CLIENT DEVICE IDENTIFICATION THROUGH CACHE MANIPULATION

• US 20110185051A1
• Filed: 01/25/2011
• Published: 07/28/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CA, Inc. (d/b/a CA Technologies) (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Arcot Systems, Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Reno, James D.
• Granted Patent: US 8,924,529 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/955 using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]

Abstract

A method of identifying a networked client device of a host machine or server includes generating an encoded modified date during a first access attempt by the client device of a server-based object, storing the encoded modified date in a local cache of the device, and processing the encoded modified date during a second access attempt by the client device. A system includes the server and a memory device on which is recorded a server-based object. The server generates and stores the encoded modified date in the local cache, e.g., via HTTP, during the first access attempt of the object by the client device, and processes the encoded modified date during a second access attempt by the same client device to uniquely identify the client device. Restricted information may be provided to the client device upon successful identification.

Claims

1. A method for identifying a networked client device of a server, the method comprising:

generating an encoded modified date, via the server, during a first access attempt by the client device of a server-based object, wherein the encoded modified date provides a unique identifier for the client device;

automatically recording the encoded modified date in a local cache of the client device during the first access attempt; and

identifying the client device by processing the encoded modified date using the server during a second access attempt of the server-based object by the client device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the server-based object is one of a web page, an image, and a script.

3. The method of claim 2, including the image and the web page, the method further comprising:

using the server to randomly generate the image on the web page as the server-based object, and then transmitting the image, the web page, and the encoded modified date to the client device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically recording the encoded modified date in the local cache includes using Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the client device includes a user agent configured for retrieving the server-based object, and for storage of the same within the local cache, and wherein generating an encoded modified date occurs in response to a login of the server by the client device using the user agent.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

using the server to generate one of a Java Applet, a JavaScript file, and an image as the server-based object, and to transmit the server-based object and the encoded modified date to the client device.

7. A system comprising:

a server in networked communication with a client device; and

a tangible, non-transitory memory device on which is recorded a server-based object;

wherein the server is configured to;

generate and store an encoded modified date in a local cache of the client device during a first access attempt of the server-based object by the client device; and

process the encoded modified date during a second access attempt of the server-based object by the client device, thereby uniquely identifying the client device.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the server-based object is one of a JavaScript file, a Java Applet, and an image.

9. The system of claim 8, including the image and the web page, wherein the server is configured to randomly generate the image on the web page as the server-based object.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the server is configured to automatically record the encoded modified date in the local cache of the client device using Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).

11. A method for identifying a networked client device of a server, the method comprising:

receiving, via the server, a first access attempt by a user agent of the client device of a server-based object, wherein the server-based object is at least one of a web page, an image, and a script;

generating an encoded modified date, via the server, in response to the first access attempt, wherein the encoded modified date provides a unique identifier for the client device;

automatically recording the encoded modified date in a local cache of the client device using Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) during the first access attempt; and

identifying the client device by processing the encoded modified date using the server during a second access attempt of the server-based object by the client device.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

using the server to randomly generate the image.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein using the server to randomly generate the image includes randomly generating a 1 pixel×

1 pixel digital image.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

using the server to generate one of a JavaSript file and a Java Applet as the server-based object.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

transmitting a set of user-restricted information from the server to the client device only upon successful identification of the client device.