System and method for obtaining and executing instructions from a private network
View Patent ↗Systems and methods for website and application monitoring and testing inside from a private network are presented. An agent module resident on an agent device inside the secured network periodically sends an HTTP message to a controller server and receives an HTTP response. The agent module parses out a set of instructions from the content of the HTTP response and executes the instructions. The agent module collects and compiles responsive information resulting from the instructions being executed and sends the compiled information to the controller server for storage and reporting.
1. A system for interrogating a target server hosting a website or an application, the target server accessible for data communication via one or more data communication networks, comprising:
an agent device connected to a private network, the agent device having a data storage area and a processor;
an agent module stored in the data storage area of the agent device, the agent module configured to be executed by the processor on the agent device;
a controller server communicatively coupled with said agent module via an external network and the private network, wherein communications between the controller server and the agent module pass through a security system of said private network, the controller server configured to receive monitoring messages from said agent module;
a target server communicatively coupled with said agent module via one or more data communication networks, wherein the agent module is configured to send a message to the controller server, the message comprising a unique identifier for the agent module, the agent module further configured to receive a responsive message from the controller server, parse the responsive message to obtain a sequence of instructions, and execute the sequence of instructions to interrogate the target server.
2. The system of claim 1 , comprising a plurality of agent modules deployed in the private network.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the target website comprises an application.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the message sent to the controller server is a hyper text transfer protocol (HTTP) message.
5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the HTTP message is a GET message.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the responsive message is an HTTP message.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the sequence of instructions comprises interpreted instructions.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the sequence of instructions comprises operating system commands.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the sequence of instructions comprises compiled instructions.
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the agent module is configured to dynamically generate a unique agent module identifier and provide the agent module identifier to the controller server.
11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the message from the agent module to the controller server comprises the unique agent module identifier.
12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more data communication networks communicatively coupling the target server with the agent module consists of the private network.
13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more data communication networks communicatively coupling the target server with the agent module comprises the private network and the external network.
14. A computer implemented method for interrogating a target server hosting a website or an application, the target server accessible for data communication via one or more data communication networks, comprising:
receiving a request from an agent module, the agent module located within a private network and communicatively coupled with a controller server via the private network and an external network and the agent module communicatively coupled with a target server via the private network, the request comprising an identifier that uniquely identifies the agent module;
obtaining an instruction set for the agent module, the instruction set comprising executable commands;
providing the instruction set to the agent module via the external network and the private network; and
receiving information from the agent in response to the agent's execution of the executable commands in said instruction set.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein periodic requests are received from the agent module.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the periodic requests are received approximately every minute.
17. The method of claim 14 , wherein a failure is identified if an instruction set is sent to the agent module a predetermined number of times without receiving information from the agent indicating success.
18. The method of claim 14 , further comprising comparing the information received from the agent to information received from one or more other agents, wherein each of the other agents is located outside of the private network.
19. A computer implemented method for interrogating a target server hosting a website or an application, the target server accessible for data communication via a private network, comprising:
providing an agent module installed on an agent device located on the private network, the agent module configured to send and receive communications with a controller server located outside of the private network, the agent module further configured to send and receive communications with a target server via the private network;
sending a hyper text transfer protocol (HTTP) message from the agent module to the controller server, the request comprising a unique identifier for the agent module;
receiving at the agent module an HTTP response from the external server, the HTTP response comprising a set of instructions in a content portion of the HTTP response;
parsing the HTTP response at the agent module to obtain the set of instructions, the set of instructions comprising target server interrogation instructions;
executing the target server interrogation instructions by the agent module; and
sending responsive target server interrogation information from the agent module to the controller server.
20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the HTTP message from the agent module to the controller server is an HTTP POST message.
21. The method of claim 19 , wherein the set of instructions comprises interpreted instructions.
22. The method of claim 19 , wherein the set of instructions comprises compiled instructions.
23. The method of claim 19 , wherein the target server interrogation instructions carry out monitoring of a website.
24. The method of claim 19 , wherein the target server interrogation instructions carry out monitoring of an application.
25. The method of claim 19 , wherein the target server interrogation instructions carry out testing of a website.
26. The method of claim 19 , wherein the target server interrogation instructions carry out testing of an application.