Channel Manager for Secure Web Page Element Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
When a top-level webpage is accessed securely, all elements, including both secure and non-secure ones, incur performance hits due to the need for encryption and decryption, and existing methods do not allow for efficient access of non-secure elements over a non-secure channel once a secure connection is initiated.
Innovation Solution
A method that allows access to non-secure elements by determining their status and communicating with the server to open a separate non-secure channel for their retrieval, using specific attributes like 'safe' to indicate elements that can be accessed over a non-secure channel, and utilizing port information for communication.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a top-level webpage is accessed securely over an encrypted connection, then security is improved, but performance deteriorates due to encryption and decryption overhead
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the webpage elements into secure elements and non-secure elements, allowing different communication channels to be used for each type. Non-secure elements (such as images, scripts, and stylesheets) are accessed through non-secure channels without encryption overhead, while only secure elements require encrypted communication. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by eliminating unnecessary encryption for non-secure content while maintaining security for sensitive elements.
2Reliability
If all elements are accessed through a secure channel, then security is maintained, but computational overhead increases due to encryption and decryption
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by assigning different security characteristics to different parts of the webpage. Non-secure elements are identified and accessed through non-secure channels without encryption, while secure elements maintain encrypted communication. This localized approach to security reduces computational overhead by applying encryption only where necessary rather than uniformly across all elements.
3Productivity
If a non-secure channel is opened for non-secure elements, then performance is improved by avoiding encryption, but system complexity increases due to managing multiple channels
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a channel manager as an intermediary component that automatically handles the complexity of managing multiple communication channels. The channel manager determines which elements are secure and which are non-secure, selects appropriate channels for each element type, and manages the opening and closing of channels. This intermediary absorbs the system complexity, allowing the rest of the system to benefit from performance improvements without directly dealing with channel management complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Particular embodiments generally relate to allowing access of non-secure elements through a non-secure channel when a top-level page was accessed through a secure connection. In one embodiment, a webpage is accessed over a secure channel. The webpage includes secure and non-secure elements. When a non-secure element for the webpage is determined, a client may message with the server to open a non-secure channel for accessing the non-secure element. For example, the client may request port information in the request. The server then can respond with port information for a non-secure channel. The client then accesses data for the non-secure element through the non-secure channel using the port information.