Method for controlling access to internet sites

• US 20040049587A1
• Filed: 09/05/2003
• Published: 03/11/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Orange S.A.
• Original Assignee: Orange S.A.
• Inventors: Aurbertin, Laurent, Henaff, Mari-Mai
• Granted Patent: US 7,353,283 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/229
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/101 Access control lists [ACL]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles

Abstract

The invention concerns a method for controlling access to an Internet site from said site address. The inventive method consists in: registering said sites in a hosting service; recording data identifying users of the hosting service and data concerning each of said users including access rights to one or several hosted sites; verifying for every request for access to a hosted site address whether said request originates from a registered user and whether said user has access rights for said address.

Claims

1. A method for controlling access to a website from the address of this site, characterized in that it comprises the steps of:

registering said sites with a hosting service,

storing information identifying users of the hosting service and information for each of said users including rights of access to one or more of the hosted sites,

checking for all requests for accessing an address of a hosted site whether this request comes from a registered user and whether this user has rights for accessing this address.

2. The access control method according to claim 1, characterized in that a request for accessing an address of a hosted site results in said address being selected in an electronic message.

3. The access control method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises the step of:

performing an update of the records of users and the information on the rights they have been granted.

4. The access control method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the information on the rights granted include the address(es) of the sites that can be accessed.

5. The access control method according to claim 4, characterized in that in addition to the address(es) the information on rights granted includes data representing a validity period of the right granted.

9. The access control device according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the means for checking the access requests is embodied by a server (G).

10. The access control device according to claim 9, characterized in that the servers are separate servers physically and logically linked together.

6. A device for controlling access to website addresses, characterized in that it comprises:

hosting means (H) for registering said sites and providing a hosting service,

means (BU, CA) for storing information identifying users of the hosting service and information for each of said users including rights for accessing one or more of the hosted sites,

means (G) for checking for all requests for accessing an address of a hosted site whether this request comes from a registered user and whether this user has rights for accessing this address.

7. The access control device according to claim 6, characterized in that the hosting means (H) are embodied by a server being the hosting service.

8. The access control device according to claim 6, characterized in that the means for storing identification information is embodied by a server being a user database (BU).

11. A server (H) for hosting websites, characterized in that it comprises means for linking to a server (BU) being a user database containing information identifying the users of the hosting service and information for each of said users, including rights for accessing one or more hosted sites, and means for linking to a server (G) including a unit for managing site addresses and rights for accessing these addresses for each user of the database, this server being designed for checking for all requests for accessing an address of a hosted site whether this requests comes from a registered user and whether this user has rights for accessing this address.

12. An administration server (G), characterized in that it comprises means for linking to a website hosting server (H), a unit for managing website addresses, and information regarding the rights for accessing these addresses for users, this administration server (G) being designed for checking for all requests for accessing an address of a hosted site whether this request comes from a registered user and whether this user has rights for accessing this address, and means of linking to a server (H) where information identifying said users is stored, the server being a user database, containing information identifying users of the hosting service and information for each of said users including rights for accessing one or more hosted sites.

13. A user database server (BU), characterized in that it comprises means for storing information identifying users of a website hosting service and information for each of said users including the rights for accessing one or more hosted sites, means for linking to a server (H) providing said hosting service and means for linking to a server (G) including a unit for managing addresses of hosted websites and information regarding the rights for accessing these addresses for users, the server being designed for checking all requests for accessing an address of a hosted site whether this request comes from a registered user and whether this user has rights for accessing this address.