Methods and systems for assessing and advising on electronic compliance

[0001] The present invention relates to methods and systems of assessing electronic compliance with various standards, and specifically to methods and systems of assessing electronic compliance with regulatory or security standards using a computer system, and more specifically to methods and systems of assessing electronic compliance with regulatory or security standards via a graphical user interface. The present invention also relates to methods and systems of evaluating compliance with regulatory or security standards in a graphical user interface using a question and answer prompt in conjunction with a scanning engine, to provide a user with their individual level of compliance.

[0002] Individuals with responsibility for securing information often deploy measures that are solution-centric, such as firewalls, encryption software and password tokens, without fully understanding how these measures affect the overall security posture of their organization. The lack of documented security standards and regulations addressing information security issues has created an environment in which security solutions and architecture are driven by “industry-best standards” and may even consist of ad-hoc patches to solve specific security problems.

[0003] Individuals with responsibility for securing information often deploy measures that are solution-centric, such as firewalls, encryption software, and password tokens, without fully understanding how these measures affect the overall security posture of their organization. The lack of documented security standards and regulations addressing information security issues has created an environment where security solutions or computer system architecture are driven by “industry-best standards.” In some instances the solutions may even be ad-hoc patches designed to solve individual or specific security problems.

[0004] Recently, a number of initiatives have been proposed to address the lack of standards for information assurance (IA). These regulatory initiatives include the Gramm-Leach-Bliley (GLB) Act and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) which set forth requirements for protecting personal financial and medical information. In addition, standards for corporate security are constantly being rewritten, resulting in private organizations having no operational requirements with which to implement robust security practices. Moreover, the fact that a corporation's information assets and critical business functions are increasingly reliant upon an electronic infrastructure, means that every organization must answer to regulators, stockholders, customers and partners when formulating and implementing an Information Assurance and Security Strategy and Program to safeguard such assets and functions.

[0005] To accommodate both internal and external standards and security requirements, as well as applicable laws, organizations must go through a process of translating their business needs in regard to addressing the IA standards, into a security policy statement detailing how that company will meet and comply with those standards. Then that same company must implement a security program that actually complies with its security policies. Moreover, the company must routinely monitor and validate that its implemented security program is effective and continues to comply with the goals of its security policy as the requirements for IA change, and its computer network information infrastructure evolve.

[0006] There are various ways a corporation can attempt to assess its compliance with regulatory standards and/or security policies. For example, a consultant can question a corporation's information officer to determine what measures that corporation has in place to safeguard its electronic information assets. Or the corporation can employ automated tools to perform certain aspects of the assessment. Some commercially available automated tools include CyberCop Scanner, the Security Administrator Tool for Analyzing Networks (SATAN Suite), and Internet Security Systems' ISS Scanner. Although these automated products can scan computer infrastructures for vulnerabilities by actively probing particular aspects of the user's computer network, these public domain applications do not provide an analysis that is related to specific regulatory standards or specific security policies or requirements. Moreover, the existing automated tools lack an analytical mechanism to manage the results of such computer infrastructure scans. Another shortcoming of commercial, as well as open-source scanners, is that the reporting capabilities of these products are immature and require highly technical personnel to analyze and make sense out of the results.

[0007] Therefore, it would be advantageous if a system and method existed which provided for the automated prompting for and collection of policy and administrative information via an automated questionnaire. It would also be advantageous if the questionnaire was created specifically for the type of regulation or security policy employed by the user. It would also be advantageous if the questionnaire could be stored in a database and used with similarly situated users. It would also be advantageous if a system and method existed which contained an analytical mechanism that devised assessments of a user's computer network based on that input data. As a corollary to the Policy Questionnaire, it would also be advantageous if a system and method existed which performed a supplemental assessment by remotely scanning the user's network, thereby generating data which not only validates the Questionnaire input, but also provides additional assessment of the user's network in terms of vulnerabilities, or in terms of compliance with certain regulatory standards and security policies or operating criteria. It would also be advantageous if the generated data could be presented to the user in various formats.

[0008] In conjunction with the filing of this application, there is simultaneously filed a co-pending application entitled “Apparatus and Method For Network Vulnerability Detection and Compliance Assessment,” which the U.S. Patent Office assigned Ser. No. 10/401,040, and which is expressly incorporated herein in its entirety. The present invention may help to alleviate the problems discussed above and may provide a cost-effective and orderly method for assessing a user's network and compliance with any number of regulations, policies or standards. In particular, the present invention may aid in providing a means for assessing a user's compliance with either any type of regulatory standard, security policy or operating criteria. For example, the present invention may permit a security manager to ascertain vulnerabilities in an existing network. The security manager may be able to accomplish this by performing steps associated with the method of the present invention, or by using the system and apparatus of the present invention. Such a system and apparatus may, for example, be a computer system.

