WO2005015086A2

WO2005015086A2 - Network asset tracker for identifying users of networked computers

Info

Publication number: WO2005015086A2
Application number: PCT/US2004/024186
Authority: WO
Inventors: Alan Schunemann
Original assignee: Etelemetry, Inc.
Priority date: 2003-07-28
Filing date: 2004-07-28
Publication date: 2005-02-17
Also published as: JP2007502554A; CA2534121A1; JP4554609B2; US7555550B2; US20070288579A1; US20090287788A1; WO2005015086A3; EP1654667A2; EP1654667A4; US20050027806A1; US7133916B2

Abstract

A network attached apparatus, system, method and computer program product for identifying users of networked computers is provided. The apparatus is installed at core network uplink points and analyzes packets as they traverse the network and intelligently correlates the contents of the traffic with user contact and system access information. The resulting information is used to identify the user of the networked computer for security or accounting purposes.

Description

TITLE OF THE INVENTION NETWORK ASSET TRACKER FOR IDENTIFYING USERS OF NETWORKED COMPUTERS

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to computer networks, and more

particularly to apparatus, systems, methods and computer program products that

provide security within such computer networks.

Related Art In today' s technological climate it is typical for an enterprise (-. e. , a business

concern, corporation, institution, organization, government agency or the like) to own

and operate one or more computer networks (e.g. , local area networks (LANs) and the

like). These computer networks maybe spread out over several offices, floors and/or

buildings. Within these computer networks are large amounts of sensitive, proprietary

(and sometimes, confidential) data. Thus, it is understandable that such enterprises

are concerned with the security of their computer networks.

Regardless ofthe implementation of login/password schemes, unauthorized

users inevitably obtain access to computer networks. In fact, even those users to

whom access of computer networks are authorized (e.g., employees, independent

contractors, sub-contractors and the like), may often use such networks in an

unauthorized manner. Further, a great deal of unauthorized activity centers around

electronic mail ("e-mail"). For example, an unauthorized user, or an authorized user acting in an unauthorized manner, may send an enterprise's confidential data to unauthorized persons or unauthorized computer systems via the world-wide, public

Internet using e-mail. Given the above-described problem, what is needed is an apparatus, system,

method and computer program product for identifying users of networked computers.

Today, the problem is typically solved by first referring to any existing cable plant documentation (if available) or physically tracing the cable to a physical location.

Then, security or IT personnel must arrive at the physical location in order to

physically identifying the offending user. The needed apparatus, system, method and

computer program product, however, should analyze network e-mail traffic and map

Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to end users (i.e., identify the user of a specific IP

address within the network). The needed apparatus, system, method and computer

program product would result in lowered response time for identifying, locating and

disabling computers that pose a security threat.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention meets the above identified needs by providing an

apparatus, system, method and computer program product for identifying users of

networked computers. That is, in an embodiment, the present invention provides a

network asset tracking system that maps end users to workstation Internet Protocol

(IP) addresses by passively analyzing (existing) network traffic. The network asset

tracking system ofthe present invention also provides, in an embodiment, a reporting

of end user-to-IP address mappings via a database-backed Web application. In an embodiment, the network asset tracking system ofthe present invention includes two components — a name discovery system "back end" and an administrative Web application "front end." The name discovery system ("NDS") is

a "sniffer" apparatus (i.e., hardware) connected to the primary switch of the

enterprise's LAN. The NDS apparatus captures and analyzes network traffic. The

Web application is provided for administrators ofthe computer network to manage

and correlate the data captured by the NDS and cross-correlates such data with the

enterprise's directory data to map IP addresses to end users.

An advantage ofthe present invention is that it allows users of computers that

pose a security threat to be identified with lowered response time for locating and

disabling the suspect computer.

Another advantage ofthe present invention is that it maps a computer user's

identity to an organization's directory information (e.g., building, room, phone, etc.),

allowing the physical location of a computer to be determined (i.e., identifying a

specific building and/or room). Thus, security threats addressed by the present

invention not only include those by unauthorized users, but also Trojan horse-type

attacks where physically locating such attacks are critical.

