SELECTIVE ROUTING OF ENCRYPTED REQUESTS VIA COMPUTER NETWORKS
Processing computer network requests by receiving from a requesting computer an encoded value in a domain name resolution request, where the encoded value has a valid domain name syntax, decoding the encoded value into a Uniform Resource Locator having a host portion and a non-host portion, determining that the host portion of the Uniform Resource Locator in combination with the non-host portion of the Uniform Resource Locator meets a predefined routing criterion associated with a computer network address that is associated with a proxy server, and sending the computer network address to the requesting computer in response to the domain name resolution request.
1 . A method for processing computer network requests, the method comprising:
receiving from a requesting computer an encoded value in a domain name resolution request, wherein the encoded value has a valid domain name syntax;
decoding the encoded value into a Uniform Resource Locator having a host portion and a non-host portion;
determining that the host portion of the Uniform Resource Locator in combination with the non-host portion of the Uniform Resource Locator meets a predefined routing criterion associated with a computer network address that is associated with a proxy server; and
sending the computer network address to the requesting computer in response to the domain name resolution request.
2 . The method according to claim 1 and further comprising configuring the requesting computer to
encode into the encoded value the Uniform Resource Locator having the host portion and the non-host portion, wherein the encoded value has a valid domain name syntax, and
send the encoded value in the domain name resolution request.
3 . The method according to claim 2 and further comprising configuring the requesting computer to
receive the computer network address in response to the domain name resolution request, and
send a computer network resource access request to the computer network address, wherein the computer network resource access request includes the Uniform Resource Locator having the host portion and the non-host portion.
4 . The method according to claim 2 and further comprising configuring the requesting computer to
receive the computer network address in response to the domain name resolution request, and
send a computer network resource access request to a destination computer network address and port associated with the computer network address received in response to the domain name resolution request, wherein the computer network resource access request includes the Uniform Resource Locator having the host portion and the non-host portion.
5 . The method according to claim 2 and further comprising configuring the requesting computer to send the encoded value by invoking a dnsResolve method of a proxy auto-configuration file using the encoded value as a parameter of the dnsResolve method.
6 . The method according to claim 5 and further comprising configuring the proxy auto-configuration file with software instructions for encoding the Uniform Resource Locator.
7 . The method according to claim 1 and further comprising configuring the proxy server to block requests received at the computer network address.
8 . The method according to claim 4 and further comprising configuring the proxy server to block requests received at the destination computer network address and port.
9 . The method according to claim 1 and further comprising configuring the requesting computer to
encode into a plurality of encoded values a Uniform Resource Locator having a host portion and a non-host portion, wherein each of the encoded values has a valid domain name syntax, and
send the encoded values in a plurality of domain name resolution requests.
10 . The method according to claim 9 and further comprising configuring the requesting computer to send the plurality of encoded values by invoking, for each of the plurality of encoded values, a dnsResolve method of a proxy auto-configuration file using the encoded value as a parameter of the dnsResolve method, wherein the invoking is performed a plurality of times corresponding to the plurality of encoded values.
11 . The method according to claim 9 wherein
the receiving from the requesting computer comprises receiving the plurality of domain name resolution requests, and
the decoding comprises decoding the encoded values into the Uniform Resource Locator having the host portion and the non-host portion.
12 . The method according to claim 1 wherein the receiving, decoding, determining, and sending are implemented in any of
a) computer hardware, and
b) computer software embodied in a non-transitory, computer-readable medium.
13 . A system for processing computer network requests, the system comprising:
a URL decoder configured to
receive from a requesting computer an encoded value in a domain name resolution request, wherein the encoded value has a valid domain name syntax, and
decode the encoded value into a Uniform Resource Locator having a host portion and a non-host portion; and
a proxy selector configured to
determine that the host portion of the Uniform Resource Locator in combination with the non-host portion of the Uniform Resource Locator meets a predefined routing criterion associated with a computer network address that is associated with a proxy server, and
send the computer network address to the requesting computer in response to the domain name resolution request.
14 . The system according to claim 13 wherein the requesting computer is configured to
encode into the encoded value the Uniform Resource Locator having the host portion and the non-host portion, wherein the encoded value has a valid domain name syntax, and
send the encoded value in the domain name resolution request.
15 . The system according to claim 14 wherein the requesting computer is configured to
receive the computer network address in response to the domain name resolution request, and
send a computer network resource access request to the computer network address, wherein the computer network resource access request includes the Uniform Resource Locator having the host portion and the non-host portion.
16 . The system according to claim 14 wherein the requesting computer is configured to
receive the computer network address in response to the domain name resolution request, and
send a computer network resource access request to a destination computer network address and port associated with the computer network address received in response to the domain name resolution request, wherein the computer network resource access request includes the Uniform Resource Locator having the host portion and the non-host portion.
17 . The system according to claim 14 wherein the requesting computer is configured to send the encoded value by invoking a dnsResolve method of a proxy auto-configuration file using the encoded value as a parameter of the dnsResolve method.
18 . The system according to claim 17 wherein the proxy auto-configuration file is configured with software instructions for encoding the Uniform Resource Locator.
19 . The system according to claim 13 wherein the proxy server is configured to block requests received at the computer network address.
20 . The system according to claim 16 wherein the proxy server is configured to block requests received at the destination computer network address and port.
21 . The system according to claim 13 wherein the requesting computer is configured to
encode into a plurality of encoded values a Uniform Resource Locator having a host portion and a non-host portion, wherein each of the encoded values has a valid domain name syntax, and
send the encoded values in a plurality of domain name resolution requests.
22 . The system according to claim 21 wherein the requesting computer is configured to send the encoded values by invoking, for each of the plurality of encoded values, a dnsResolve method of a proxy auto-configuration file using the encoded value as a parameter of the dnsResolve method, wherein the invoking is performed a plurality of times corresponding to the plurality of encoded values.
23 . The system according to claim 21 wherein the URL decoder is configured to
receive from the requesting computer the plurality of domain name resolution requests, and
decode the encoded values into the Uniform Resource Locator having the host portion and the non-host portion.
24 . The system according to claim 13 wherein the URL decoder and proxy selector are implemented in any of
a) computer hardware, and
b) computer software embodied in a non-transitory, computer-readable medium.