[0009] In a specific embodiment, the present invention may include a system and method for assessing or evaluating a computer system's compliance with a regulatory scheme, such as HIPAA, by obtaining that desired regulatory scheme, developing inquiries based on that regulatory scheme, and directing those inquiries to the user so as to elicit responses from the user. Importantly, the inquiries directed at the user can be derived from any source. For example, the inquiries can be formatted and structured so as to determine whether a certain company's computer system complies with the Credit Card Association's security requirements regarding hardware and software used in credit card transactionsover the Internet, as well as storing credit card holder's information. Or the inquiries could be formatted and structured so that they determine whether or not the user's computer system complies with the security policy of the GLB Act, which requires for example, that financial institutions ensure the security and confidentiality of customer records and information.

[0010] Similarly, the inquiries could be formatted and structured to determine the compliance of a user's computer system with the regulations required by HIPAA on dealing with patient privacy. Once a set of questions is structured and formatted for any given type of industry, i.e., financial, healthcare, utilities, U.S Government, etc., it could be stored in a database for use with future users dealing with similar industries. Once formatted and structured, the questionnaire for a given user can be provided on-line, with the responses to each question being stored in a database.

[0011] An apparatus according to the present invention may be described as a network and application assessor. However, the actual functions performed by the network assessor may include scanning the network, as well as assessing the network and associated applications for compliance with certain operational frameworks. The questions directed to the user can also be used to aid in that scan, or the input may be automated. Such input includes the type of operational framework the user's network is operating under. These operational frameworks include regulatory standards, security policies or operating criteria. Other input that the network assessor will accept consists of information relating to the IP (Internet Protocol) addresses of various servers, routers, gateways, or other hardware devices on the user's network. Additionally, the inputs to the network assessor may include information relating to the types of policy and administrative issues that the user wishes to have investigated, including, for example, policy shortcomings, operational procedure shortcomings, operating system vulnerabilities, network communication vulnerabilities, and denial of service vulnerabilities

[0012] Similarly, the input to the network scanner may include information relating to custom software applications and their associated vulnerabilities that the user wants the apparatus of the present invention to address during the scan, as well as the frequency with which the user would like the scan to be performed. Other input information may include the time of day at which the user would like the scan to occur or not occur (as in the case of peak business hours or business periods like the holidays). The timing of the scan may be of particular importance if the network scanner is testing the user's network's vulnerabilities to denial of service attacks.

[0013] Operating system vulnerabilities that the network scanner can test for may also include providing too much information, or allowing too high a level of privileges to users, in particular to unauthenticated users. Network communication vulnerabilities which the network scanner can test for may include susceptibility to sniffing, spoofing, or probing. Denial of service vulnerabilities which the network scanner can test for may include vulnerabilities to specific forms of denial of service, and also to the ability of employing denial of service attacks to disable interrelated security software or hardware.

[0014] One way that data may be input into a network assessor may be through the use of a customized questionnaire. Such a questionnaire may be provided on a traditional paper medium, or may be provided in an electronic format, for example, through an HTML interface. Once sufficient data has been gathered and verified, the data input into the network assessor may be provided to a network scanner module. This network scanner module then begins its assessment and analysis of the user's network. This may include a wide variety of tasks. For example, the network scanner module may attempt to perform a port scan of an Internet-visible system, or it may listen to packets on a local network in order to attempt to detect passwords or other sensitive data being passed over the user's network. Similarly, the network scanner module may attempt to authenticate itself to the user's system using that system's anticipated default settings, or it may attempt to read the media stored on the accessible systems, and it may attempt to communicate with the user's system that are not visible by using a spoofing technique, such as forging header information.

[0015] In order to accomplish one or more of these assessment or scanning tasks, the network scanner module may interface with or incorporate a number of network security tools. Once the network scanning is complete and the data characterizing the operating environment of the user's network is stored in the assessment module's database, the inventive system may perform a preliminary analysis based on that data as well as on the information input by the user.

[0016] When the inventive system has completed its assessment, or even while it is completing its assessment, the inventive system may employ a report generator to generate a report that identifies the results of the inventive system's investigation. This generated report may include, for example, the direct output from each tool used, or the generated report may preferably provide the output in a manner that is uniform and easy to understand.

