URL Matching via Partial String Segmentation

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current URL filtering methods are inefficient in detecting partially modified malicious URLs and require extensive matching processes, leading to erroneous detection and slowed performance, especially when filtering multiple communication destination URLs.

Innovation Solution

A URL matching apparatus that divides URLs into partial character strings and stores them as an associative array, allowing for fast search and matching by generating and storing partial character strings from both reference and matched URLs, enabling efficient detection even with partial changes.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If URL filtering is performed by matching against large number of blacklist URLs to detect partially modified malicious URLs, then detection capability is improved, but matching processing time increases significantly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedetection capabilityVSAvoidmatching processing time
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent divides URLs into multiple segments (scheme, domain, path, query parameters) and creates a segmented index structure. This allows the filtering system to compare only corresponding segments rather than performing full URL matching against all blacklist entries, significantly reducing processing time while maintaining detection capability for partially modified URLs.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent performs preliminary processing by pre-segmenting and indexing the blacklist URLs before actual filtering operations. The segmented index is built in advance, allowing the system to quickly retrieve and compare relevant segments during filtering without performing complete URL matching, thus reducing real-time processing time.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Productivity

If exact matching is used for URL filtering, then processing speed is improved, but detection of partially modified malicious URLs deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveprocessing speedVSAvoiddetection capability
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements partial matching by comparing corresponding segments of URLs rather than requiring complete URL matches. The segmented index allows the system to perform matching on subsets of URL components (e.g., domain and path segments), enabling detection of partially modified malicious URLs while maintaining faster processing than full URL comparison.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #16Partial or excessive action

3Measurement precision

If full URL matching is performed to ensure accurate detection, then measurement precision is improved, but processing time increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvematching accuracyVSAvoidmatching processing time
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments URLs into comparable components and indexes them separately. This segmentation allows the system to achieve accurate matching by comparing corresponding segments (scheme with scheme, domain with domain, path with path) rather than performing computationally expensive full string matching, thus maintaining precision while reducing processing time.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentEP3067814B1URL matching device, URL matching method, and URL matching program
Publication Date: 2020.02.26 NIPPON TELEGRAPH & TELEPHONE CORP
  • EP3067814B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3067814B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3067814B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A URL matching apparatus generates partial character string information storing therein, as keys of an associative array, partial character strings obtained by connecting stepwise in order from a character string of an upper layer of a hierarchical structure of one or more reference URLs. The URL matching apparatus generates partial character strings obtained by connecting stepwise in order from a character string of an upper layer of a hierarchical structure, also for a URL to be matched, and for each of these partial character strings of the URL to be matched, searches the partial character string information with that partial character string being a key. Thereby, even if a URL is partially changed, matching is able to be performed at high speed.