DETAILED ACTION
Notice of AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
The present office action is responsive to communications received on 3/27/2025. Claims 1-20 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 7/7/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP §§ 706.02(l)(1) - 706.02(l)(3) for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp.
Claims 1, 9 and 15 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1 and 12-13 of U.S. Patent No. 12332997. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because claims of the 12332997 contain every element of claims of the instant application. Application claims 1, 9 and 15 are anticipated by the patent claims 1 and 12-13.
A later patent claim is not patentably distinct from an earlier patent claim if the later claim is obvious over, or anticipated by, the earlier claim. In re Longi, 759 F.2d at 896, 225 USPQ at 651 (affirming a holding of obviousness-type double patenting because the claims at issue were obvious over claims in four prior art patents); In re Berg, 140 F.3d at 1437, 46 USPQ2d at 1233 (Fed. Cir. 1998) (affirming a holding of obviousness-type double patenting where a patent application claim to a genus is anticipated by a 35 patent claim to a species within that genus). “ELI LILLY AND COMPANY v BARR LABORATORIES, INC., United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, ON PETITION FOR REHEARING EN BANC (DECIDED: May 30, 2001).
Instant Application No. 19092224
Patent No. 12332997
1. A method for modeling insider attacks, the method comprising:
generating, by a processing resource, an image for each of multiple attack vectors to generate multiple real images, where each of the multiple attack vectors include data elements from network traffic in an insider attack;
creating, by the processing resource, multiple noise modified vectors by modifying at least one element of each of the multiple attack vectors;
generating, by the processing resource, an image for each of the multiple noise modified vectors to yield multiple generated images;
classifying, by the processing resource, each of the real images and generated images as corresponding to either an attack vector or a noise modified vector;
calculating, by the processing resource, an accuracy of the classifying; and
identifying, by the processing resource, an insider attack model as trained based at least in part on the accuracy of the classifying being less than or equal to a threshold value.
Similar for claim 9 and 15
1. A method for increasing insider attack data, the method comprising:
accessing, by a processing resource, an actual insider attack image;
disaggregating, by the processing resource, the actual insider attack image into a first component image corresponding to an actual insider attack, a second component image corresponding to a first context of the actual insider attack, and a third component image corresponding to a second context of the actual insider attack;
replacing, by the processing resource, the second component image with an alternate component image;
aggregating, by the processing resource, the first component image with at least the alternate component image to yield a synthetic insider attack image; and
training, by the processing resource, an insider attack classification model using a combination of images including at least the actual insider attack image and the synthetic insider attack image.
Similar for claim 12-13
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-20 are allowable over prior art.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Regarding claims 1, 9 and 15, the prior art:
Bogren (US 20220232031 A1) teaches evaluating cyber security risks.
Rubin (US 11399039 B2) teaches automatic detection of illicit lateral movement.
Navarrete Michelini (US 11361222 B2) teaches image classification.
Odry (US 11049243 B2) teaches target detection in latent space.
However, the prior art – individually, or in a reasonable combination – fails to teach the invention described in the claims as a whole.
“creating, by the processing resource, multiple noise modified vectors by modifying at least one element of each of the multiple attack vectors;
generating, by the processing resource, an image for each of the multiple noise modified vectors to yield multiple generated images;”
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 11651313 B1 Insider Threat Detection Using Access Behavior Analysis
US 20230039039 A1 Process For Determining A Degree Of Data Exposure
US 20200186544 A1 Systems And Methods For Behavioral Threat Detection
US 20180191726 A1 Access Relationships In A Computer System
US 20170070527 A1 Systems And Methods For Matching And Scoring Sameness
US 20170061123 A1 Detecting Suspicious File Prospecting Activity From Patterns Of User Activity
US 20230058569 A1 Systems and methods for quantifying file access risk exposure by an endpoint in a network environment
US 20230054138 A1, "Systems and methods for training an insider attack model using images having both region specificity and spatial relationships", by Khanna, teaches identifying potential insider attacks on a computer network.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HAN YANG whose telephone number is (408)918-7638. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Friday, 9:00-5:00.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Carl Colin can be reached on 571-272-3862. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HAN YANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2493
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