Patent Document

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY 
     The present invention relates generally to the field of computer security, and, more specifically, to systems and methods for encrypted transmission of web pages. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Due to the ever growing number of computer threats (such as malware, hacker attacks, etc), electronic payment systems, Internet banking services, and other Internet services working with confidential data require an increased level of protection for data during transmission between a user&#39;s application and a network server. Encrypted communication protocols (such as the protocols HTTPS, SSL/TLS) are traditionally used to provide protection for the data being transmitted (such as web pages) over telecommunication networks. 
     However, some malicious software, which is installed on a user&#39;s computer, is able to intercept the user&#39;s data prior to its transmission by the protected communication protocol. For example, the banking Trojan horses “Zeus” and “SpyEye” analyze the content of a web page received from a server and modify it immediately prior to its display in the browser with the help of mechanisms for intercepting of API (application programming interface) calls. 
     Current data protection techniques are often ineffective in combating such malware. Therefore, there is a need to improve security of web pages transmitted to user devices. 
     SUMMARY 
     Disclosed are systems and method for encrypted transmission of web pages to user devices. An exemplary method for secure transmission of web pages comprises: receiving, by a proxy server, a web page requested by a user device; analyzing, by a hardware processor of the proxy server, the received web page to identify code of elements of the web page; selecting one or more identified elements of the web page for encryption; encrypting, by the hardware processor, the code of the one or more selected elements; generating, by the hardware processor, a script containing the encrypted code of the one or more selected elements; modifying the web page, by the hardware processor, by replacing in the web page the code of the one or more selected elements with the script containing the encrypted code of said one or more selected elements; and transmitting, by the proxy server, the modified web page to the user device. 
     In one exemplary aspect, modifying the web page, includes modifying a Document Object Model (DOM) of the web page. 
     In one exemplary aspect, encrypting the code of one or more selected elements of the web page, includes using an asymmetric encryption method. 
     In one exemplary aspect, encrypting the code of one or more selected elements of the web page using an asymmetric encryption method, includes encrypting the code of the one or more selected elements of web page using a public key of an application of the user device. 
     In one exemplary aspect, encrypting the code of one or more selected elements of the web page, includes using a symmetric encryption method. 
     In one exemplary aspect, selecting one or more identified elements of the web page for encryption includes: selecting one or more of (i) user input elements and (ii) output elements containing confidential user data. 
     In one exemplary aspect, the method further includes: transmitting, by the proxy server, to the user device a public key of a remote web server for use by the user device to encrypt user input data on the web page. 
     An exemplary system for secure transmission of web pages comprises: a proxy server having a hardware processor configured to: receive a web page requested by a user device; analyze the received web page to identify code of elements of the web page; select one or more identified elements of the web page for encryption; encrypt the code of the one or more selected elements; generate a script containing the encrypted code of the one or more selected elements; modify the web page by replacing in the web page the code of the one or more selected elements with the script containing the encrypted code of said one or more selected elements; and transmit the modified web page to the user device. 
     Another exemplary method for secure transmission of web pages comprises: receiving, by a user device, a public key of a remote web server; encrypting, by a hardware processor of the user device, using the received public key, a request to the web server to provide a web page to an application of the user device; transmitting, by the user device, the encrypted request to the web server; receiving, by the user device, the requested web page containing a script containing encrypted code of one or more elements of the web page; executing the script and decrypting, by the hardware processor, using a private key of the application of the user device, the encrypted code of one or more elements of the web page; and modifying the web page, by the hardware processor, by replacing the script containing encrypted code of one or more elements of the web page with the decrypted code of said one or more elements. 
     In one exemplary aspect, receiving a public key of a remote web server includes: receiving, by the user device, a script containing a public key of the web server; and executing, by the hardware processor, the script to retrieve the public key. 
     In one exemplary aspect, the encrypted code of one or more elements of the web page is encrypted using public key of the application of the user device. 
     In one exemplary aspect, the method further comprises displaying the modified web page on a display of the user device. 
