Managing website blacklists

• US 8,533,227 B2
• Filed: 05/14/2008
• Issued: 09/10/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Schneider, James P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ehichioya, Fred I
• Assistant Examiner(s): BOWEN, RICHARD L
• Application Number:
  US12/120,454
• Publication Number:
  US 20090287705A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,945 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/781
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking

Abstract

A method and system for managing website blacklists to control website access of a user. In one embodiment, a client queries a database regarding a location of a website before the client fetches a resource from the website. The database includes a list of websites based on which access by the client is controlled. If the location of the website in the query exists in the database, the client displays a warning dialog and receives a user input. The client determines whether to continue fetching the resource based on the user input to the warning dialog.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

querying, by a client computer system, a database before fetching a resource from a website, the database storing a list of websites to which access is controlled, the list comprising a plurality of sublists shared among a set of computer systems, including the client computer system, that are associated with a plurality of users, wherein the plurality of sublists comprises sublists for categories of websites for which access by the plurality of users is controlled, wherein the categories indicate degrees of access violations, and wherein each of the categories includes a different associated access prohibition, and wherein the plurality of sublists comprises sublists for individual computer systems associated with one of the plurality of users, and defined by the one of the plurality of users, for which access to websites is controlled;

receiving, by the client computer system, an indication that the website is in one of the plurality of sublists;

in response to the indication specifying a first category, blocking access to the website and sending a notification of an attempt to fetch the resource from the website; and

in response to the indication specifying a second category, displaying a warning dialog at the client computer system and determining whether to continue fetching the resource in view of an input to the warning dialog.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the websites in the database comprise Universal Resource Locators (URLs) of some or all pages of the websites.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein querying a database further comprises:

querying a plurality of networked databases regarding the location of the website, each of the networked databases maintaining a different list of websites in view of which access by the client computer system is controlled.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein querying a database further comprises:

receiving the list from the database over a network in response to the querying; and

caching the list on the client computer system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein each sublist within the list is associated with one of a plurality of client computer systems on which a user has the user account.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a hot key entry at the client computer system after entering a given website; and

in response to the hot key entry, exiting the given website and automatically adding the given website to the database.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein querying a database further comprises:

querying a server at a service provider that maintains the databases and provides website access management.

8. A system comprising:

a processing device; and

a data storage to store a database that includes a list of websites to which access is controlled, the list comprising a plurality of sublists shared among a set of computer systems, including a client computer system, that are associated with a plurality of users, wherein the plurality of sublists comprises sublists for categories of websites for which access by the plurality of users is controlled, wherein the categories indicate degrees of access violations, and wherein each of the categories includes a different associated access prohibition, and wherein the plurality of sublists comprises sublists for individual computer systems associated with one of the plurality of users, and defined by the one of the plurality of users, for which access to websites is controlled;

the client computer system accessible to the data storage, the client computer system to query the database regarding a location of a website before a resource is fetched from the website and to receive an indication that the website is in one of the plurality of sublists;

a network interface device, coupled to the client computer system, to block access to the website and send a notification of an attempt to fetch the resource from the website in response to an indication specifying a first category; and

a display, coupled to the client computing system, to display a warning dialog in response to an indication specifying a second category.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising:

a plurality of networked databases accessible by the client computer system, each of the networked databases to maintain a different list of websites in view of which access by the client computer system is controlled.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the list includes those websites that a user has visited and does not wish to visit again.

11. The system of claim 8, wherein the client computer system further comprises:

a user interface device configured as a hot key to cause, in response to entry of the hot key, a browser plugin to exit a current website and to automatically add the current website to the database.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein the database includes Universal Resource Locators (URLs) of some or all pages of the websites.

13. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a client computer system, cause the client computer system to perform operations comprising:

querying, by the client computer system, a database before fetching a resource from a website, the database storing a list of websites to which access is controlled, the list comprising a plurality of sublists shared among a set of computer systems, including the client computer system, that are associated with a plurality of users, wherein the plurality of sublists comprises sublists for categories of websites for which access by the plurality of users is controlled, wherein the categories indicate degrees of access violations, and wherein each of the categories includes a different associated access prohibition, and wherein the plurality of sublists comprises sublists for individual computer systems associated with one of the plurality of users, and defined by the one of the plurality of users, for which access to websites is controlled;

receiving, by the client computer system, an indication that the website exists in one of the plurality of sublists;

in response to the indication specifying a first category, blocking access to the website and sending a notification of an attempt to fetch the resource from the website; and

in response to the indication specifying a second category, displaying a warning dialog at the client computer system and determining whether to continue fetching the resource in view of an input to the warning dialog.

14. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein querying a database further comprises:

querying a plurality of networked databases regarding the location of the website, each of the networked databases maintaining a different list of websites in view of which access by the client computer system is controlled.

16. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein each sublist within the list is associated with one of a plurality of client computer system on which a user has the user account.

17. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the database includes Universal Resource Locators (URLs) of some or all pages of a given website.

18. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving a hot key entry at the client computer system after entering a given website; and

in response to the hot key entry, exiting the given website and automatically adding the given website to the database.

15. The computer readable storage medium of 13, wherein querying a database further comprises:

receiving the list from the database over a network in response to the querying; and

caching the list of websites on the client computer system.

19. A system comprising:

data storage to store a database that stores a list of websites to which access is controlled, the list comprising a plurality of sublists shared among a set of computer systems, including a client computer system, that are associated with a plurality of users, wherein the plurality of sublists comprises sublists for categories of websites for which access by the plurality of users is controlled, wherein the categories indicate degrees of access violations, and wherein each of the categories includes a different associated access prohibition, and wherein the plurality of sublists comprises sublists for individual computer systems associated with one of the plurality of users, and defined by the one of the plurality of users, for which access to websites is controlled; and

a server computer system accessible to the data storage to query the database in response to a request from the client computer system and to send an indication to the client computer system in response to a determination that the website exists in one of the plurality of sublists, wherein the access prohibition associated with a first category comprises blocking access to the website and sending a notification of an attempt to fetch the resource from the website in response to a determination that the website belongs to the first category, and wherein the access prohibition associated with a second category comprises displaying a warning dialog at the client computer system and determining whether to continue fetching the resource in view of an input to the warning dialog in response to a determination that the website belongs to the second category.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the database is distributed across a plurality of networked locations.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the database is cached by a browser plugin on the client computer system that sends the request.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein the database is maintained by a third party that sells access to the database.