Method and system for operating a network server to discourage inappropriate use
View Patent ↗A method and system for operating a network server to discourage inappropriate use are disclosed. The method provides for altering files on the server in such a way so as essentially not affect acceptable, desired file types in any noticeable way, and to substantially corrupt undesirable file types. The method may be applied to every file copied to or from a memory of the server. In the alternative, the method may be applied only to selected files or types of files on the server. In particular, the files corrupted by altering according to the invention are executable software files and compressed files, that are generally not fault-tolerant. Fault tolerant files, such as uncompressed text and graphics files in common Internet-compatible formats, are not noticeably affected. The network server will therefore no longer be useful for storing or transferring undesirable files, and such use will be discouraged. According to a related embodiment of the invention, a system comprises a server having an application that performs one of the embodiments of the method according to the invention.
1. A method for operating a network server to discourage inappropriate use of server memory, wherein the server is connected to a plurality of public clients and is operable to transfer public files between a memory of the server and selected ones of the plurality of clients, wherein the public files comprise files of a fault-tolerant type for which storage in the memory is to be encouraged, and files of a fault-intolerant type for which storage in the memory is to be discouraged, the method comprising the steps of:
selecting a file from the public files;
selecting a first portion of the file, the first portion comprising at least one bit of information in the file and being smaller than the file;
rendering the file unusable for its intended purpose by altering said first portion to create an altered file and leaving a second portion of the file unaltered if the file is a fault-intolerant type; and
preserving the usability of the file for its intended purpose even while remaining altered if the file is a fault-tolerant type.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing the altered file in the memory.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing both the file and the altered file in the memory.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising serving the altered file in response to a request from one of the plurality of clients without providing sufficient information for reversing alterations made by the altering step.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising marking the altered file with a flag indicating that the file has been altered.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising inserting identifying information into the altered file.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein said first selecting step further comprises selecting the file without determining whether the file is a fault-tolerant type of file or a fault-intolerant type of file.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein said first selecting step further comprises selecting the file from files having more than a specified number of bytes.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein said first selecting step further comprises selecting the file after reading at least a portion of the file and thereby determining that the file is likely to be of the fault-intolerant type.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein said first selecting step further comprises selecting the file after determining that the file is free of any flag indicating that the file has been altered.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein said first selecting step further comprises selecting the file comprised of a plurality of compressed files, and wherein said second selecting step further comprises selecting the first portion comprising at least one bit from each of the plurality of compressed files.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein said second selecting step further comprises selecting the first portion beginning a specified number of bytes after a first byte of the file.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein said second selecting step further comprises selecting the first portion beginning at least ten kilobytes after a first byte of the file.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein said second selecting step further comprises selecting the first portion at random from the file.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein said second selecting step further comprises selecting the first portion within a byte for which there is at least one byte synonym in the codes of the appropriate type of file, and wherein said altering step further comprises altering the at least one bit of information so that the byte is transformed into the at least one byte synonym.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein said second selecting step further comprises selecting the first portion within at least one non-text byte of the file.
17. A system to discourage inappropriate use of memory controlled by a server, wherein the server is operable to store public files in the memory, wherein the public files comprise files of a fault-tolerant type for which storage in the memory is to be encouraged, and files of a fault-intolerant type for which storage in the memory is to be discouraged, the system comprising:
a network server connected to a network;
a memory controlled by said network server; and
an application in the memory, the application operable to execute on the network server to provide the functions of:
selecting a file from the public files;
selecting a first portion of the file, the first portion comprising at least one bit of information in the file and being smaller than the file;
rendering the file unusable for its intended purpose by altering said first portion to create an altered file and leaving a second portion of the file unaltered if the file is a fault-intolerant type; and
preserving the usability of the file for its intended purpose even while remaining altered if the file is a fault-tolerant type.
18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the application is further configured to perform the function of marking the altered file with a flag indicating that the file has been altered.
19. The system of claim 17 , wherein the application is further configured to perform the function of inserting identifying information into the altered file.
20. The system of claim 17 , wherein the second selecting function of said application further comprises selecting the first portion beginning a specified number of bytes after a first byte of the file.