Patent · US Active

Firewall based on domain names

US8122493B2 · kind B2 · utility

12Cited by
9References
6Claims
0Family size

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJan 25, 2007
Grant dateFeb 21, 2012
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 23, 2030

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L63/1408
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

The invention is a firewall capable of blocking access to a website or other Internet node based on a domain name. A DNS request is monitored and a domain name is decoded from the DNS request. An IP address is received in a response to the DNS request. The IP address and domain name are associated with each other. The steps are executed non-intrusively with respect to traffic flow through the firewall. Afterward, a determination is made if the IP address is associated with a domain name for which access is restricted. If the domain name is a restricted domain name, access to content of the website is denied by blocking traffic flow on the basis of identifying the source IP address of data packets.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.