[0017] For example, the program may classify and briefly list each of the potential vulnerabilities identified by the inventive system, and may associate an intuitive descriptor such as “low risk,” “medium risk,” “high risk,” “informational risk,” or “administrative risk” with each identified vulnerability. Severity of these risk levels may be further defined. For example, “high risk” may refer to vulnerabilities that could result in the user's system being immediately compromised, which, therefore, should be addressed immediately by the user. “Medium risk” may refer to vulnerabilities that could potentially result in information or system compromise, but which do not warrant immediate attention. “Informational risk” may be a specific category of “medium risk” relating to vulnerabilities that could potentially result in information compromise. “Low risk” (which may be synonymous with administrative risk) may refer to problems or warnings, such as a system configuration that might reveal information that might aid an attacker in their attempt to compromise the user's system or that would otherwise be of reconnaissance interest.

[0018] The report may also include, for example, suggestions on how to solve the identified vulnerabilities. If the report is provided as an HTML page, the page may contain links to security patches for the operating systems and/or other software identified either by the user or by the network security testing procedure. In addition, the report may be provided as an e-mail alert, particularly if the user has selected a periodic assessment of network security.

[0019] An object of the present invention is to provide an a method of determining compliance with an operating framework, such as a regulatory policy or security scheme or published scheme including, for example, obtaining a regulatory scheme for a given transaction; developing inquiries to elicit a user's response based upon the regulatory scheme; generating scan parameters based upon the responses to the inquiries; scanning an electronic system using the scan parameters; and providing an assessment regarding compliance with the regulatory scheme.

[0020] Another object of the present invention includes a computer system for providing users with the ability to determine compliance with an operating framework, including, for example, a set regulatory or security scheme; a means for providing inquiries to a user; a means for creating a decision tree architecture; a means for scanning another computer system for system vulnerabilities; at least one scanning tool; a database for recording data generated by the means for scanning; and an interface for displaying the data contained in the database.

[0029] It is to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention which will be limited only by the appended claims.

[0030] It must be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a tool” is a reference to one or more tools and includes equivalents thereof known to those skilled in the art.

[0031] Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood to one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Although any methods, devices, and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the invention, preferred methods, devices and materials are now described.

[0032] All publications, patent applications and patents mentioned herein are hereby incorporated herein by reference for the purpose of describing and disclosing, for example, the systems and methodologies that are described in the publications which might be used in connection with the present invention. Publications discussed throughout the text are provided solely for their disclosure prior to the filing date of the present application. Nothing herein is to be construed as an admission that the inventors are not entitled to antedate such disclosure by virtue of prior invention.

[0033] Reference will now be made in detail to implementations of the present invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings and the following description to refer to the same or like parts.

[0034] As used herein, the Internet refers at least to a collection of networks and gateways that use the transmission control protocol (TCP) or Internet protocol (IP) suite of protocols to communicate with one another. The World Wide Web (WWW) refers at least to a set of inter-linked hypertext documents residing on hypertext transport protocol (HTTP) servers. As used herein, WWW also refers at least to documents accessed on secure servers, such as HTTP servers (HTTPS), which provide for encryption and transmission through a secure port. WWW documents, which may be referred to herein as web pages can, for example, be written in hypertext markup language (HTML). As used herein, the term “web site” refers at least to one or more HTML documents and associated files, scripts, and databases that may be presented by an HTTP or HTTPS server on the WWW. The term “web browser” refers at least to software and hardware that lets a user view HTML documents and access files and software related to those documents.

[0035] Systems and methods in accordance with the invention can be implemented using any type of general purpose computer system, such as a personal computer (PC), laptop computer, server, workstation, personal digital assistant (PDA), mobile and/or wireless communications device, interconnected group of general purpose computers and the like, running any one of a variety of operating systems. An example of a general-purpose computer system usable with at least one embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1.

[0036] Referring briefly to FIG. 1, the general purpose computer system 10, on which the assessment system disclosed herein is run, includes a central processor 12, a main memory unit 14 for storing programs and/or data, an input/output controller 16, a network interface 18, a display device 20, one or more input devices 22, a fixed or hard disk drive unit 24, a removable media storage drive (i.e., floppy disk drive or compact disk (CD) drive) 26, a tape drive unit 28, and a data bus 30 which couples these components so as to allow communication there between as well as communication with other computer systems. Such communication occurs either via direct connection, via the world wide web, or via other means of communication such as cable, phone lines, microwave and wireless communication.

[0037] The central processor 12 used in the computer system 10 can be any type of microprocessor, such as a PENTIUM™ processor, made by Intel of Santa Clara, Calif. The display device 20 can be any type of display, such as a printer, or a liquid crystal display (LCD), cathode ray tube display (CRT), light emitting diode (LED), plasma gas (PG), and the like capable of displaying, in whole or in part, the outputs generated in accordance with the systems and methods of the invention. The input device 22 can be any type of device capable of providing the inputs described herein, such as keyboards, numeric keypads, touch screens, pointing devices, switches, styluses, and light pens. The network interface 18 can be any type of a device, card, adapter, or connector that provides the computer system 10 with network access to a computer or other device, such as a printer. In one embodiment of the present invention, the network interface 18 enables the computer system 10 to connect to a computer network such as the Internet and/or connect with another computer system upon which the systems and methods of the inventions disclosed herein can be practiced.

