Providing substitute domain information in a virtual private network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11539670-B1
Application number	US-202117516612-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Nov 1, 2021
Priority date	Nov 1, 2021
Publication date	Dec 27, 2022
Grant date	Dec 27, 2022

Abstract

A method in a virtual private network (VPN) environment, the method including receiving, at a processor associated with a device, domain information associated with a VPN service provider; determining, by the processor, substitute domain information based at least in part on determining that the VPN service provider is unreachable via utilization of the domain information, the determining the substitute domain information being based at least in part on utilizing a time marker and a string of alphanumeric characters associated with the VPN service provider; and transmitting, by the processor, a connection request to reach the VPN service provider by utilizing the substitute domain information. Various other aspects are contemplated.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method in a virtual private network (VPN) environment, the method comprising:
receiving, at a processor associated with a device, domain information associated with a VPN service provider;
determining, by the processor, substitute domain information based at least in part on determining that the VPN service provider is unreachable via utilization of the domain information, the determining the substitute domain information being based at least in part on utilizing a time marker that identifies a current time period associated with determining the substitute domain information and a string of alphanumeric characters that identifies the VPN service provider; and
transmitting, by the processor, a connection request to reach the VPN service provider by utilizing the substitute domain information.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the substitute domain information includes utilizing a hashing function.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the substitute domain information includes utilizing a hashing function to hash data associated with the time marker and the predetermined string of alphanumeric characters.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the substitute domain information includes determining the substitute domain information in real time.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the string of alphanumeric characters is predetermined.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the domain information includes receiving the domain information via a client application associated with the VPN service provider.

7. A device, comprising:
a memory; and
a processor communicatively coupled to the memory, the memory and the processor being configured to:
receive domain information associated with a VPN service provider;
determine substitute domain information based at least in part on determining that the VPN service provider is unreachable via utilization of the domain information, the substitute domain information being determined based at least in part on utilizing a time marker that identifies a current time period associated with determining the substitute domain information and a string of alphanumeric characters that identifies the VPN service provider; and
transmit a connection request to reach the VPN service provider by utilizing the substitute domain information.

8. The device of claim 7 , wherein, to determine the substitute domain information, the memory and the processor are configured to utilize a hashing function.

9. The device of claim 7 , wherein, to determine the substitute domain information, the memory and the processor are configured to utilize a hashing function to hash data associated with the time marker and the predetermined string of alphanumeric characters.

10. The device of claim 7 , wherein, to determine the substitute domain information, the memory and the processor are configured to determine the substitute domain information in real time.

11. The device of claim 7 , wherein the string of alphanumeric characters is predetermined.

12. The device of claim 7 , wherein, to receive the domain information, the memory and the processor are configured to receive the domain information via a client application associated with the VPN service provider.

13. The device of claim 7 , wherein the string of alphanumeric characters is unique to the device.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium configured to store instructions, which when executed by a processor associated with a device, cause the processor to:
receive domain information associated with a VPN service provider;
determine substitute domain information based at least in part on determining that the VPN service provider is unreachable via utilization of the domain information, the substitute domain information being determined based at least in part on utilizing a time marker that identifies a current time period associated with determining the substitute domain information and a string of alphanumeric characters that identifies the VPN service provider; and
transmit a connection request to reach the VPN service provider by utilizing the substitute domain information.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein, to determine the substitute domain information, the processor is configured to utilize a hashing function.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein, to determine the substitute domain information, the processor is configured to utilize a hashing function to hash data associated with the time marker and the predetermined string of alphanumeric characters.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein, to determine the substitute domain information, the processor is configured to determine the substitute domain information in real time.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the string of alphanumeric characters is predetermined or unique to the device.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein, to receive the domain information, the processor is configured to receive the domain information via a client application associated with the VPN service provider.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the string of alphanumeric characters is unique to the device.

Assignees

• Uab 360 It

Inventors

• Valkaitis Mindaugas

Classifications

• H04L63/0421

  Anonymous communication, i.e. the party's identifiers are hidden from the other party or parties, e.g. using an anonymizer · CPC title

• H04L9/0643 Primary

  Hash functions, e.g. MD5, SHA, HMAC or f9 MAC · CPC title

• H04L63/20

  for managing network security; network security policies in general (filtering policies H04L63/0227) · CPC title

• H04L63/0272 Primary

  Virtual private networks · CPC title

• H04L63/0236

  Filtering by address, protocol, port number or service, e.g. IP-address or URL · CPC title