MOBILE WEB PROTECTION
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- intercepting, by a first application program at a mobile device, a request including an action to be performed by a second application program on the mobile device, and an identifier associated with the action;
transmitting, by the first application program, the intercepted identifier from the mobile device to a server for evaluation;
receiving the server evaluation of the transmitted intercepted identifier at the mobile device; and
based on the server evaluation, blocking the action or permitting the action.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
On a mobile communications device, visiting a link from a messaging application or web browser may result in an undesired action, such as visiting a phishing site, downloading malware, causing unwanted charges, using too much battery, or the device being exploited. In an implementation, a mobile application intercepts a request including an identifier associated with an action to be performed by another application on the device and evaluates the identifier to determine when the request should be permitted, blocked, or conditionally permitted. The client may use local data or make a request to a server to evaluate the identifier. In an implementation, server communications are optimized to minimize latency by caching evaluation results on the device, proactively priming the device'"'"'s DNS cache, optimizing when DNS lookups are performed, and adapting evaluation policy based on factors such as the source of the request, and the currently active network connection.
286 Citations
43 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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intercepting, by a first application program at a mobile device, a request including an action to be performed by a second application program on the mobile device, and an identifier associated with the action; transmitting, by the first application program, the intercepted identifier from the mobile device to a server for evaluation; receiving the server evaluation of the transmitted intercepted identifier at the mobile device; and based on the server evaluation, blocking the action or permitting the action. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method comprising:
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intercepting, by a first application program at a mobile device, a request including an action to be performed by a second application program on the mobile device, and an identifier associated with the action; transmitting, by the first application program, the intercepted identifier from the mobile device to a server for evaluation; after the transmitting the intercepted identifier, determining that a response from the server has not been received within a threshold time period; and based at least partly on the response not being received within the threshold time period, blocking the action or permitting the action. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method comprising:
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storing on a mobile device a list of identifiers received from a server, each identifier being associated with at least one category; intercepting, by a first application program on the mobile device, a request including an action to be performed by a second application program on the mobile device, and an identifier associated with the action; comparing the intercepted identifier with the stored list of identifiers to determine the at least one category associated with the intercepted identifier; and based at least partly on the comparison, blocking the action or permitting the action. - View Dependent Claims (23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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24. The method of 22 wherein the list of identifiers is a blacklist, and if the intercepted identifier is found in the blacklist during the step of comparing the intercepted identifier, the action is blocked.
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36. A method comprising:
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storing at a server a list of identifiers, each identifier being associated with at least one category; receiving at the server an intercepted identifier from a mobile device, the intercepted identifier being associated with an action to be performed by an application program on the mobile device; comparing the intercepted identifier to the stored list of identifiers to determine the at least one category associated with the intercepted identifier; and transmitting from the server a response to the mobile device, wherein based at least partly on the comparison, the response includes an indication that the action should be blocked or permitted. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
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Specification