PROXY BASED NETWORK COMMUNICATIONS
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is a proxy based network communication system and method that incorporates one or more proxy servers that may be non-static, dynamic proxy servers, operable to automatically identify aspects of a user'"'"'s network environment and details of the servers in said network and to set-up and configure software to be utilized by a user without user input of details of the user'"'"'s network environment. These operations of the present invention may be undertaken at a point of user setup and reinitiated upon recognition of a communication problem, The present invention may further be operable to allow a user to access only the part of the network to which the user requires access, and to prevent the user from accessing other parts of the network. The present invention therefore provides a secure environment by implementing changing proxy servers rather than static proxy servers and restricting user access within the network on a need-for-access basis.
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Citations
40 Claims
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1-20. -20. (canceled)
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21. A method performed by a server system, the server system including a plurality of servers, the method comprising:
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receiving session information at a first server of the server system from a client device via a wide area network, the session information indicating one or more user selections with respect to a location identifying preference of a user of the client device; storing the session information received from the client device in a user account at a storage device of the server system; receiving a search query message at a proxy server of the server system from a client device via the wide area network, the search query message indicating a destination search service of a third-party network server, the proxy server being the first server or a different server of the server system; processing the search query message at the proxy server according to the one or more user selections stored in and retrieved from the user account to obtain a modified search query message in which; responsive to a first user selection, modifying the search query message according to a first policy in which at least a geographic location specificity of the client device is altered within the modified search query message, and responsive to a second user selection, modifying the search query according to a second policy in which at least a geographic location of the client device is altered within the modified search query message to indicate a fictitious geographic location of the client device; and sending the modified search query message to the destination search service of the third-party network server via the wide area network.
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34. A server system, comprising:
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a coordinating server; and a plurality of proxy servers in communication with the coordinating server via a communications network in which each proxy server includes instructions executable by that proxy server to; authenticate a client device communicating with that proxy server via the wide area network, receive session information from the client device via a wide area network after the authentication, the session information indicating one or more user selections with respect to a location identifying preference of a user of the client device, send the session information received from the client device to the coordinating server for storage in a user account at a remote storage device of the coordinating server, receive an encrypted message from the client device via the wide area network after the authentication or a subsequent authentication of the client device, the encrypted message indicating a destination of a third-party network server, decrypting the encrypted message to obtain a decrypted message, process the decrypted message according to the one or more user selections stored in and retrieved from the user account at the remote storage device of the coordinating server or from a local storage device of that proxy server to modify the decrypted message in which; responsive to a first user selection, the decrypted message is modified according to a first policy in which at least a geographic location specificity of the client device is altered within the modified message, and responsive to a second user selection, the decrypted message is modified according to a second policy in which at least a geographic location of the client device is altered within the modified message to indicate a fictitious geographic location of the client device; and send the modified decrypted message to the third-party network server via the wide area network. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37)
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38. A computing system, comprising:
a client device having a processor and a storage device that includes a program executable by the processor to; receive an encrypted first message indicating one or more proxy addresses and one or more selection parameters from a server device over a wide area network, each proxy address corresponding to a respective proxy server of a server system of which the server device is a member; decrypt the encrypted first message to obtain a decrypted first message; store the one or more proxy addresses and one or more selection parameters in the storage device of the client device; select a proxy server from the one or more proxy addresses stored in the storage device using the one or more selection parameters stored in the storage device; initiate authentication of a user of the client device with the selected proxy server, the authentication enabling the proxy server to retrieve session information from a user account, the session information indicating one or more user selections with respect to a location identifying preference of the user of the client device; send an encrypted second message to the selected proxy server indicating a destination third-party network server in which the selected proxy server processes the second message according to the one or more user selections retrieved from the user account to modify the second message in which; responsive to a first user selection of the one or more user selections, the second message is modified according to a first policy in which at least a geographic location specificity of the client device is altered within the modified second message forwarded by the selected proxy server to the destination third-party network server, and responsive to a second user selection of the one or more user selections, the second message is modified according to a second policy in which at least a geographic location of the client device is altered within the modified second message to indicate a fictitious geographic location of the client device within the modified second message forwarded by the selected proxy server to the destination third-party network server. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40)
Specification