     Another exemplary system for secure transmission of web pages comprises: a user device having a hardware processor configured to: receive a public key of a remote web server; encrypt, using the received public key, a request to the web server to provide a web page to an application of the user device; transmit the encrypted request to the web server; receive the requested web page containing a script containing encrypted code of one or more elements of the web page; execute the script and decrypting using a private key of the application of the user device, the encrypted code of one or more elements of the web page; and modify the web page by replacing the script containing encrypted code of one or more elements of the web page with the decrypted code of said one or more elements. 
     The above simplified summary of example aspects of the invention serves to provide a basic understanding of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, and is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects nor delineate the scope of any or all aspects of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description of the invention that follows. To the accomplishment of the foregoing, the one or more aspects of the present invention include the features described and particularly pointed out in the claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more example aspects of the present invention and, together with the detailed description, serve to explain their principles and implementations. 
         FIG. 1  illustrates one exemplary system for encrypted transmission of web pages to user devices using a proxy server. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates one exemplary method of encryption for encrypted transmission of web pages to user devices using a proxy server. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates another exemplary system for encrypted transmission of web pages to user devices without a proxy server. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates another exemplary method for encrypted transmission of web pages to user devices without a proxy server. 
         FIG. 5  illustrates an example of a general-purpose computer system by means of which the disclosed aspects of systems and method can be implemented. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Example aspects of the present invention are described herein in the context of a system, method, and computer program product for encrypted transmission of web pages to user devices. Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that the following description is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Other aspects will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. Reference will now be made in detail to implementations of the example aspects as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. The same reference indicators will be used to the extent possible throughout the drawings and the following description to refer to the same or like items. 
       FIG. 1  shows one exemplary system for encrypted transmission of web pages to user devices. The system includes a remote server  101 , which hosts a website containing one or more web pages  106 . The remote server  101  is connected to a proxy server  102 , which in turn configured to receive the web page  106  from the remote server  101 , modify the web page by encrypting at least a portion thereof using encryption module  104 , and transmit the modified web page to an application  107  (e.g., an Internet browser, an Internet banking application, etc.) on a user device  103 . 
     In one exemplary aspect, the proxy server  102  includes an encryption module  104  configured to identify elements of the web page  106  and encrypt the program code of one or more selected web page elements. The web page elements may include, but not limited to: the text field, the “button” field, the data entry field, the link to a file (audio, video, graphics), the hyperlink, and other known HTML, XML or other elements of web pages. 
     In one exemplary aspect, the proxy server  102  also includes a scripting module  105  configured to create a script (e.g., JavaScript code or the like), modify the web page by adding the script thereto, and delete the code of the web page elements which have been encrypted. The script may contain the following code: a code of the elements of the web page encrypted by the encryption module  104 ; and a code enabling decryption of the encrypted code of the web page elements when executed on the user device  103 . 
     In one exemplary aspect, the proxy server  102  may contain a template of the script, containing the code for decryption of the encrypted data contained in the script. Thus, when creating the script, the proxy server  102  can make use of the template, adding to it the encrypted code of the received web page elements. 
     The web page may be a document in HTML format, which can contain links to files in different formats (text, graphics, audio, video, scripts etc.), databases, and so on. 
     In one exemplary aspect, the encryption module  104  may contain a list of web page elements needing to be encrypted. The list of elements may be formulated in advance by an administrator or created automatically on the basis of statistics about the web page elements contained in the majority of web pages, or also by using various techniques of DLP (data leak prevention). In one exemplary aspect, the list of elements contains web page elements which must be protected against possible theft by malicious software. For example, the list may contain five text fields, two links to graphics, and also a link to a database. 
