OpenDNS Makes 3D Cyber-Attack Detection Technology Freely Available

PRESS RELEASE

August 05, 2014
Black Hat USA 2014

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--OpenDNS, a leading provider of cloud-delivered security, today announced that it has released OpenGraphiti, an interactive open source data visualization engine. OpenGraphiti enables security analysts, researchers and data scientists to pair visualization and Big Data to create 3D representations of threats. Much like virologists use known patterns of diseases to recognize a particular virus, OpenGraphiti can uncover sophisticated behaviors and relationships associated with cyber-attacks.

OpenDNS will demonstrate OpenGraphiti at Black Hat USA booth 964. In addition, OpenGraphiti’s creator, OpenDNS security researcher Thibault Reuille, and OpenDNS senior security research lead Andrew Hay, will present a session on the engine here today at 2:15PM PST in the Jasmine Ballroom.

Seeing is Better than Reading

Research has proven that many people process information more efficiently when it is presented in visual rather than text form. According to one study, the human retina can transmit data at roughly the rate of an Ethernet connection. The OpenGraphiti engine enables 2D and 3D visualization of data by harnessing the computational power of both CPUs [1] and GPUs [2], a technique most commonly seen in the video game industry. The engine allows for the visualization of any data, however loosely related, in a medium that is easy to generate, navigate and articulate.

The OpenGraphiti engine and methodologies have been used by OpenDNS to analyze many threats including Cryptolocker and CryptoDefense ransomware, Red October malware, and the Kelihos botnet. It has even provided visualization to trace specific Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) campaigns.

Cryptolocker Use Case

Last year, OpenDNS used OpenGraphiti to detect the Cryptolocker ransomware and block it before it could affect customers. Cryptolocker casts a vast, yet predictable, DGA [3] “net” of domains which, when visualized, show an immediately identifiable interconnected pattern. Despite the fact the Cryptolocker DGAs changed and evolved, OpenGraphiti was able to visually trace their underlying replication scheme, identify future outbreaks and block them.

“We are open sourcing OpenGraphiti to lower the barrier to entry for those looking to visualize complex related data sets,” said Dan Hubbard, CTO of OpenDNS. “Combining intelligent data mining techniques with smart data visualization is the key to detecting and blocking complex attacks before they can cause damage.”

Availability

OpenGraphiti is available immediately from OpenDNS. Please visit www.opengraphiti.com for more information.

Resources

OpenGraphiti Overview: http://www.opengraphiti.com/ OpenGraphiti Screenshot: http://www.opengraphiti.com/gallery/cryptolocker-bfs4.png
OpenGraphiti Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE9qsYBu8MM

Supporting Quotes

“OpenGraphiti projects complex data into a three-dimensional space, enabling the user to quickly and easily spot patterns and anomalies in their data.”

- Jay Jacobs, Co-Author of Data-Driven Security: Analysis, Visualization and Dashboards.

“It is hard to find tools that help visualize large datasets. OpenGraphiti scales quite well and its open architecture allows users to expand the engine with their own capabilities. We need more tools like this that help users gain deeper insight into their data.”

- Raffael Marty, CEO at Pixlcloud and author of Applied Security Visualization.

About OpenDNS

OpenDNS is a leading provider of network security and DNS services, enabling the world to connect to the Internet with confidence on any device, anywhere, anytime. The Umbrella cloud-delivered network security service blocks advanced attacks, as well as malware, botnets and phishing threats regardless of port, protocol or application. Its predictive intelligence uses machine learning to automate protection against emergent threats before they can reach customers. OpenDNS protects all devices globally without hardware to install or software to maintain. For more information, please visit: www.opendns.com.

[1] Central Processing Unit
[2] Graphical Processing Unit
[3] Domain Generation Algorithms are used by malware to periodically generate a large number of domain names that can be used as rendezvous points with their controllers.