Another advantage ofthe present invention is that it provides identification of

computer users who are using a computer network's assets inappropriately and it can

also identify computer users and their organization within a company for Information

Technology (IT) infrastructure accounting purposes. This advantage becomes clearer

when considering the accounting problem faced by large enterprises who share a large

common network infrastructure, yet attempt to allocate the costs of network

maintenance and support to separate divisions or departments. Yet another advantage ofthe present invention is that it can identify errors in existing cable plant (network) documentation. By providing the physical location of a network connection, combined with the IP address on the switch port in the network closet, the present invention enables documenting the last "hop" and auditing of such existing network documentation. Further features and advantages of the present invention as well as the structure and operation of various embodiments ofthe present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES The features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description set forth below when taken in conjunction with the drawings. Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating an enterprise's local area computer network in which the present invention may be implemented according to one embodiment.

Figures 2 and 3A-D are flowcharts illustrating network asset tracking

processes according to alternate embodiments ofthe present invention.

Figure 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary computer system useful for implementing the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION I. Overview

The present invention is directed to an apparatus, system, method and

computer program product for identifying users of networked computers. In an embodiment, the present invention is provided to an enterprise as a solution for mapping Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to an organization's personnel

using directory data and the contents of network traffic. First, the enterprise's local

area network (e.g., Ethernet, FDDI or the like) traffic is captured and analyzed by

installing a name discovery system apparatus (i.e., 'TSIDS" hardware) on the primary

switch of the enterprise's local area network (LAN). The captured data is

cross-correlated with list data to map IP addresses to end users. Second, the network

asset tracking solution ofthe present invention also provides access and manipulation

ofthe collected network traffic data through a database-backed Web application for use by the enterprise's IT administrative personnel. The apparatus, system, method and computer program ofthe present invention

allow users of computers that pose a security threat to be identified with lowered

response time for locating and disabling the suspect computer. Further, the present

invention also allows an enterprise to perform accounting functions. For example, an

enterprise may be interested in determining the network usage (e.g., number of

network connections) for a subset of computer users (e.g., sub-contractors versus

employees) for billing and other accounting purposes (e.g., shared/allocated network

infrastructure cost models employed by certain enterprises such as government

agencies). The present invention is now described in detail below in terms ofthe above examples. This is for convenience only and is not intended to limit the application of

the present invention. In fact, after reading the following description, it will be

apparent to one skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implement the following invention

in alternative embodiments (e.g., the analysis of different types of network traffic within different types of computer networks).

The terms "user," "entity," "personnel," "staff," "organization," "enterprise"

and the plural form of these terms are used interchangeably throughout herein to refer to those who would access, use, be identified by and/or benefit from the tool that the

present invention provides for identifying users of networked computers.

II. Apparatus and System Architecture Referring to Figure 1 , a network asset tracking ("NAT") system 100 according

to an embodiment ofthe present invention is shown.

System 100 includes an enterprise's local area network (e.g., Ethernet)

backbone 102 which interconnects a plurality of end-user computers 104. In alternate

embodiments, computers 104 are terminals, workstations (e.g., Sun^® SPARC™ or NT™

workstation running the Sun^® Solaris™, Microsoft^® Windows 2000^™ or XP^™, or IBM^®

AK™ operating system) or personal computers (PC) (e.g., an IBM^™ or compatible PC

running the Microsoft^® Windows 95/98™ or Windows NT^™ operating system,

Macintosh^® computer running the Mac^® OS operating system, or the like). (For

simplicity, Figure 1 shows computers 104a-n). In alternative embodiments, users may

access LAN 102 using any processing device 104 including, but not limited to, a desktop computer, laptop, palmtop, set-top box, personal digital assistant (PDA) and the like.

The backbone of LAN 102 is connected to a primary switch (i.e., the LAN's primary Internet link) 106. Switch 106 is connected to a router 108 which in turn provides users of computers 104 with a connection to the public, global Internet 112. In an embodiment, a name discovery system ("NDS") apparatus 110 is connected to primary switch 106. NDS 110 functions as a "sniffer" hardware (i.e., a collection node) for capturing LAN 102 inbound and outbound traffic. In one embodiment, NDS 110 is a one rack unit (1U) box with a power plug. In such an embodiment, NDS 110 has two 100Mbps network connections to primary switch 106. As shown in Figure 1, one link is a mirrored uplink, via one NDS 110 port to collect data from LAN 102. A second NDS 110 port is utilized for sending periodic data files and permitting regular access via a Web application. As will be appreciated by one skilled in the relevant art(s) after reading the description herein, in such an embodiment, NDS 110 requires two valid IP addresses. As will also be appreciated by those skilled in the relevant art(s) after reading the description herein,

for larger networks, an NDS 110 can be installed at each core network uplink point (i.e., primary switch) in an alternate embodiment.