     In one exemplary aspect, the encryption of the code of elements from the list of elements may be done using asymmetrical encryption methods (such as the RSA algorithm). In this case, the remote server  101  previously creates a public and a private key of the remote server, while the application  107  creates a public and a private key of the application  107 . Next, the remote server  101  and the application  107  exchange their public keys. The public keys are needed to encrypt the data being transmitted, while the private keys are needed to decrypt the data by the receiving party. In one exemplary aspect, the proxy server  102  may be configured to transmit the public encryption key needed by the application  107  to encrypt a message sent to the proxy server  102 . The decryption of the data (the encrypted code of the web page elements) may be done using the private encryption key of the application  107  by executing the script containing the program code enabling decryption of the data. 
     In yet another exemplary aspect, the encryption of the code of the web page elements may be done using symmetrical encryption (such as the AES algorithm), which is generally faster than asymmetrical encryption. In this case, a secret encryption key is used, designed for both encryption and decryption of data. In one exemplary aspect, the secret encryption key can be created by the remote server  101  and transmitted to the application  107  using asymmetrical encryption. In another exemplary aspect, the secret key can be changed periodically (for example, once a day or when a new browser session is opened). 
       FIG. 2  shows one exemplary method of encryption for encrypted transmission of web pages to user devices. In step  201 , the proxy server  102  receives the web page  106  from the remote server  101 . Next, in step  202 , the proxy server  102  sends the received web page  106  to the encryption module  104 . In step  203 , the encryption module  104  identifies the elements of in the web page  106  and selects elements for encryption. In one exemplary aspect, all the elements of the web page may be selected for encryption. In another exemplary aspect, only the elements contained in a list of elements residing on the proxy server  102  will be selected for encryption. Next, in step  204 , the encryption module  104  performs the encryption of the code of the selected web page elements. In step  205 , the scripting module  105  creates a script (e.g., JavaScript code), containing the encrypted program code of the selected web page elements. In step  206 , the scripting module  105  modifies the web page  106  by adding the created script to the web page  106  and deleting from the web page  106  the code of the web page elements that have been encrypted. In step  207 , the proxy server  102  sends the modified web page  106  to the application  107 . In one exemplary aspect, the modifying of the web page  106  may be done by modifying the DOM (Document Object Model) tree of the web page  106 . 
     In one exemplary aspect, in step  204 , the encryption of the code of the web page elements from the list of elements may be done using asymmetrical encryption methods. In another exemplary aspect, in step  207 , the proxy server  102  may additionally send to the application  107  the public key of the remote server  101 , needed by the application  107  to encrypt the message of the application  107  sent to the proxy server  102 , and also to encrypt the data being entered by the user in the web page elements. 
     In another exemplary aspect, the encryption in step  204  may be done using the public encryption key of the application  107 , while the application  107  performs the decryption of the modified web page using its private key. The public encryption key of the application  107  may be send to the proxy server  102  in advance. In another exemplary aspect, the encryption in step  204  may be done using symmetrical encryption algorithm. In this case, a single secret key is used both for data encryption and decryption. This secret key may be setup in advance between the application  107  and the proxy server  102 . 
     As an example, the proxy server  102  may receive a web page  106  of an Internet banking website, whose fields contain confidential data (such as bank card data, user&#39;s full name, etc.). The encryption module  104  may select, for example, web page elements used for data entry and those containing confidential data, and encrypt the code of the selected elements. The code of the encrypted elements will be removed from the original web page  106  and added to the script in an encrypted form, which in turn will be included in the modified web page  106 . Finally, the modified web page  106  will be sent to the application  107 . 
       FIG. 3  shows an exemplary system for encrypted transmission of web pages to user devices without a proxy server. The system contains a remote server  101  connected to an encryption module  104  and a user device  103  with application  107 . The remote server  101  contains a public and a private encryption key of the remote server, while the application  107  contains a public and a private encryption key of the application  107 . The encryption keys serve to exchange encrypted messages between the application  107  and the remote server  101  using the encryption module  104 . In addition, the application has the public key of the remote server, and the proxy server has the public key of the application, so that the parties can encrypt messages to another party using public key of the respective party. The remote server  101  sends the script containing the public encryption key of the remote server  101  to the application  107 . In one exemplary aspect, the script can additionally contain a digital signature to prevent unauthorized modification of the information being transmitted from the remote server  101  by a third party. 
