Method and system for communication between a client system and a server system

• US 8,949,406 B2
• Filed: 08/14/2008
• Issued: 02/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Acoustic, L.P.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Wenig, Robert, Knudsen, Ted
• Primary Examiner(s): Avellino, Joseph E
• Assistant Examiner(s): CONAWAY, JAMES E
• Application Number:
  US12/191,585
• Publication Number:
  US 20100042573A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,364 Days
• Field of Search: 709/249, 709/224, 709/203
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/54 Interprogram communication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/546 Message passing systems or structures, e.g. queues
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1408 by monitoring network traffic monitoring network traffic per se H04L43/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1441 Countermeasures against malicious traffic countermeasures against attacks on cryptographic mechanisms H04L9/002
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/025 for remote control or remote monitoring of applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066

Abstract

A method of a server system communicating with a client system. The method includes a passive system monitoring network traffic between the client-server system. The server sending a page response including an agent, e.g., a Javascript that becomes operable on the client system. The agent monitors events on the client side, e.g., DOM events, and communicates these to the server side. A set of rules that define prescribed user events are maintained by the passive system and applied to the monitored network traffic to determine whether a prescribed user event occurred. Responsive to the prescribed user event occurring, an asynchronous message is generated and sent to the agent in response to a received DOM event message, the asynchronous message comprising a command to be executed by the agent to alter the users web application flow at the client in a manner that is substantially transparent to the web application.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

monitoring and storing network traffic communicated between a web application operating on a server system and a client system, the network traffic comprising page requests and page responses for a web session;

monitoring and storing event data received separately from the network traffic from an agent operating within the client system, wherein the event data is transmitted in a separate communication channel from the network traffic;

maintaining a set of rules;

determining that a user event occurred within said client system based on a comparison of the set of rules with the network traffic from the web session; and

sending a command message to the agent in response to determining the user event occurred within the client system, wherein the command message instructs the agent to open a new window with a new uniform resource locator (URL) independently of the page requests and the page responses for the web session.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the agent is loaded into one of the page responses.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving the event data asynchronously from the network traffic.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the event data comprises data regarding events occurring within the client system that alter a document object model (DOM) of a browser operating within the client system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the new window comprises a chat window.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the event data comprises one or more of keyboard key presses, mouse clicks, mouse movements, a recorded delay in a user entering data in on-screen fields and/or data entered in the on-screen fields.

7. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor;

a memory;

a monitor and response system configured to;

receive and store webpage data comprising page requests and page responses from a first transmission channel, wherein the first transmission channel is used by a web application and a client device for conducting a web session;

receive event data associated with the webpage data from an agent operating on the client device, wherein the event data is received over a second transmission channel;

determine an action for operation on the client device based on comparing a set of rules to the webpage data received from the first transmission channel and the event data received from the second transmission channel; and

send a command message to the agent over the second transmission channel, wherein the command message is configured to instruct the agent to open a chat window on the client device.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the monitor and response system comprises:

a converter unit configured to receive the webpage data from the first transmission channel; and

an event detector system configured to;

receive the webpage data from the converter unit;

receive the event data from the second transmission channel;

identify user events based on applying a set of prescribed rules to the webpage data and the event data; and

send the command message to the agent over the second transmission channel based on the user events.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein:

an application server is configured to operate the web application and transmit the webpage data over the first transmission channel in response to a page request from the client device;

a web server is configured to relay the page request from the client device to the application server and relay the webpage data from the web application to the client device;

a receiver is configured to operate on the web server;

the converter unit is configured to receive a copy of the webpage data from a network tap; and

the event detector is configured to receive the copy of the webpage data from the converter unit, receive the event data from the receiver, and send the command message to the agent through the receiver.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the monitor and response system is further configured to:

receive the event data from the agent asynchronously from the web application; and

send the command message in response to the event data asynchronously from the web application.

11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the command message is configured to initiate opening the chat window transparently from the web application.

12. The apparatus as described in claim 7, wherein the command message is further configured to cause the agent to alter a value of a cookie on the client device.

13. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the command message is further configured to cause the agent to open a new window with a new uniform resource locator (URL).

14. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having program code embodied wherewith, the program code readable/executable by a computer to perform a method comprising:

monitoring and storing network traffic for a web session between a web application and a client system, the network traffic comprising requests sent from the client system to the web application and webpage content received by the client system from the web application in response to the requests;

detecting user inputs associated with the webpage content;

sending event data to a monitor and response system in response to detecting the user inputs, wherein the event data is transmitted in a separate communication channel from the network traffic;

receiving a command message from the monitor and response system in response to sending the event data, wherein the command message is based on a comparison of the event data and the webpage content; and

opening a new window with a new uniform resource locator (URL) based on the command message received from the monitor and response system.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, further comprising:

sending the event data to the monitor and response system independently of the requests sent from the client system; and

receiving the command message back from the monitor and response system independently from the webpage content received from web application.

16. The computer program product of claim 14, further comprising opening the new window transparently from the web application.

17. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the command message is based on a set of rules applied to the webpage content and the event data identifying a user event during the web session.

18. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein:

the requests and the webpage content are transmitted over a first transmission channel; and

the event data and the command message are transmitted over a second transmission channel.

19. The computer program product of claim 14, further comprising sending the event data to the monitor and response system and receiving the command message back from the monitor and response system independently of the network traffic transmitted between the client system and the web application.

20. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the new window comprises a chat window.