In an embodiment, administrators of LAN 102 are given access to NDS 110 via a "front end" Web application which includes a login/password scheme. Such a

front end is provided by Web server computer 114 having LAN 102 connectivity to NDS 110. As will be appreciated by one skilled in the relevant art(s), Web server 114 provides the "front-end" for NAT system 100. That is, server 114 contains a Web server process which sends out Web pages in response to Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)or Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS) requests from remote browsers (e.g., administrators of LAN 102). More specifically, it provides graphical user interface (GUI)"front-end" screens to such administrative users of NAT system 100 in the form of Web pages. These Web pages, when sent to the users' respective computers 104, result in GUI screens being displayed. In an alternate embodiment, administrators of LAN 102 are also given remote access to NDS 110 via the Secure Shell (SSH) program on port 22 ofthe NDS 110. As will also be appreciated by one skilled in the relevant art(s) after reading the description herein, in alternate embodiments, NDS 110 would contain, or have access to within NATS system 100, a central repository for storing all LAN 102 traffic data collected. Such a repository would also be accessible to the "front end" Web application to allow administrators of LAN 102 to collect statistics, view reports and the like. More detailed descriptions of NAT system 100 components, as well their functionality, are provided below.

III. Operation Referring to Figure 2, a flowchart illustrating the data flow of a network asset tracking process 200 according to an embodiment ofthe present invention is shown. First, inbound and outbound e-mail traffic data 202 (e.g., W addresses and e-

mail addresses) within LAN 102 are collected (i.e., extracted) and stored by NDS 110.

In an embodiment, the Tethereal ("dump and analyze network traffic") network protocol analyzer utility (developed as open source for Unix and Windows and available under the GNU General Public License) is used by NDS 110 to extract data from LAN 102. In alternate embodiments, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the relevant art(s) after reading the description herein, other widely-available utilities (such as Snoop, Tcpdump or the like, or custom code logic) maybe used by NDS 110 to extract data from LAN 102. Next, Web server computer 114 (providing the above-mentioned database- backed Web application), having LAN 102 connectivity to NDS 110 would join the NDS 110 collected data and the enterprise's personnel directory information 206 in order to identify the users of computers 104 within LAN 102 (i.e., map users to IP addresses). More specifically, server 114 provides GUI 208 "front-end" screens to such administrative users of NAT system 100 in the form of Web pages . These Web pages, when sent to the users' respective computers, result in GUI screens 208 being displayed. In an embodiment, the enterprise's personnel directory information 206 is organized as an ITU-T X.500 or other formatted database containing data about the enterprise's personnel (i.e., those authorized to use computers 104 within LAN 102). In an embodiment, such a database is a comma or tab delimited text file containing the

exemplary fields listed in Table 1.

Table 1 In an embodiment, NAT system 100 would generate, on a periodic time

interval basis (e.g., hourly, daily, weekly, etc.), an output data file containing all LAN 102 traffic data collected. In such an embodiment, the processing of data within NAT

system 100 creates a text data file that is comma delimited for easy importing into

other software application products (e.g., Microsoft^® Excel and the like). In alternate

embodiments, the NAT system 100 output data file contains a subset or all of the

exemplary fields listed in Table 2:

JO-

Table 2 In an embodiment, the Web application GUI screens 208 provide the capability

of sorting the tabular results on any returned field from Table 2. As will be

appreciated by one skilled in the relevant art(s) after reading the description herein,

the fields from Table 2 that can actually be presented in NAT system 100 output data

files, and the resulting mapping of users to IP addresses, is dependent on the quality

of the data found within the enterprise's personnel directory 206. As will also be

Table 1 and Table 2 can be joined together using the E-mail Address field common

to both tables. It should be understood that Figure 2, which highlights the functionality and

other advantages of NAT system 100, is presented for example purposes only. The

architecture ofthe present invention is sufficiently flexible and configurable such that

data collection and processing within NAT system 100 may take place in ways other

than that shown in Figure 2 (e.g. , one or more data processing functions shown to take

place on Web server 114 may take place on NDS 110 and vice versa). VI. NDS Data Extraction

In an embodiment, NDS 110 is able to extract e-mail addresses and IP addresses from LAN 102 traffic data by analyzing port 25 of switch 106 for Simple

Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) data, port llO ofswitch 106 for Post Office Protocol, version 3 (POP3) data and port 143 of switch 106 for Internet Message Access

Protocol, version 4 (IMAP) data.