     The encryption module  104  is configured to encrypt a message intended for the application  107  using the public encryption key of the application  107 . The remote server  101  then sends the encrypted message to the application  107 . 
     The application  107  receives the script from the remote server  101  containing the public encryption key of the remote server  101 , as well as a message from the remote server  101 , encrypted with the public encryption key of the application  107 , which contains the web page elements of the web page  106 . The application  107  uses public encryption key of the remote server  101  to encrypt the messages being sent to the remote server  101 . 
     The application  107  executes the script and sends a request to the remote server  101 , encrypted with the public encryption key of the remote server  101 , to receive a web page  106 . The encryption of this request may be done by executing a script. The application  107  also sends to the remote server  101  the user&#39;s request to receive the code of elements of the web page  106 , encrypted with the public key of the remote server  101 . 
       FIG. 4  shows an exemplary method for encrypted transmission of web pages to user devices without a proxy server. In step  401 , the application  107  receives a web page  106  from the remote server  101 , in which a script is contained. The script contains the public encryption key of the remote server  101 . In step  402 , by executing the received script, the application  107  encrypts a request to receive the web page  106  with the public encryption key of the remote server  101  and sends this request to the remote server  101 . Next, in step  403 , by executing the script, the application  107  receives a message from the remote server  101 , encrypted by the encryption module  104  using the public encryption key of the application  107 , which contains the code of selected elements of web page  106 . In step  404 , by executing the script, the application  107  decrypts the message received with the use of the private encryption key of the application  107 . In step  405 , by executing the script, the application  107  modifies the received web page  106  adding to it the decrypted code of the web page elements from the decrypted message and displays the modified web page  106  to the user in step  406 . 
     In one exemplary aspect, the system may additionally have a second remote server, on which resides a web page  106 . In this case, the remote server  101  will act as a proxy server between the application  107  and the second remote server. 
     In yet another exemplary aspect, when the remote server  101  performs the functions of the proxy server  102 , it receives a web page  106  from the remote server  101  based on request of the application  107  in step  402 . Next, the proxy server  102  executes the steps  201 - 205  of  FIG. 2 . Finally, in step  403 , the application  107  receives the script from the proxy server  102 , having sent to it in step  205  the modified web page  106  for the application  107 . 
       FIG. 5  illustrates an example of a general-purpose computer system (which may be a personal computer or a server) on which the disclosed systems and method can be implemented. As shown, the computer system includes a central processing unit  21 , a system memory  22  and a system bus  23  connecting the various system components, including the memory associated with the central processing unit  21 . The system bus  23  is realized like any bus structure known from the prior art, containing in turn a bus memory or bus memory controller, a peripheral bus and a local bus, which is able to interact with any other bus architecture. The system memory includes permanent memory (ROM)  24  and random-access memory (RAM)  25 . The basic input/output system (BIOS)  26  includes the basic procedures ensuring the transfer of information between elements of the personal computer  20 , such as those at the time of loading the operating system with the use of the ROM  24 . 
     The personal computer  20 , in turn, includes a hard disk  27  for reading and writing of data, a magnetic disk drive  28  for reading and writing on removable magnetic disks  29  and an optical drive  30  for reading and writing on removable optical disks  31 , such as CD-ROM, DVD-ROM and other optical information media. The hard disk  27 , the magnetic disk drive  28 , and the optical drive  30  are connected to the system bus  23  across the hard disk interface  32 , the magnetic disk interface  33  and the optical drive interface  34 , respectively. The drives and the corresponding computer information media are power-independent modules for storage of computer instructions, data structures, program modules and other data of the personal computer  20 . 
