for the comfort of users. These systems typically are widely distributed (anywhere in the world) and transmit highly confidential information. There are many security gaps in prior art solutions. In addition, the providers of the e-commerce technology strive to maintain a superior level of speed and efficiency for the user, while keeping the technology development environment up-to-date. Thus, it is currently a challenge to provide a technology that can perform complete, open standards-based, high-speed, and highly secure financial transactions to the satisfaction of users. InterTrust Technologies Corp. (“InterTrust”) (Santa Clara, Calif.) teaches software access control mechanisms in the standard (standalone computer) as well as the embedded hardware space in a family of disclosures. For example, K. L. Ginter, V. H. Shear, F. J. Spahn, and D. M. Van Wie, Systems and Methods for Secure Transaction Management and Electronic Rights Protection, U.S. Pat. No. 6,427,140 (Jul. 30, 2002) disclose electronic appliances such as computers equipped in such a way as to help ensure that information is accessed and used only in authorized ways, and maintain the integrity, availability, and/or confidentiality of the information. The disclosures teach electronic appliances providing a distributed virtual distribution environment (VDE) that may enforce a secure chain of handling and control stored or disseminated information, for example. According to Ginter, et al, distributed and other operating systems, environments and architectures, such as, for example, those using tamper-resistant hardware-based processors, may establish security at each node. 
     T. C. Williams, Multi-level Security Network System, U.S. Pat. No. 6,304,973 (Oct. 16, 2001) discloses a network which prevents unauthorized users from gaining access to confidential information. The network has various workstations and servers connected by a common medium and through a router to the Internet. The network has two major components, a Network Security Center (NSC) and security network interface cards or devices. The NSC is an administrative workstation through which the network security officer manages the network as a whole as well as the individual security devices. The security devices are interposed, between each of workstation, including the NSC, and the common medium and operate at a network layer (layer 3) of the protocol hierarchy. The network allows trusted users to access outside information, including the Internet, while stopping outside attackers at their point of entry. At the same time, the network limits an unauthorized insider to information defined in their particular security profile. The user may select which virtual network to access at any given time. The result is trusted access to multiple secure Virtual Private Networks (VPN), all from a single desktop machine. 
     Williams focuses on the multi-level secure VPN space with some access control capability based on the actual content of the network data stream running through the device. That is, Williams is limited in that it teaches simply a filter encompassing the notion of a multi-level secure VPN for network secures VPNs that filters and allows access for network connections based on data content. 
     Lucent teaches secure gathering and monitoring of web server logs, currently implemented within many products in the marketplace today. It should be appreciated that the Lucent disclosure is limited by being Web-based and its log entries are not secure. 
     It would be advantageous to create a secure end-to-end financial transactional messaging environment in an integrated package leveraging complete, open standards-based, high-speed and highly secure technology which integrates a firewall, VPN, intrusion detection and tamper resistant audit; secure logging, and fault tolerance over IP networks. 
     It would also be advantageous to provide multiple simultaneous transactions, which are multilevel and secure by having application objects running inside a broker entity as multilevel secure streams enter and leave, thereby a providing more sophisticated technology than mere filtering. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A method and apparatus for a broker entity is provided. A high-speed embedded firewall, a message-processing router, secure session protocol, transport management, and integrated intrusion detection is provided in a single-chip format. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of the components of the broker entity and its relationship to other such broker entities according to the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     A method and apparatus for a message broker entity is provided. A high-speed embedded firewall, a message-processing router, secure session protocol, transport management, and integrated intrusion detection is provided in a single-chip format. It should be appreciated that the broker entity can be implemented as a collection of conceptual and/or software modules residing on one or more computers across a network, and can equally be implemented in hardware as an integrated circuit on a chip connected across the network to other such chips or software modules. 
     A preferred embodiment of the invention is a message broker entity, or broker entity for short, implemented as an integrated circuit for financial messaging. Just as traditional integrated circuits contain embedded components, the preferred embodiment of the invention contains embedded components working together to handle elements of communication, message processing, and security. The preferred embodiment of the invention combines a firewall, a virtual private network (VPN), a transport manager, an intrusion detection feature, a secure logger, a message processor, a message forwarder, a directory service, and a cryptographic processor. When such features are combined into a high-speed hardware device, they bring to market an end-to-end and open and secure e-commerce transactional environment. All message processing, routing, and security sensitive operations, such as creating or tearing down secure sessions with other broker entities, takes place in secure high-speed hardware. 