Referring to Figure 3 A, a flowchart illustrating the data flow of network asset

tracking process 200 according to one embodiment ofthe present invention is shown. More specifically, in Figure 3 A, computer 104 users are identified by NDS 110 from

SMTP data traffic 202 exchanged between an enterprise' s internal (SMTP) mail server

302 and external users 306 accessing outside (e.g., public Internet) SMTP mail servers

308.

Most installations of SMTP servers do not implement data compression or

encryption. The initial SMTP greeting will identify the domain from which the e-mail

is originating. As seen in Figure 3A, extracted data 304 (i.e., e-mail traffic data

extracted by NDS 110) is analyzed by process 200. The command "MAIL FROM:"

will identify the full e-mail address ofthe sender, and the command "RCPT TO:" will

identify the full e-mail address of the recipient. Once NDS 110 extracts data from

LAN 102, code logic stored therein is utilized to search for the following patterns to

obtain user identifiers:

Command: MAIL Request parameter: FROM: or:

Command: RCPT Request parameter: TO:

User identifiers will follow "FROM:" and "TO:" with the identifiers possibly

contained with-in "<" and ">" characters. Words after the ":" and before a "<" will

usually be some string ofthe user identifiers. ("FROM:" and "TO:" refer to sender and recipient, respectively.)

Referring to Figure 3B, a flowchart illustrating the data flow of network asset

tracking process 200 according to one embodiment ofthe present invention is shown.

More specifically, in Figure 3B, computer 104 users are identified by NDS 110 from

POP3 traffic 202 exchanged between an enterprise's internal (POP) mail server 302

and external users accessing outside (e.g., public Internet) mail servers.

The POP3 protocol does not use data encryption or compression. As seen in

Figure 3B, extracted data 304 (i.e., e-mail traffic data extracted by NDS 110) is analyzed by process 200. In POP3, a "USER" command is followed a space then the

user identity (normally the username part of an e-mail address). Most

implementations of the POP3 will usually have the "PASS" command follow the

"USER" command. A "PASS" command will be followed by a space then the user's

password in clear (i.e., unencrypted text). A server response of "OK" will confirm the

user's authenticity. Thus, in such an embodiment, a real-time analysis on the POP3

protocol is done using code logic to perform pattern matching for the following: Request: USER

Request Arg:

"Request Arg:" will be followed by a username string that will identify a user's

identity. With this information, the packet header will include source and destination IP addresses to clearly identify the system the user is using. The inventor has found

that, generally, less than 64 bytes of data is needed to capture the user's identifier. Referring to Figure 3C, a flowchart illustrating the data flow of network asset tracking process 200 according to one embodiment ofthe present invention is shown.

More specifically, in Figure 3C, computer 104 users are identified by NDS 110 from

IMAP traffic 202 exchanged between an enterprise's internal (IMAP) mail server 302

and external users accessing outside (e.g., public Internet) e-mail.

Like POP3, IMAP does not have data encryption or compression by default.

As seen in Figure 3C, extracted data 304 (i.e., e-mail traffic data extracted by NDS

110) is analyzed by process 200. Thus, a pattern match for the string "LOGIN" (case

insensitive) will be used to identify a user's identity. After a "LOGIN" command has

been issued to the server, a response of "OK LOGIN completed" or "FAIL" will

confirm the user's identity. Obtaining a user's username for an BVIAP system is

similar to that of POP3 by examining for a pattern: Request Tag: 000 A

Request: LOGIN

Following the keyword "LOGIN" will be two arguments (username and password)

wrapped in double quotes. Extracting only the necessary information, username, is

done at this step. Similar to POP3, the inventor has found that less than 64 bytes of

data is needed to be captured to obtain the user identifier. Depending on the client, the

LOGIN command is normally within the first five IMAP packets sent.