     The present disclosure provides the implementation of a system that uses a hard disk  27 , a removable magnetic disk  29  and a removable optical disk  31 , but it should be understood that it is possible to employ other types of computer information media  56  which are able to store data in a form readable by a computer (solid state drives, flash memory cards, digital disks, random-access memory (RAM) and so on), which are connected to the system bus  23  via the controller  55 . 
     The computer  20  has a file system  36 , where the recorded operating system  35  is kept, and also additional program applications  37 , other program modules  38  and program data  39 . The user is able to enter commands and information into the personal computer  20  by using input devices (keyboard  40 , mouse  42 ). Other input devices (not shown) can be used: microphone, joystick, game controller, scanner, and so on. Such input devices usually plug into the computer system  20  through a serial port  46 , which in turn is connected to the system bus, but they can be connected in other ways, for example, with the aid of a parallel port, a game port or a universal serial bus (USB). A monitor  47  or other type of display device is also connected to the system bus  23  across an interface, such as a video adapter  48 . In addition to the monitor  47 , the personal computer can be equipped with other peripheral output devices (not shown), such as loudspeakers, a printer, and so on. 
     The personal computer  20  is able to operate in a network environment, using a network connection to one or more remote computers  49 . The remote computer (or computers)  49  are also personal computers or servers having the majority or all of the aforementioned elements in describing the nature of a personal computer  20 . Other devices can also be present in the computer network, such as routers, network stations, peer devices or other network nodes. 
     Network connections can form a local-area computer network (LAN)  50  and a wide-area computer network (WAN). Such networks are used in corporate computer networks and internal company networks, and they generally have access to the Internet. In LAN or WAN networks, the personal computer  20  is connected to the local-area network  50  across a network adapter or network interface  51 . When networks are used, the personal computer  20  can employ a modem  54  or other modules for providing communications with a wide-area computer network such as the Internet. The modem  54 , which is an internal or external device, is connected to the system bus  23  by a serial port  46 . It should be noted that the network connections are only examples and need not depict the exact configuration of the network, i.e., in reality there are other ways of establishing a connection of one computer to another by technical communication modules. 
     In various aspects, the systems and methods described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the methods may be stored as one or more instructions or code on a non-transitory computer-readable medium. Computer-readable medium includes data storage. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable medium can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM, Flash memory or other types of electric, magnetic, or optical storage medium, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a processor of a general purpose computer. 
     In various aspects, the systems and methods described in the present disclosure can be addressed in terms of modules. The term “module” as used herein refers to a real-world device, component, or arrangement of components implemented using hardware, such as by an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or field-programmable gate array (FPGA), for example, or as a combination of hardware and software, such as by a microprocessor system and a set of instructions to implement the module&#39;s functionality, which (while being executed) transform the microprocessor system into a special-purpose device. A module can also be implemented as a combination of the two, with certain functions facilitated by hardware alone, and other functions facilitated by a combination of hardware and software. In certain implementations, at least a portion, and in some cases, all, of a module can be executed on the processor of a general purpose computer (such as the one described in greater detail in  FIG. 5  above). Accordingly, each module can be realized in a variety of suitable configurations, and should not be limited to any particular implementation exemplified herein. 
     In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of the aspects are disclosed herein. It would be appreciated that in the development of any actual implementation of the present disclosure, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made in order to achieve the developer&#39;s specific goals, and these specific goals will vary for different implementations and different developers. It is understood that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering for those of ordinary skill in the art, having the benefit of this disclosure. 
     Furthermore, it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and not of restriction, such that the terminology or phraseology of the present specification is to be interpreted by the skilled in the art in light of the teachings and guidance presented herein, in combination with the knowledge of the skilled in the relevant art(s). Moreover, it is not intended for any term in the specification or claims to be ascribed an uncommon or special meaning unless explicitly set forth as such. 
     The various aspects disclosed herein encompass present and future known equivalents to the known modules referred to herein by way of illustration. Moreover, while aspects and applications have been shown and described, it would be apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure that many more modifications than mentioned above are possible without departing from the inventive concepts disclosed herein.

Technology Category: 5