     The broker entity integrates the following concepts:
         A self-repairing transactional mesh with integrated failover when security relevant events or service interruption are detected at any node. For example, if a node is breached or rendered inoperable, then the system reconfigures itself to complete the transaction and remain operable. One example of enabling the mesh to reconfigure itself is by a setting up to run a script at each node, instructing it how to react. The reaction can be policy-based. It can suggest alternative actions, such as turning itself off if it gets inundated with too many junk messages.   Integrated hardware-based cryptographic operations, a suite of cryptographic algorithms are available onboard in secure hardware for any transaction.   Hardware-based state machine technology, capable of loading C/C++ as well as Java-based objects for onboard execution.   Application objects as well as network connections are stored/routed/executed in a true multi-level secure memory space, such as B 2 .   Providing a hardware-based XML parser, for parsing and performing operations on XML objects within a secure embedded memory space.   Security filtering and logging can be performed on encrypted network streams as they enter the secure embedded memory space.       

     In one embodiment of the invention, each broker entity board contains multiple embedded XML parsers, where some or all of such boards are placed in a rack-mountable system, and where some or all of such rack-mountable systems are interconnected, resulting in a multi-gigabit high-speed backplane. In this embodiment of the invention, the broker entity can be viewed as a virtual private transaction processor with Web services support. 
     A preferred embodiment of the invention is described with reference to  FIG. 1 , a schematic diagram of the components of the broker entity and its relationship to other such broker entities. Such layout in the diagram is meant to be by example only of one application of the invention, as a limitless number of configurations of broker entities are possible. 
     A broker entity  150  is represented in a dotted oval figure as a combination of six distinct components. Each component will be discussed in further detail below. The broker entity  150  is shown connected across a network to a couple of other such broker entities  101  and  102 , that are also connected to a fourth broker entity  103 . The secure protocol in the preferred embodiment is SSL/WTLS/IPSEC  104 , but it should be appreciated that the invention is not limited to this particular type of connection. The broker entity  150  is connected to one broker entity  101  across a private network  105 , and is also connected across the Internet  106  to the other broker entity  102 . These two broker entities  101  and  102  are connected to the fourth broker entity  103  across the Internet  106 . It should be appreciated that these connections are examples of connections only. The connections can be simply any network connections. 
     From a high level perspective, the schematic diagram shows the mesh architecture of broker entities, each a self-contained, static core engine, and each communicating with one another. The mesh architecture is a combination of broker entities spanning one-to-many and many-to-one relationships. Each broker entity capable of determining XML status, discovery, and secure negotiation protocol, where each secure session can be negotiated and destroyed dynamically, in a cache that is updated frequently. 
     The preferred embodiment of the invention provides subscription architecture enabling the broker entity to be connected to subscribing systems anywhere in the world. The subscriber communicates with the broker entity by sending messages to the broker entity, which communicates with the subscriber both as a consumer and as a producer of messages. The broker entity is capable of interacting with a variety of different sources of data. 
     The subscriber can be represented as any data source. For example, the data source can be an application database of a backend system  108 , or as a data source in any DB 2  environment, such as, for example, the policy-engine-message-dictionary message storage  109  depicted in  FIG. 1 . It should be appreciated that in the preferred embodiment of the invention, broker entity clients  110  subscribe to a shared XML space using a particular broker API or message adapter in a point-to-point or publish and subscribe configuration. 
     The preferred embodiment of the broker entity  150  contains the following six components or conceptual modules: external module API  151 ; secure execution engine  152 ; protocol handler  153 ; message cache and routing table  154 ; XML and regular expression parser  155 ; and adapter or XML message API  156 . 
     The external module API  151  and the adapter or XML message API  156  are the interface components or modules to the subscribing clients. The router component or module  154  keeps a table of all broker entities that it trusts and services in high-speed cache. The protocol handler  153  allows communication with other such broker entities across a network and has dynamic capability. It is preferably installed at different contact points within a network. It allows setting and following a security policy that chooses acceptable protocol. The message cache and routing table  154  provides caching in the case that a connection breaks down. It holds onto a request until it can be fulfilled. The routing table  154  also provides the status of available devices. The routing table  154  is kept in memory and is updated frequently to reflect the current security level of the broker entity at hand, the services the broker entity provides and/or subscribes to, and detected presence of other broker entities. The XML and regular expression parser  155  is preferably embedded in hardware for performing character parsing in high speed. The external module API  151  loads, i.e. stores, configuration information and data about outside systems. Essentially it defines outside systems as a way to enable communicating with them. The adapter or XML message API  156  provides a way of defining new data for any type of system, such as message types and rules, by providing an open, standardized API to systems of record and/or to any database. 