Referring to Figure 3D, a flowchart illustrating the data flow of network asset

More specifically, in Figure 3D, computer 104 users are identified from Microsoft^® Exchange e-mail data traffic 202 exchanged between an enterprise's internal (Exchange) mail server 302 and external users 306 accessing outside (e.g., public

Internet) e-mail servers (not shown in Figure 3D). Microsoft^® Exchange Server 2000, and subsequent updates, encrypt traffic

between Microsoft^® Outlook clients (executing on the client computers 104) and the

Exchange mail server 302. Thus, in an alternate embodiment ofthe present invention,

a small script loaded on Exchange server 302 is utilized to obtain extracted data 304.

That is, the script is executed at a pre-configured, regular interval, and leverages the

Exchange Server 2000 Message Tracking Center (i.e., enabling the message tracking

feature on server 302) and its associated tracking log files (e.g., yyyymmdd.txt) which

reside on a server 302 share to extract IP and e-mail addresses of senders of e-mail within the network.

In an alternate embodiment, the Microsoft Exchange tracking log files can be

remotely accessed using a script that leverages the filesystem object to open the log

files and parse them to obtain IP and e-mail addresses of e-mail senders within the

network.

In either of the two above-described embodiments, as seen in Figure 3D,

extracted data 304 can then analyzed by process 200 as explained above. As will be

appreciated by those skilled in the relevant art(s) after reading the description herein,

the two above-described alternate embodiments leverage Exchange log files and thus

allow NDS 110 to remain unutilized in such embodiments.

It should be understood that Figures 3 A-D, which highlight the functionality

and other advantages of NAT system 100, are presented for example purposes only.

The architecture ofthe present invention is sufficiently flexible and configurable such that data collection and processing within NAT system 100 may take place in ways other than that shown in Figures 3 A-D.

V. Example Implementations The present invention (system 100, process 200 or any part(s) or function(s)

thereof) may be implemented using hardware, software or a combination thereof and

may be implemented in one or more computer systems or other processing systems.

In fact, in one embodiment, the invention is directed toward one or more computer

systems capable of carrying out the functionality described herein. An example of a

computer system 400 is shown in Figure 4. The computer system 400 includes one

or more processors, such as processor 404. The processor 404 is connected to a

communication infrastructure 406 (e.g., a communications bus, cross-over bar, or network). Various software embodiments are described in terms of this exemplary

computer system. After reading this description, it will become apparent to a person

skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implement the invention using other computer

systems and or architectures.

Computer system 400 can include a display interface 402 that forwards

graphics, text, and other data from the communication infrastructure 406 (or from a

frame buffer not shown) for display on the display unit 430.

Computer system 400 also includes a main memory 408, preferably random

access memory (RAM), and may also include a secondary memory 410. The

secondary memory 410 may include, for example, a hard disk drive 412 and/or a

removable storage drive 414, representing a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive,

an optical disk drive, etc. The removable storage drive 414 reads from and/or writes to a removable storage unit 418 in a well known manner. Removable storage unit 418 represents a floppy disk, magnetic tape, optical disk, etc. which is read by and written to by removable storage drive 414. As will be appreciated, the removable storage unit

418 includes a computer usable storage medium having stored therein computer software and/or data.

In alternative embodiments, secondary memory 410 may include other similar

devices for allowing computer programs or other instructions to be loaded into

computer system 400. Such devices may include, for example, a removable storage

unit 422 and an interface 420. Examples of such may include a program cartridge and

cartridge interface (such as that found in video game devices), a removable memory

chip (such as an erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), or

programmable read only memory (PROM)) and associated socket, and other

removable storage units 422 and interfaces 420, which allow software and data to be

transferred from the removable storage unit 422 to computer system 400. Computer system 400 may also include a communications interface 424.

Communications interface 424 allows software and data to be transferred between

computer system 400 and external devices. Examples of communications interface

424 may include a modem, a network interface (such as an Ethernet card), a

communications port, a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association

(PCMCIA) slot and card, etc. Software and data transferred via communications

interface 424 are in the form of signals 428 which maybe electronic, electromagnetic,

optical or other signals capable of being received by communications interface 424.

These signals 428 are provided to communications interface 424 via a

communications path (e.g., channel) 426. This channel 426 carries signals 428 and maybe implemented using wire or cable, fiber optics, a telephone line, a cellular link, an radio frequency (RF) link and other communications channels.

