Fujitsu Seeks Patent on Method of Detecting Illegal Network Connections

Fujitsu Limited is just one of the many major global developers and manufacturers of electronic products hailing from the cosmopolitan city of Tokyo, Japan. This company offers a long list of products and services within the fields of telecommunications, personal computers and advanced microelectronics. Recently, this corporation has announced a partnership with Panasonic for the joint development of system large-scale integration chips, used in vehicles and home electronics. Fujitsu is also heavily involved in developing systems of data acceleration across the cloud and wireless networks, a technology it will likely unveil during May’s Fujitsu Forum 2014. Not only a manufacturer of technology, Fujitsu is also heavily involved with electronics recycling; it was recently announced that Fujitsu America has helped to recycle 150,000 pounds worth of electronics.

Electronics developers and manufacturers always make for great profile subjects in IPWatchdog’s Companies We Follow series, and today we want to take a look at Fujitsu’s patented technologies for the first time. This company, awarded the 12th-most U.S. patents among all companies during 2013, has many patent applications and issued patents published every week by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Just in the last two months, we’re seeing some very interesting technologies related to many technologies, including hardware development and improvements to digital networking systems.

Our featured application today discusses a very useful technology for corporate digital networks for detecting illegal connections with external apparatus created through malware. This system addresses some of the ever growing concerns related to cyber attacks on businesses. We also cover other patent applications which discuss better simulation apparati for determining the effects of devastating water events as well as an improved remote car starter that draws less battery power.

We also take a quick look at a collection of recently issued patents assigned to Fujitsu. A few of the patents we feature today protect various kinds of digital networks, including body area networks for medical applications as well as improvements to lasers used as semiconductors. Finally, we also discuss some patented improvements to Fujitsu’s hardware, including protected methods of producing abrasive agents for polishing device displays that replace rare earth materials.

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Method for Detecting Illegal Connection and Network Monitoring Apparatus
U.S. Patent Application No. 20140115705

Computer and information technology security is a major topic of discussion in the news in recent months. Here at IPWatchdog, we’ve been interested in a range of technologies related to protecting computer networks against hackers and malicious files. Our recent coverage of cyber attacks on businesses discussed not only publicly acknowledged attacks on Target and Neiman Marcus, but also the wide range of small businesses that lose thousands of dollars in cyber attacks every year.

Software to detect malicious files has become more sophisticated in recent years, but malware developers still find novel ways of infiltrating a company’s networks. One way that malware creators have been able to attack business networks without being detected is through a file that creates a reverse connection. Most methods of detecting malicious code are capable of detecting suspicious incoming connections, but when malware is able to establish communication from the network server to the collecting apparatus, the connection looks like trusted communication.

This patent application was filed by Fujitsu with the USPTO in July 2013, and claims the benefit of priority of a prior Japanese Patent Application filed on Oct. 26, 2012. The application seeks to protect new methods of detecting illegal connections with a network monitoring apparatus, which is capable of determining that a reverse connection is unauthorized. Although this system seems as though it can only protect a computer network once the malware has been noticed, after it has been executed, the system would be able to effectively limit the transmission of private material and identify untrustworthy data communications.

To detect a reverse connection, this system analyzes the behavior of information packets sent between information collection apparati which are communicating with each other. A number of detection conditions are checked in these packets, such as the presence of any executable code, which could indicate an illegal operation through a reverse connection. Once a reverse connection of this type is detected, the network monitoring apparatus is capable of limiting the packet connection to protect network data.

Claim 1 of this patent application would give Fujitsu the right to protect:

“A method for detecting illegal connection, the method comprising: acquiring, by a network monitoring apparatus, a first packet transmitted from a first information processing apparatus to a second information processing apparatus; acquiring a second packet transmitted from the second information processing apparatus to the first information processing apparatus, the second packet being transmitted within a predetermined time period since the transmission of the first packet; determining whether the first packet is a packet according to a protocol used for transmitting a file and the second packet is related to a connection established from the second information processing apparatus to the first information processing apparatus; and outputting result information depending on a result of the determination.”

Other Patent Applications 

From U.S. Patent Application No. 20140114201, which is titled “Portable Information Terminal.”

