Noblis Awarded Patent for Novel Insider Threat Prevention Method

New technique can be used to detect and defeat both automated and manual internal attacks

RESTON, Va. — Nov. 7, 2023 — Noblis, a leading provider of science, technology and strategy services to the federal government, today announced it has been awarded U.S. patent 11,757,918 B2 for a novel method for preventing insider threats on secure computing systems.

This new method overcomes many of the shortcomings of existing methods by building in guardrails around the actions allowed within a system based on whether the actions will result in a secure or insecure system state.

“Essentially, this innovative method graphs the capabilities within a system, and then blocks action paths that lead to insecure states that can be exploited by an insider threat,” said Julie Ard, Noblis’ principal insider threat researcher. “Think of how modern cars have systems that keep them secure – to stop you from removing the key if the car is not in park, for example. Similarly, we can set up mechanisms that prevent a system from entering insecure states.”

“In a world of increasing complexity and connectivity, our customers’ critical data and systems need to be inherently secure to the maximum extent possible,” said Chris Barnett, Noblis’ chief technology officer. “As we continue to see growth in distributed workforces, this need will become all the more critical.”

Media Contact
Heather Williams
heather.williams@noblis.org
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