     It should be appreciated that the preferred embodiment of the invention is implemented as an appliance operating in a plug-and-play fashion. Its major functionality is implemented onboard using Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) and Field Programmable Gate-Array (FPGA) technology. It processes messages and transacts securely over networks at multi-gigabit wire-speeds. The embodiment uses a router that communicates in Extensible Markup Language (XML), enabling the router to be extensible and capable of expressing practically any type of structured financial message. 
     The preferred embodiment of the invention discovers or detects the presence of other such broker entities, as well as the services they offer or the services that subscribe to them. Transactions between the broker entity and other such brokers and/or any services attached to those brokers are secure transactions. For example, a first broker entity is notified by a client that the client is online. The first broker entity then notifies a second broker entity, or one of its connected services, that it has a message from the client and routes the message to the second broker entity accordingly. 
     More specifically, the preferred embodiment of the invention provides a directory of all of broker entities with which it communicates and trusts and/or their respective services. A copy of this directory is resident on onboard high-speed cache. The directory is updated in real-time. When a particular broker entity or service which subscribes to it directly goes down, the broker entity notifies other broker entities on the list and communicates that that broker entity and/or particular services are unavailable for transactions. The opposite occurs when a broker entity or its subscribing services come online. In this case, the broker entity notifies the other broker entities it trusts that it and/or its services have come online for transactions. 
     For discovery, the preferred embodiment of the invention uses basic XML-based protocol to discover and set up services it will process and messages it will receive from or send to other broker entities. Also, as the Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI) specification matures, the preferred embodiment of the invention adaptably looks up and registers new services and connection rules as they become available online. 
     The preferred embodiment of the invention also has a transport handler component or module and basic messaging protocol capability. This component or module is adapted to be flashed with new transport protocols and conversation messages, as appropriate. 
     The preferred embodiment of the invention also provides a message handling agreement or contracts conceptual component or module that allows agreements to be configured on all message exchanges. Examples of such configured messages reflect timeout values, latency period, round-trip times, and allowable return messages. If agreements are violated, the broker entity is configurable to perform alternate procedures, such as, for example, send a response to the requester or take another action, such as consult a set of alternate delivery methods or locations. It should be appreciated that these alternate procedures are by example only. 
     For secure session protocol, the preferred embodiment of the invention sets up, dynamically or with a pre-established contract, a Secure Sockets Layer/WTLS/lnternet Protocol Security (SSL/WTLS/IPSEC) connection with other broker entities. 
     Also, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the router selectively encrypts/decrypts XML messages, as well as sometimes verifies signatures on XML messages at the tag level flowing through it. The broker entity expresses trust relationships and transactions using compact certificate technology, where each broker entity has a transaction definition table to decode transaction certificates it receives from other broker entities. 
     The preferred embodiment of the invention understands messages based on a message dictionary and a corresponding API. Using the message dictionary, the broker entity processes and forwards virtually any type of structured message. Specifically, the router is loaded with virtually any type of XML-based messaging protocol, and the processing and security rules are then custom-defined for the loaded protocol by configuring the appropriate router subsystem. 
     It should be appreciated that the core code of the broker entity implementing permissions and authentication resides in protective memory, in an embedded implementation, i.e. a hard real-time kernel. 
     It should also be appreciated that the preferred embodiment of the invention also calls gateway adapters to other messaging or application systems, such as, for example, MQ-Series. The broker entity communicates directly with Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) or Enterprise JavaBeans (EJBs) via the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) protocol. 
     The preferred embodiment of the invention also provides maintenance interface enabling code running onboard that is updated without requiring the broker entity be shutdown, the interface also allowing system level testing to be performed. A secure remote administration utility is provided that allows all components or modules of the broker entity to be monitored and configured while it in operation. 
     Accordingly, although the invention has been described in detail with reference to particular preferred embodiments, persons possessing ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains will appreciate that various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims that follow.