The advanced microelectronics products being developed in the research facilities of Fujitsu cover a wide range of technologies, especially related to computing systems. With the U.S. Supreme Court yet to decide in the Alice Corporation v. CLS Bank International case that could greatly alter the future of software patents, it’s intriguing to see that even global software developers like Fujitsu aren’t shying away from obtaining official USPTO patents for their innovations.

A couple of unique systems which have a strong tie to public health and safety are profiled in a couple of patent applications that we noticed today. U.S. Patent Application No. 20140114588, filed under the title Simulation Method and Simulation Apparatus, would protect a computer software program capable of providing enhanced methods of simulating fluid dynamics in disaster events. Specifically, this program is designed for use in three-dimensional hydrodynamics calculations for large tsunamis and other earthquake-related events. U.S. Patent Application No. 20140114201, which is titled Portable Information Terminal, describes a mobile terminal including a microphone, electrodes and other components capable of detecting biometric signals. This terminal apparatus is designed to aid in blood pressure monitoring among many individuals.

We also wanted to share a couple of other novel electronics products developed by this corporation which we felt were noticeable for their focus on energy efficiency. The remote starting of vehicle engines will likely be improved by the technology outlined in U.S. Patent Application No. 20140107866, titled Vehicle Controller. This invention reduces the power consumed by vehicle remote starter systems while reducing the erratic vehicle behaviors that can sometimes result when a remote starter wakes the car from a sleep mode. We also noticed another invention aimed at reducing energy consumption in U.S. Patent Application No. 20140111009, entitled Energy-Saving Circuit for a Network-Powered Device, Network Arrangement and Energy-Saving Method. This patent application discloses an electronic circuit for network-powered devices that allows them to operate and transmit data from an energy-saving state, instead of having to choose between on and off states.

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Issued Patents of Note

Over the past two months, Fujitsu has been issued dozens of patents from the offices of the USPTO for a variety of improvements to their electronics technologies. These patents protect a range of novel innovations regarding both digital networks of communication as well as physical improvements to the manufacture of devices. Our search of Fujitsu’s recent patents rendered up many which we felt worth sharing with our readers on IPWatchdog today.

Several new telecommunication systems which involve developing technologies are at the forefront of a trio of patents that caught our eyes at the USPTO database. Wireless personal area networks (WPANs) may become more sophisticated as a result of the invention protected by U.S. Patent No. 8704656, which is titled Improvements to Body Area Networks. This system, designed for patient monitoring applications in medical facilities, is capable of monitoring a patient’s basic vital information and directing emergency event information across a network through a high-priority link, reducing transmission time. U.S. Patent 8704632, entitled In-Vehicle System, In-Vehicle Device, and Execution Control Method of Command of the In-Vehicle Device, protects a method of providing portable information terminals in vehicles that are cheap while overcoming some shortcomings of their design. These shortcomings include improper execution of commands and the display of private information on a terminal screen while driving. High-speed digital communications using a laser beam are discussed in U.S. Patent No. 8705583, issued under the title Semiconductor Laser. This patent protects a semiconductor laser producing a distributed feedback laser, capable of supporting data transmission speeds approaching 40 gigabytes per second (Gb/s) through the use of a distributed reflector region.

From U.S. Patent No. 8706465, which is titled “Support System Enabling a Design of an Electronic Device Including an Input Device Utilizing Elasticity and Method Thereof.”

We also took a close look at a couple of issued patents that focus more on hardware than digital computing systems, especially those protecting better methods of producing various devices. For example, U.S. Patent No. 8706465, which is titled Support System Enabling a Design of an Electronic Device Including an Input Device Utilizing Elasticity and Method Thereof, protects the manufacture of electronic devices with a reactive analog indication of a digital touch input. For example, this system could provide a click response which is reactive to the force of a digital input, notifying the device user that an input was received. Finally, we were intrigued by the technology discussed within U.S. Patent No. 8702726, entitled Abrasive Agent, Method for Producing Abrasive Agents, and Electronic Device. This patent protects methods of creating abrasive agents from silica and manganese by combining, heating and milling those components. The abrasive agents are then used to polish liquid crystal displays and other screens for high display accuracy, providing an effective substitution for the rare earth metal cerium, used in agents like cerium oxide.