Front-end protocol for server protection

A system for protecting against denial of service attacks, comprising:

• means for sending a request by a client, the request comprising client indicia;
• means for receiving the request at a server;
• means for incrementing a request count by the server;
• means for assigning a sequence number as a function of the client indicia;
• means for selecting a problem by the server;
• means for sending the problem by the server to the client;
• means for sending a solution to the problem to the server;
• means for determining if the solution by client is correct;
• if the solution is correct, means for performing a session;
• if the solution is not correct, means for discarding the request.

A method for protecting a server against a denial of service attack from a client comprising:

• establishing a generic front-end protocol between the server and the client;
• and
• executing the protocol upon a request from the client to the server for server resources, the protocol comprising:
• the client sending a request message to the server;
• responding by the server to the request message;
• sending a challenge message to the client including a problem from a solution table on the server;
• and
• responding by the client in response to the challenge message by sending a response message to the server including a solution to the problem.

A computer program product for protecting against a denial of service attacks, the computer program product having a medium with a computer program embodied thereon, the computer program comprising:

• computer code for sending a request by a client, the request comprising client indicia;
• computer code for receiving the request at a server;
• computer code for incrementing a request count by the server;
• computer code for assigning a sequence number as a function of the client indicia;
• computer code for selecting a problem by the server;
• computer code for sending the problem by the server to the client;
• computer code for sending a solution to the problem to the server;
• computer code for determining if the solution by client is correct;
• if the solution is correct, computer code for performing a session;
• if the solution is not correct, computer code for discarding the request.

A processor for protecting against a denial of service attacks in a computer system, the processor including a computer program comprising:

• computer code for sending a request by a client, the request comprising client indicia;
• computer code for receiving the request at a server;
• computer code for incrementing a request count by the server;
• computer code for assigning a sequence number as a function of the client indicia;
• computer code for selecting a problem by the server;
• computer code for sending the problem by the server to the client;
• computer code for sending a solution to the problem to the server;
• computer code for determining if the solution by client is correct;
• if the solution is correct, computer code for performing a session;
• if the solution is not correct, computer code for discarding the request.