[0038] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that computer systems 10 embodying the present invention need not include every element shown in FIG. 1, and that equivalents to each of the elements are intended to be included within the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the computer system 10 need not include the tape drive 28, and may include other types of drives, such as CD or Digital Video Disk (DVD) drives. CD drives can, for example, be written to and read from, thereby storing some or all of the data in the databases described herein.

[0039] In at least one embodiment of the present invention, one or more computer programs define the operational capabilities of the assessment system. These programs can be loaded into the computer system 10 in many ways, such as via the hard disk drive 24, the media storage drive 26, the tape drive 28, or the network interface 18. Alternatively, the programs can reside in a permanent memory portion (i.e., a read-only-memory (ROM) chip) of the main memory 14. In another embodiment, the computer system 10 can include specially designed, dedicated, hard-wired electronic circuits that perform all functions described herein without the need for instructions from computer programs.

[0040] In at least one embodiment of the present invention, the assessment system is part of a client-server system, in which a client sends requests to a server and a server responds to requests from a client. Of course, a “client” can be broadly construed to mean one who requests or gets the file, and “server” can be broadly construed to be the entity that downloads the file. Basically, the assessment system can be either a client system or a server system. In one embodiment, the invention is implemented at the server side and receives and responds to requests from a client, such as a reader application running on a user computer.

[0041] The client can be any entity, such as the computer system 10, or specific components thereof (e.g., terminal, personal computer, mainframe computer, workstation, a wireless hand-held device, electronic book, personal digital assistant, peripheral, etc.), or a software program running on a computer directly or indirectly connected or connectable in any known or later-developed manner to any type of computer network, such as the Internet. For example, a representative client is a personal computer that is x86-, PowerPC®, PENTIUM-based, or RISC-based, that includes an operating system such as IBM®, LINUX, OS/2®, or MICROSOFT WINDOWS (made by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.) and that includes a Web browser, such as MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER, NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR (made by Netscape Corporation, Mountain View, Calif.), having a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and support for application plug-ins or helper applications. A client may also be a notebook computer, a handheld computing device (i.e., a PDA), an Internet appliance, a telephone, an electronic reader device, or any other such device connectable to the computer network.

[0042] The server can be any entity, such as computer system 10, a computer platform, an adjunct to a computer or platform, or any component thereof, such as a program that can respond to requests from a client. The server also may include a display supporting a graphical user interface (GUI) for management and administration, and an Application Programming Interface (API) that provides extensions to enable application developers to extend and/or customize the core functionality thereof through software programs including Common Gateway Interface (CGI) programs, plug-ins, servlets, active server pages (ASP), server side include (SSI) functions and the like.

[0043] Embodiments of the invention can be implemented using computer technologies such as software applications, computer-readable program media, data structures, carrier wave signals, user interfaces, and application program interfaces. For example, software embodying the present invention in one embodiment, resides in at least one application running on the computer system 10. In at least one embodiment, the present invention is embodied in a computer-readable program medium usable with the computer system 10. In at least one embodiment, the present invention is embodied in a data structure stored on a computer or a computer-readable program medium. In addition, in one embodiment, the present invention is embodied in a transmission medium, such as one or more carrier wave signals transmitted between the computer system 10 and another entity, such as another computer system, a server, a wireless network, etc. One embodiment of the present invention also can be embodied in an application programming interface (API) or a user interface. In addition, the present invention, in one embodiment, is embodied in a data structure.

[0044] In one embodiment, the present invention includes systems and methods that assess a user's level of compliance with certain standards and translate that assessment into a report detailing the user's specific level of compliance. The report is generated by the assessment system in response to the user answering certain questions which are focused on, for example, a regulatory requirement, or focused on a required level of security in a computer system. The report can also be generated by the assessment system after the results of a scan of the user's computer system are known. Or the assessment system could generate a report by incorporating both sets of results. The process may operate in three distinct steps: an initial input phase, a scan phase, and an output phase.

