Patent ID: 8869259

Claim:
A method performed by a cloud security computer to avoid a man-in-the-middle attack, comprising the steps of: A) receiving an inbound request from a client computer at a cloud security computer that is part of a cloud based security system located in a network external from the client computer and in a network external from a destination of the inbound request; B) performing a client certificate verification with the client computer; C) if the client computer passes the client certificate verification, i) receiving a server certificate from a server computer determined from the inbound request; ii) verifying the server certificate, wherein verifying the server certificate comprises determining whether a chain of authority associated with the server certificate received is consistent with a reference chain of authority determined from the inbound request, wherein the chain of authority comprises a plurality of authorities; and iii) if the server certificate is verified, a) forwarding a request derived from the inbound request to the server; b) receiving results from the server; and c) forwarding the results to the client computer; D) if the client certificate verification fails or the server certificate is not verified, concluding a transaction between the client computer and the server; and E) examining data between the client computer and the server computer for compliance with one or more policy constraints, wherein the one or more policy constraints relate to malicious activity identified by a configuration distribution node coordinating activity in the cloud based security system; wherein the cloud security computer inspects secure content over secure socket layer while avoiding detection of a man-in-the-middle attack therein based on steps A)-E).