In this document, the terms "computer program medium" and "computer

usable medium" are used to generally refer to media such as removable storage drive

414, a hard disk installed in hard disk drive 412, and signals 428. These computer program products provide software to computer system 400. The invention is directed

to such computer program products.

Computer programs (also referred to as computer control logic) are stored in

main memory 408 and/or secondary memory 410. Computer programs may also be

received via communications interface 424. Such computer programs, when executed,

enable the computer system 400 to perform the features ofthe present invention, as

discussed herein, hi particular, the computer programs, when executed, enable the

processor 404 to perform the features of the present invention. Accordingly, such

computer programs represent controllers ofthe computer system 400. In an embodiment where the invention is implemented using software, the

software may be stored in a computer program product and loaded into computer

system 400 using removable storage drive 414, hard drive 412 or communications

interface 424. The control logic (software), when executed by the processor 404,

causes the processor 404 to perform the functions ofthe invention as described herein. In another embodiment, the invention is implemented primarily in hardware

using, for example, hardware components such as application specific integrated

circuits (ASICs). Implementation ofthe hardware state machine so as to perform the

functions described herein will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s). In yet another embodiment, the invention is implemented using a combination of both hardware and software.

VI. Conclusion While various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented byway of example, and not limitation. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s) that various changes in form and detail can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe present invention. Thus, the present invention should not be limited by any ofthe above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A system for identifying users of a plurality of computers within a communications network, comprising: a database storing directory information for a plurahty of users authorized to use the plurality of computers within the communications network; a name discovery apparatus having at least one connection to a primary switch

in the communications network for capturing inbound and outbound electronic mail

traffic; and a server, connected to said name discovery apparatus and having access to said

database via the communications network, said server having a server process capable

of joining said inbound and outbound electronic mail traffic captured by said name

discovery apparatus and said directory information stored in said database, thereby identifying which of said plurality of users is using which of the plurality of computers.

2. The system of Claim 1 , wherein the communications network is a local

area network.

3. The system of Claim 2, wherein said local area network is an Ethernet

network.

4. The system of Claim 1 , wherein the communications network is a wide

area network.

5. The system of Claim 1 , further comprising: a central repository, accessible by said name discovery apparatus and said Web server, for storing said inbound and outbound electronic mail traffic captured by said name discovery apparatus.

6. The system of Claim 1, wherein said database is an ITU-T X.500

formatted database.

7. The system of Claim 1 , wherein said database contains at least one of

the following fields of data relating to said plurality of users: (i) First Name; (ii) Last

Name; (iii) Middle Initial; (iv) Nick Names; (v) Name Aliases; (vi) Building;

(vii) Room; (viii) Permanent E-mail; (ix) Temporary E-mail; (x) User Name; (xi)

E-mail Address; and (xii) Affiliation/Organization.

8. The system of Claim 1, wherein said server process is a Web server process capable of responding to browser-based queries to identify which of said

plurality of users is using which ofthe plurality of computers.

9. The system of Claim 1, wherein said inbound and outbound electronic

mail traffic captured by said name discovery apparatus includes at least one of the

following: (i) POP electronic mail traffic; (ii) IMAP electronic mail traffic; and (iii)

SMTP electronic mail traffic.

.

10. A method for identifying users of a plurality of computers within a

communications network, the method comprising the steps of: capturing inbound and outbound electronic mail traffic from at least one primary switch in the communications network; extracting Internet Protocol addresses and electronic mail addresses from said captured inbound and outbound electronic mail traffic; accessing a database of directory information for a plurality of users authorized to use the plurality of computers within the communications network, said database comprising a plurality of electronic mail addresses, each corresponding to one of said plurality of users; and joining said extracted electronic mail addresses with saidplurality of electronic mail addresses stored in said database, thereby mapping a subset of said extracted Internet Protocol addresses to a subset of said plurality of users.

11. The method of Claim 10, further comprising the step of: storing said extracted Internet Protocol addresses and electronic mail addresses in a central repository.

12. The method of Claim 11 , further comprising the steps of: accessing said central repository, and producing a data file, on a pre-determined time interval, said data file containing information on which of said plurality of users used which ofthe plurality of computers during said pre-determined time interval.