[0045] In the initial input phase of an assessment determination, an operating framework is established. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the initial input phase of the compliance assessment system 200 can be characterized as selecting at least one compliance standard from within the operating framework 202 specific to the user being assessed. More particularly, the operating framework 202 selected determines the type of standard on which the compliance assessment system 200 will base its evaluation. For example, the operating framework 202 could be structured according to a certain type of regulatory standard 204. For example, HIPAA 206 is a specific type of regulatory standard that can be found at Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations, sections 160, 162, and 164 (45 CFR §160, 162, and 164). Similarly, how corporations handle a consumer's private information is also closely regulated by the strictures of the GLB Act 208 that can be found at Title 15 of the United States Code, Subchapter 1, Sections 6801-6809. Other types of regulatory standards may also include credit card associations such as VISA® Cardholder Information Security Program, etc. 209 Accordingly, substantially any type of critical infrastructure 212 having regulations associated with it can be quantitatively and qualitatively identified and implemented by the regulatory standards operating framework 204.

[0046] The operating framework 202 may alternatively be structured according to the security schemes 214 of any type of institution that conducts remote financial transactions. For example, an authorized bank (Issuing Bank) can issue VISA® or MasterCard® credit cards to its customers, and issues card swipe machines to the merchants that accept these cards. In order for a merchant to qualify with the Issuing Bank, the merchant must agree to abide by VISA® and MasterCard® security requirements prior to processing a customer's Internet-based credit card transaction, and properly safeguard financial information and card holder data of its customers, that merchant needs to comply with VISA's security scheme 216. As illustrated in FIG. 3, VISA's security scheme requires, among other things, that its merchants attest that they are practicing certain security best-practices by filling out a questionnaire that addresses these issues. Additionally, VISA® requires that its merchants that accept VISA® credit cards over the Internet comply with their security requirements. Similarly, MasterCard's security scheme 218, which, for example, may be found on the Internet currently at web address https://sdp.mastercardintl.com/bestpractices.pdf, requires among other things, administrative and policy surveys to be completed by its e-merchants, as well as external vulnerability scans, etc. Any other type of financial entity that processes financial transactions or allows its agents or subscriber merchants to process financial transactions will have similar security schemes 214. These include American Express® 220 (See web address http://home5.americanexpress.com/merchant/resources/fraudprevention/datasecurity_standards1. asp), entities that issue debit cards, entities that accept bank checks, and the like.

[0047] The operating framework 202 is also adaptable so that substantially any type of entity operating under a certain security policy 222 can implement the compliance assessment system 200. For example, before a software development corporation will allow its employees to remotely access their email from that corporation's servers, that software development corporation will typically have a security policy in place which details how such remote access will occur, and what safeguards are in place to prevent remote hacking, and the like. Similarly, this security policy can be implemented by that corporation in accordance with standards such as ISO-17799, which require that best practices are met which address remote access vulnerabilities. One example might be that the policy requires two-factor authentication (such as a personal password as well as a SecureID token password) before allowing a remote connection to the corporate network. A security policy can also be implemented in accordance with standards such as BS-7799 (the British Standard relating to information security best practices).

[0048] All of the various operating frameworks 202, which include but are not limited to regulatory standards 202, security schemes 214 security policies 222, and combinations thereof, are in essence items in a checklist that detail what must be contained in a user's computer operating environment in order to conduct business within a particular industry or company per a given operating framework. Each checklist item in a given operating framework 202 can be structured as a question, which is then presented to the user. Specifically, that question asks the user if that particular item is present on their computing environment.

[0049] As the checklist for each operating framework 202 is converted into a series of questions, those questions can be stored in a compliance question database 224. For example, the checklist associated with HIPAA regulatory standards 206, can be converted into a series of HIPAA compliance questions and stored in the compliance question database 224. Similarly, the checklist associated with VISA's security scheme 216 can be converted into a series of VISA compliance questions, which can also be stored in the compliance question database 224. Because each of the operating frameworks, such as the regulatory standards 204, the security schemes 214, and the security policies 222 have corresponding checklists, all those checklists can be stored in the compliance question database 224 in the form of questions. The existence of the compliance question database 224 allows the computer system to assess other user's compliance without needing to create a new set of questions.

[0050] Therefore, in one embodiment once the user begins the compliance assessment process, they will be presented with a list of options which best exemplify the user's operating framework 202. For example, if the user is a merchant department store that is planning to offer the ability to conduct credit card transactions using VISA® as the credit card, the user will select “VISA” as the type of operating framework 216. Alternatively, if the user is a hospital that stores patients' private medical records, the user would select the HIPAA operating framework 206. Once the type of operating framework 202 is selected, the compliance assessment system 200 retrieves the questions pertaining to that framework's requirements, in this case, either VISA® or HIPAA, respectively, from the compliance question database 224, and the questions are passed to the on-line questionnaire 226. The on-line questionnaire 226 is then presented to the user via the web-based user interface 228.

