CAPTCHA-free throttling
View Patent ↗One embodiment provides a system that throttles access to a web resource. During operation, a throttle server receives a request to access the web resource. The request is associated with a computing device used by a user and is redirected from a server providing the web resource. The throttle server then determines whether the computing device has previously accessed a restricted resource different from the web resource corresponding to the request based on the presence or absence of a unique mark associated with the computing device. Based on the determination, the throttle server subsequently generates a response indicating whether the computing device meets a predetermined requirement for accessing the web resource, and sends the response to the server providing the web resource, thereby facilitating access throttling to the web resource.
1. A computer-executable method for throttling access to a web resource of a web server, comprising:
associating, by a throttle server, a user to a restricted resource of the user;
creating a throttle account for the user in response to the user being associated to the restricted resource, wherein the throttle account facilitates throttling access to the web resource;
associating a unique mark with a computing device of the user;
receiving a request from the user to access the web resource of the web server, wherein the request is associated with the computing device;
determining whether the unique mark is present in the computing device;
based on the determination, generating a response indicating whether the computing device meets a predetermined requirement for throttling access to the web resource without using a CAPTCHA, wherein the predetermined requirement comprises a count number being less than a predetermined number, and wherein the count number counts a number of accesses to the web resource that originated from the computing device; and
sending the response to the web server providing the web resource, thereby facilitating access throttling to the web resource.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein associating the user to the restricted resource of the user comprises at least one of:
sending a small payment along with a random message to at least one of the user's financial accounts; and
sending a random message to the user's cell phone.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein associating the user to the restricted resource of the user further comprises:
receiving a reply from the user, wherein the reply is sent by the computing device; and
comparing the user's reply with the previously sent random message.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the unique mark comprises at least one of the following:
an HTML cookie;
a cache cookie; and
a browsing history cookie.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising rewriting the unique mark in the computing device after receiving the mark.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the throttle server and the web server reside on the same machine.
7. A throttle server for throttling access to a web resource of a web server, comprising:
a processor;
a memory;
an account-establishing mechanism configured to:
associate a user to a restricted resource of the user;
create a throttle account for the user in response to the user being associated to the restricted resource, wherein the throttle account enables throttling access to the web resource; and
associate a unique mark with a computing device of the user;
a receiving mechanism configured to receive a request from the user to access the web resource of the web server, wherein the request is associated with the computing device;
a throttling mechanism configured to determine whether the unique mark is present in the computing device;
a response-generating mechanism configured to generate, based on the determination, a response indicating whether the computing device meets a predetermined requirement for throttling access to the resource, wherein the predetermined requirement comprises a count number being less than a predetermined number, and wherein the count number counts a number of accesses to the web resource that originated from the computing device; and
a sending mechanism configured to send the response to the server providing the web resource, thereby facilitating access throttling to the web resource.
8. The throttle server of claim 7 , wherein the account-establishing mechanism is configured to send at least one of:
a small payment along with a random message to at least one of the user's financial accounts; and
a random message to the user's cell phone.
9. The throttle server of claim 8 , wherein the account-establishing mechanism is further configured to:
receive a reply from the user, wherein the reply is sent by the computing device; and
compare the user's reply with the previously sent random message.
10. The throttle server of claim 7 , wherein the unique mark comprises at least one of the following:
an HTML cookie;
a cache cookie; and
a browsing history cookie.
11. The throttle server of claim 7 , further comprising a rewriting mechanism configured to rewrite the unique mark in the computing device after the receiving mechanism receives the mark.
12. The throttle server of claim 7 , wherein the predetermined requirement for accessing the resource comprises a count number being less than a predetermined number, and wherein the count number counts a number of accesses to the web resource originated from the computing device.
13. The throttle server of claim 7 , wherein the throttle server and the web server reside on the same machine.
14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for throttling access to a web resource of a web server, the method comprising:
associating a user to a restricted resource of the user;
creating a throttle account for the user in response to the user being associated to the restricted resource;
associating a unique mark with a computing device of the user;
receiving a request from the user to access the web resource of the web server, wherein the request is associated with the computing device;
determining whether the unique mark is present in the computing device;
based on the determination, generating a response indicating whether the computing device meets a predetermined requirement for throttling access to the web resource, wherein the predetermined requirement comprises a count number being less than a predetermined number, and wherein the count number counts a number of accesses to the web resource that originated from the computing device; and
sending the response to the server providing the web resource, thereby facilitating access throttling to the web resource.
15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein associating the user to the restricted resource of the user comprises at least one of:
sending a small payment along with a random message to at least one of the user's financial accounts; and
sending a random message to the user's cell phone.
16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein associating the user to the restricted resource of the user further comprises:
receiving a reply from the user, wherein the reply is sent by the computing device; and
comparing the user's reply with the previously sent random message.
17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises rewriting the unique mark in the computing device after receiving the mark.