13. The method of Claim 10, wherein said extracting step comprises the step of: using pattern matching based upon a known electronic mail protocol to extract said Internet Protocol addresses and said electronic mail addresses from said captured inbound and outbound electronic mail traffic.

14. The method of Claim 13, wherein said known electronic mail protocol is one ofthe following protocols: (i) POP; (ii) MAP; and (iii) SMTP.

15. The method of Claim 10, wherein the communications network is a local area network.

16. The method of Claim 15, wherein said local area network is an Ethernet network.

17. The method of Claim 10, wherein the communications network is a wide area network.

18. The method of Claim 10, wherein said database is an ITU-T X.500 formatted database.

19. The method of Claim 10, further comprising the step of: receiving, via the communications network, a query to identify a user of one ofthe plurality of computers within the communications network, said query including an Internet Protocol address; and responding to said query using said mapping of said subset of said extracted Internet Protocol addresses to said subset of said plurality of users and using said received Internet Protocol address.

20. The method of Claim 10, wherein said database further comprises at least one of the following fields of data for each of said plurality of users: (i) First

Name; (ii) Last Name; (iii) Middle hiitial; (iii) Nick Names; (iv) Name Aliases; (v)

Building; (vi) Room; (vii) User Name; and (viii) Affiliation/Organization.

21. The method of Claim 20, further comprising the step of: receiving, via the communications network, a query to identify a user of one ofthe plurality of computers within the communications network, said query including

at least one of said fields of data; and responding to said query using said mapping of said subset of said extracted Internet Protocol addresses to said subset of said plurality of users and using said received at least one of said fields of data.

22. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium

having control logic stored therein for causing a computer to identify users of a

plurality of terminals within a communications network, said control logic comprising: first computer readable program code means for causing the computer to

capture inbound and outbound electronic mail traffic from at least one primary switch

in the communications network; second computer readable program code means for causing the computer to

extract Internet Protocol addresses and electronic mail addresses from said captured

inbound and outbound electronic mail traffic; third computer readable program code means for causing the computer to

access a database of directory information for a plurality of users authorized to use the

plurality of terminals within the communications network, said database comprising

a plurality of electronic mail addresses, each corresponding to one of said plurality of

users; and fourth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to j oin

said extracted electronic mail addresses with said plurality of electronic mail addresses

stored in said database, thereby mapping a subset of said extracted Internet Protocol

addresses to a subset of said plurality of users.

23. The computer program product of Claim 22, further comprising: fifth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to store said extracted Internet Protocol addresses and electronic mail addresses in a central

repository.

24. The computer program product of Claim 23, further comprising: sixth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to access said central repository; and seventh computer readable program code means for causing the computer to

create a data file, on a pre-determined time interval, said data file containing

information on which of said plurality of users used which ofthe plurality of terminals during said pre-determined time interval.

25. The computer program product of Claim 22, wherein said second

computer readable program code means comprises: fifth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to

perform pattern matching based upon a known electronic mail protocol to extract said

Internet Protocol addresses and said electronic mail addresses from said captured

inbound and outbound electronic mail traffic.

26. The computer program product of Claim 25, wherein said known

electronic mail protocol is one ofthe following protocols: (i) POP; (ii) IMAP; and (iii)

SMTP.

27. The computer program product of Claim 22, wherein said database is

an ITU-T X.500 formatted database.

28. The computer program product of Claim 22, further comprising: fifth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to

receive, via the communications network, a query to identify a user of one of the plurahty of terminals within the communications network, said query including an Internet Protocol address; and sixth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to

respond to said query using said mapping of said subset of said extracted Internet

Protocol addresses to said subset of said plurality of users and using said received Internet Protocol address.

29. The computer program product of Claim 22, wherein said database

further comprises at least one ofthe following fields of data for each of said plurality

of users: (i) First Name; (ii) Last Name; (iii) Middle Initial; (iii) Nick Names; (iv)

Name Aliases; (v) Building; (vi) Room; (vii) User Name; and (viii)

Affiliation Organization.

30. The computer program product of Claim 29, further comprising: fifth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to

receive, via the communications network, a query to identify a user of one of the

plurality of terminals within the communications network, said query including at

least one of said fields of data; and sixth computer readable program code means for causing the computer to

Protocol addresses to said subset of said plurality of users and using said received at

least one of said fields of data.