[0051] The compliance questions may alternatively be presented to the user orally, via written format, via a speech synthesizer, or by any other means for providing inquiries to a user, such as wireless transmission to a wireless device such as a PDA, cell phone or BlackBerry™ device. Similarly, input into the web-based user interface could alternatively be accomplished via an on-line portal, wireless device (PDA, pager, BlackBerry™, etc.), speech synthesizer, or other device which transmits the user's responses to the compliance system 200.

[0052] In a preferred embodiment, the user may be guided through a questionnaire that contains links to suggestions that help the user understand and respond to the compliance questions.

[0053] Via the web-based user interface 228, the on-line questionnaire 226 may prompt the user with questions about how an organization handles and protects information on their systems. Importantly, these questions may be tailored to take into account the user's specific operating framework 202, such as VISA's requirements about personal cardholder data. If the user had selected HIPAA regulations as its operating framework 202, the on-line questionnaire 226 prompts the user with questions that focus on concerns specific to HIPAA requirements. FIG. 4 illustrates what a user may view when prompted with the on-line questionnaire 226. FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary questionnaire 226 within a HIPAA operating framework 206. It will be appreciated that one of ordinary skill in the art will readily understand how to similarly create questionnaires 226 based on other of the aforementioned operating frameworks 202. As can be seen in FIG. 8, each possible response to a question may generate a recommendation to help the user ensure that compliance is either maintained or attained if not in compliance.

[0054] Other questions in a compliance question database 226 may include corporate guidelines, security policies, or other regulations that require certain levels of compliance. When presented to the user, the questions in the on-line questionnaire 226 are mapped or grouped by specific policy areas. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the questions may be grouped into the following policy areas: network security concerns 228, related to whether an organization has a properly configured firewall; privacy concerns 230, addressing how an organization protects personal information; physical concerns 232 regarding the user's hardware, which address issues such as locking doors and limiting access to critical system rooms; personnel concerns 234, such as whether background checks are performed on employees; and contingency concerns 236, such as plans to continue operations after a power outage. Other policy areas or subsets of existing policy areas may, for example, include: off-line data security, on-line data security, server security, authentication and validation, human resources, and disaster recovery. More generally, the questions presented to the user via the on-line questionnaire 226 may include, but are not limited to, questions related to firewalls, security patches, encryption of stored data, encryption of data sent over open networks, use of anti-virus programs, data access restrictions, and the assignment of unique user identifiers or other equivalent or related questions.

[0055] As the user answers each question in the on-line questionnaire 226, responses are weighted according to their importance. For example, an affirmative response in one scenario might be deemed more valuable and assigned a higher weight than a negative response. The converse is also possible. Once the responses are weighted according to their value, they are stored in the environment database 238. The weighted responses can be utilized alone or in conjunction with other data generated by the scan discussed herein, to present the user with a compliance assessment of their computer system.

[0056] According to principles of the present invention, the weighing of answers to the questionnaire 226 may be performed using a scoring algorithm. The scoring algorithm may assign, or rank, a risk “weight” or “cost” for each answer to a question in the questionnaire. For example, answers to questions related to “high risk” vulnerabilities (i.e., vulnerabilities that could result in immediate compromising of information and/or systems, etc.) may be weighted, or have a risk cost “worth”, for example, 10 points; answers to questions related to “medium risk” vulnerabilities (i.e., vulnerabilities that could potentially result in information or system being compromised, etc.) may be weighted, or have a risk cost “worth”, for example, 2 points; and answers to questions related to “low risk” vulnerabilities (i.e., vulnerabilities such as configurations that might reveal interesting reconnaissance information, represent a departure from good practices, etc.) be weighted, or have a risk cost “worth”, for example, 1 point.

[0057] It will be appreciated, however, that the respective weights of answers to questions related to high, medium, and low-risk vulnerabilities may be adjusted depending on the requirements of the operating framework, information on the user's computer network, etc. Additionally, it will be appreciated that what constitutes a “high”, “medium”, or “low” risk may be subject to change depending on the requirements of the operating framework, information on the user's computer network, etc. Additionally, it will be appreciated that additional or different categories other than “high,” “medium,” and “low” could be used in such a scoring system.

[0058] As mentioned above, the weighted responses to the questionnaire 226 can be utilized alone or in conjunction with other data generated by the scan discussed herein, to present the user with a compliance assessment of their computer system. In one aspect of the present invention, the user's computer system may be determined not to be in compliance with the selected operating framework 202 based on an excessive number of predetermined types of vulnerabilities, wherein predetermined vulnerabilities have different risk costs associated with them. Accordingly, points associated with various answers that indicate the existence of vulnerabilities may be added together and measured against a threshold point value for an unacceptable amount of risk. For example, the threshold point value may be 10. Accordingly, if, for example, the answers of the questionnaire indicated the existence of a vulnerability to only one question directed to a “high risk” vulnerability, the scoring algorithm determines that the computer system is not in compliance with the selected operating framework 202. If, for example, answers of the questionnaire indicated the existence of vulnerabilities to five questions directed to “medium risk” vulnerabilities, the scoring algorithm determines that the computer system is not in compliance with the selected operating framework 202. If, for example, answers of the questionnaire indicated the existence of vulnerabilities to ten questions directed to “low risk” vulnerabilities, the scoring algorithm determines that the computer system is not in compliance with the selected operating framework 202.

