Patent ID: 7039721

Claim:
A method for protecting a host located within a computer network, the method comprising: mapping a public host address for a public host to a secret host address for a secret host containing data accessible over the computer network, said public host address being available from a domain name system server; receiving a request for communication with the secret host at the public host; forwarding said request from the public host to the secret host; and processing said request at the secret host and communicating from the secret host over the network, wherein said communication appears to be sent from the public host; wherein forwarding said request comprises: determining whether an attack is consuming significant resources, if it is determined that an attack is not consuming significant resources, slowing down the forwarding of said request short of stopping the same, and if it is determined that an attack is consuming significant resources, stopping the forwarding of said request; wherein, after stopping the forwarding of said request, said secret host notifies select clients of an address of an alternate Post Office Box Internet Protocol (POBIP) node, and attempts to track down a source of the attack, where, after the attack has stopped, the address of the alternate Post Office Box Internet Protocol (POBIP) node is replaced with the public host address; wherein a notification that the public host is under attack is received at the secret host; wherein a notification that the public host is congested is received at the secret host.