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Understanding Trusted Traffic Exceptions on TippingPoint Devices

🏠 Think of it like a security guard at your building...

Imagine your TippingPoint device is like a security guard checking everyone who enters and leaves your building. While this is great for security, some people (like maintenance staff or regular employees) might need to pass through quickly without a full inspection every time. Trusted traffic exceptions are like giving these trusted people a special pass that lets them bypass the security checkpoint.

What Are Trusted Traffic Exceptions?

Trusted traffic exceptions (also called inspection bypass rules) tell your TippingPoint security device to let certain network traffic pass through without deep inspection. This is useful for:

  • Trusted internal systems - Like backup servers talking to each other
  • Performance-critical applications - That need the fastest possible connection
  • Encrypted traffic - That the device can't inspect anyway

Why Do You Need Trusted Traffic Exceptions?

1. Performance Benefits

Just like having an express lane at the grocery store, bypassing trusted traffic makes everything faster. Your TippingPoint device has a limit on how much traffic it can inspect per second - exceptions help you stay within that limit.

2. Prevent False Alarms

Sometimes legitimate business applications can trigger security alerts. Creating exceptions for trusted traffic reduces these false positives.

3. Resource Conservation

By not inspecting traffic you already trust, your device can focus its processing power on potentially dangerous traffic.

⚠️ Important: Bypassed traffic doesn't count against your device's inspection capacity limits, but it also receives no security inspection at all. Use this feature carefully!

Methods to Implement Trusted Traffic Exceptions

Method 1: Inspection Bypass Rules

What it does: Creates rules that completely bypass the inspection engine for specific traffic patterns.

Best for:

  • Internal server-to-server communication
  • Backup traffic
  • Database replication
  • Known encrypted traffic

How it works:

  1. You specify traffic criteria (like source/destination IP addresses, ports, or protocols)
  2. The device creates a rule that says "let this traffic pass without inspection"
  3. Matching traffic flows directly through the device

Rule Limits:

  • TPS devices: Up to 32 bypass rules
  • IPS devices: Up to 8 bypass rules

Method 2: Reputation Filter Exceptions

What it does: Creates exceptions within reputation-based filtering for specific websites or domains you trust.

Best for:

  • Business-critical websites
  • Internal web applications
  • Cloud services your company uses

How it works:

  1. You add specific URLs or domains to an exception list
  2. Even if the reputation system would normally block or inspect these sites, your exceptions allow them through
  3. You can use wildcards (like *.yourcompany.com) to cover multiple related sites
Note: This method requires TOS v5.0.0 or later and only works on specific TippingPoint models (T Series, TX Series, and Virtual TPS).

Method 3: Traffic Management Filters

What it does: Traffic Management Filters are manually created, policy-based filters that provide administrators with granular control over network traffic based on specific parameters. This allows you to trust traffic and reduce the overall load on the Threat Suppression Engine.

Best for:

  • Provide custom access control policies
  • Enable traffic prioritization through rate limiting
  • Allow trusted traffic to bypass inspection for performance optimization
  • When you want to balance security and performance

How it works:

These filters essentially give administrators the ability to create custom, policy-driven traffic control rules that complement the automated threat detection capabilities of the TippingPoint system.

Step-by-Step Implementation Process

Planning Phase:

  1. Identify trusted traffic - What applications, servers, or websites does your organization use regularly?
  2. Analyze traffic patterns - Use your device's monitoring tools to see what's consuming inspection capacity
  3. Prioritize exceptions - Start with the highest-volume, most trusted traffic

Configuration Phase:

  1. Access your SMS (Security Management System) - This is the management interface for your TippingPoint device
  2. Navigate to the appropriate configuration section:
    • For bypass rules: Look for "Inspection Bypass" settings under your device summary
    • For reputation exceptions: Go to your inspection profiles, then select Reputation/Geo 
    • For Traffic Management: Go to your inspection profiles, then select Traffic Management
  3. Create your rules - Specify the traffic you want to exempt
  4. Test carefully - Start with less critical traffic to make sure your rules work as expected
  5. Monitor results - Check that your exceptions are working and not causing security gaps

Best Practices

  • Start small: Begin with obvious candidates like internal backup traffic
  • Document everything: Keep track of what you've excluded and why
  • Regular review: Periodically check if your exceptions are still needed
  • Monitor performance: Watch your device's inspection throughput to see if exceptions are helping
  • Security first: When in doubt, inspect the traffic - it's better to be safe
⚠️ Security Reminder: Remember that bypassed traffic receives no security inspection. Only create exceptions for traffic you truly trust from reliable sources to reliable destinations.

Summary

Trusted traffic exceptions are like creating express lanes for your most trusted network traffic. They help your TippingPoint device focus its security inspection resources on potentially dangerous traffic while letting known-good traffic pass through quickly. The key is finding the right balance between security and performance for your specific network environment.

This guide is based on TippingPoint documentation and is designed for educational purposes. Always consult your specific device documentation and consider your organization's security policies before implementing traffic exceptions.

Keywords: Traffic Management Filter, TMF, Inspection Bypass Rule, Trusted Traffic