[0059] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary questionnaire 226 in accordance with the principles of the present invention showing individual risk costs for questions that are prompted to a user wishing to perform a security assessment of their computer network. Referring to FIG. 5, fields designated by reference numeral 62 may comprise specific questions related to the user's computer system; fields designated by reference numeral 64 may indicate the severity of the risk (e.g., high, medium, low) related to a particular question; and fields designated by reference numeral 66 may indicate the risk “weight” or “cost” associated with the particular risk level of severity. In one aspect of the present invention, questions presented in fields designated by reference numeral 62 may, for example, provide substantially complete coverage of all the requirements of credit card associations. Accordingly, the questionnaire 226 illustrated in FIG. 5 may help provide a compliance assessment for substantially an entire industry. In one aspect of the present invention, the questionnaire illustrated in FIG. 5 may include questions directed to substantially all issues raised by the aforementioned VISA® and MasterCard® security schemes. In another aspect of the present invention, and as shown in FIG. 5, at least one level of risk (e.g., high, medium, or low) may be assigned to any particular question within the questionnaire 226, wherein a risk cost may selectively correspond to one of the assigned risk levels based on requirements of the operating framework, information on the user's computer network, etc.

[0060] In one aspect of the present invention, the vulnerability scanner 240 described herein may correspond substantially to the network parameter input module 220 and first scanning module 230 illustrated in FIG. 2, the assessment module 305 illustrated in FIG. 3, and/or the scanning apparatus 400 illustrated in FIG. 4 substantially as disclosed in the aforementioned co-pending application. Accordingly, the vulnerability scanning engine 242 may perform a vulnerability scanning operation using data from the virus and vulnerability database 243. During a second phase of the compliance assessment (i.e., the aforementioned scan phase), the user's network may be scanned using a mechanism capable of providing real-time verification of certain data input by the user through the questionnaire in order to make the overall compliance and/or vulnerability determination of the user.

[0061] Each scan of the user's network conducted by the vulnerability scanner 242 results in the generation of environment data, as described in the co-pending application. This environment data is stored in environment database 238, as is also described in the co-pending application. In one aspect of the present invention, the environment database 238 may be the same database in which the results of the user query and/or on-line questionnaire 226 are stored. Alternatively, the environment data and the results of the user query and/or on-line questionnaire 226 can be stored in separate databases.

[0062] As is described in greater detail in the co-pending application, which is hereby incorporated by reference, the scan of the user's network may be based off of scan parameters generated, at least in part, by the responses to the on-line questionnaire 226. In one aspect of the present invention, the scan parameters may be generated by automating logical decision tree steps wherein the decision tree may, for example, comprise an XML document describe the logical flow of activities performed during a particular scan as well as the use of particular tools during the scan. In one aspect of the present invention, the decision tree may describe the flow of scanning activities based both on user-provided parameters as well as results from the tools as they are returned. In another aspect of the present invention, the decision tree may be indexed by the selected operating framework 202.

[0063] In another aspect of the present invention, the scan of the user's network may be performed using at least one scan tool capable of generating data results (e.g., domain name resolvers, port scanners, nslookup, dig, whois, ping, traceroute, rpcinfo, nbstat, net use, smbclient, nmblookup, nmap, nessus, whisker, nikto, onesixtyone, Pptp_robe, Gbg, Wget, Lantern, QTIP, dorian, etc.), wherein the data results may wrapped into a common language and be used to create further inquiries on the on-line questionnaire 226. In one aspect of the present invention, individual tasks within a scan may be separately managed and/or scheduled. In another aspect of the present invention, languages defining the tasks may be wrapped into a language corresponding to the tool performing the task. In one aspect of the present invention, the scanning may be carried out using, for example, a task handler, a schedule master, and the like.

[0064] Once the vulnerability scanning engine completes all of its scans, thereby generating all the applicable environment data, the third phase of the compliance assessment system in the present invention, the output phase, can proceed. The output phase generates an analysis of the user's scanned network as it relates to the operational framework employed by the user, as well as how it relates to the user's network's vulnerability posture. Alternatively, the third phase may be initiated before all of the scans are complete, or before all of the environment data has been generated, or even before the user has completed the on-line questionnaire. For example, the third phase may be initiated whenever applicable environment data is generated. Accordingly, as the scan progresses and applicable environment data is generated, the output phase may be initiated.

