Gateway Watermarking for Secure HTTP Form Handling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods to prevent spyware, adware, and malware from communicating with remote servers are ineffective, as they often result in false positives and degrade the user experience, particularly when trying to block HTTP data uploads that resemble regular web form submissions.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a gateway that scans HTML pages for web forms, changes the 'method' attribute to 'post' if required, and adds a 'watermark' to each form element, which is verified upon submission to distinguish user-driven uploads from unsolicited ones, thereby allowing only manual HTTP data uploads while blocking potentially malicious activity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If all HTTP POST requests are blocked to prevent spyware data upload, then data security is improved, but user experience deteriorates due to false positives breaking web forms
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway pre-processes HTML pages by inserting watermarks into form elements before the user submits data. This preliminary action allows the system to recognize legitimate forms in advance, so that when POST requests are blocked, legitimate user submissions are restored while malicious ones remain blocked.
Solution Approach 2:
The watermark acts as an intermediary marker embedded in legitimate form elements. The gateway uses this intermediary to distinguish between legitimate user-driven forms and malicious spyware submissions, allowing selective restoration of legitimate POST requests while maintaining security blocks.
2Reliability
If URL filtering is used to block suspicious HTTP GET requests, then data security is improved, but adaptability deteriorates as users cannot access newly registered malicious domains
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary watermarking of all HTML pages it can access, embedding security markers in form elements before malicious submissions occur. This proactive approach creates a baseline of legitimate forms that can be used to identify and block malicious submissions to any domain, including newly registered ones, without requiring pre-existing domain blacklists.
3Reliability
If transport layer blocking is used to limit outbound connections, then data security is improved, but device complexity increases due to multiple blocking layers required
Solution Approach 1:
The watermark serves as a simple intermediary marker that can be verified at the application layer without requiring complex multi-layer blocking infrastructure. This single intermediary mechanism replaces the need for multiple complex blocking layers at transport, application, and cookie filter levels.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter state of form elements by embedding watermarks, transforming ordinary HTML forms into identifiable legitimate submissions. This parameter change approach simplifies the blocking mechanism by focusing on a single identifiable feature rather than requiring complex multi-parameter analysis across multiple protocol layers.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method of detecting and limiting unsolicited data uploads. Downloaded content such as web pages and emails are scanned for web forms and/or links. A watermark is added where appropriate and the modified downloaded content is forwarded to the person who requested the content. A check is made to determine whether information received from a user includes appropriate watermarks. If so, the watermark is removed and the information is forwarded to its destination.