[0065] The output phase relies on the data in the environment database 238 to generate the system assessment or evaluation. For example, once all the results of the on-line questionnaire 226 have been weighted and stored in the environment database 238, and once the scan of a given system is complete and the task results 436 stored in the environment database 238, the environment database 238 contains all the weighted answers as well as all the environment data. The database tables holding the weighted results of the on-line questionnaire 226 and hold the task results 436 are represented in FIG. 6.

[0066] Referring to FIG. 6, in one embodiment of the present invention the environment database 238 of FIG. 2, which can also be referred to as a client environment database (CED), can be written in any database management software known in the art, including SQL. In one embodiment of the present invention, the CED may contain multiple distinct sections which, as described in the co-pending application, aid in generating scans for the vulnerability scanning engine 242. However, the database tables in either the environment database 238 of FIG. 2 or the CED of FIG. 6 are also used to hold the environment data as well as the responses to the on-line questionnaire 226.

[0067] In one aspect of the present invention, the environment database may contain information related at least one of scan parameter, scan frequency, scan time period, scan result, scan start time, scan stop time, next scan date, status of network, discovered MAC addresses, scan activity log, exposed systems, exposed services, scanned domain names, scanned IP, discovered IP, applications used in scanning, and the like.

[0068] Once the environment database 238 of FIG. 2, or the CED of FIG. 6, are populated with all the applicable weighted results and environment data, the vulnerability report generator 246 compares those results with the operating framework 202 initially selected by the user in phase one of the compliance assessment to provide an indication of whether the scanned system complies with the particular requirements of that operating framework 202, such as the HIPAA regulatory standard 204 or the VISA® security scheme 216. In this third phase, the vulnerability report generator 246 may indicate which aspects of the user's network are vulnerable to security breaches and how such breaches might occur. By providing specific details regarding such vulnerability, the vulnerability assessment system 200 enables the user being scanned to develop adequate security protection to eliminate that vulnerability.

[0069] For example, the program may classify and briefly list each of the potential vulnerabilities identified, and may associate an intuitive descriptor such as “low risk,” “medium risk,” “high risk,” “informational risk,” or “administrative risk” to each potential vulnerability. These results may indicate a “pass” or “fail” grade, or may be in tabular form. FIG. 7 can also depict the results of a vulnerability scan in a graphical format. As shown in FIG. 7, the graphically depicted results rank the twenty most vulnerable systems on the user network, from most vulnerable to least vulnerable. Within the graphical depiction of FIG. 7 the field designated by reference numeral 82 includes the IP address of the system, the field designated by reference numeral 84 includes the total number of vulnerabilities within the system, and the field designated by reference numeral 86 includes the domain of the system. The vulnerability scan may reveal the level of vulnerability for all accessible hosts and network services available on a network, or it can scan just the selected hosts and network services. In the preferred embodiment, the results generated by the vulnerability report generator 246 can be provided to the user over the Internet 248. However, those same results can be provided by other means described herein, including in written form, orally, via speech synthesizer and wirelessly.

[0070] Similarly, the vulnerability report generator 246 can include suggestions or recommendations on how to solve the identified vulnerabilities such as those illustrated in FIG. 8. If the report is provided as an HTML page, that HTML page can contain links 808 to security patches which are specific for the operating systems and/or other software of the user's system and identified vulnerability. In addition, the results of the vulnerability scan may be provided as an e-mail alert 250 to the user, particularly if the user has selected a periodic assessment of their network's security or ongoing compliance. In another aspect of the present invention, the vulnerability report generator 246 may generate a report including how well the user's computer network complies with the selected operating framework compared to an industry average or other selected computer networks.

[0071] The assessment system 200 is preferably scalable to different networks and operating platforms as well as is scalable to different ranges of security. The scalability of the questionnaire relates to its database schema and architecture which allows for an unlimited number of questions to be added to the database in order to address evolving standards or requirements. The reporting module is similarly scalable in its capability to extract pertinent information from the various database components of the tool and incorporate them into a final report.

[0072] The assessment system 200 may also have a security device capable of preventing confidential information from being scanned. In one embodiment, the on-line questionnaire prompts the user to detail any and all sites, etc., that should not be scanned. For instance, if a particular user has a stand-alone server that is not part of any transactional elements within that environment, its IP address may be called out and excluded from the network scan.

[0073] The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to a preferred embodiment thereof. However, it will be appreciated that those skilled in the art, upon consideration of this disclosure may make variations and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.