Efficient web threat protection

A method of protecting a client computer against a Web threat, the client computer connected to a gateway device, the method comprising:

• receiving from the client computer at the gateway device, an HTTP request having a first pass token;
• obtaining the first pass token from the HTTP request;
• creating a second pass token;
• determining whether the first pass token is valid by comparing the first pass token with the second pass token;
• and
• if the first pass token is equal to the second pass token, transmitting the HTTP request to a target Web server.

A method of adding a new server to a network having a client computer and a gateway device, the network capable of protecting the client computer against a Web threat, the method comprising:

• receiving, at the gateway device, a request for a token from the new server, the request containing a new server identifier (ID);
• creating the token on the gateway device using a gateway secret and the new server ID;
• transmitting the token from the gateway device to the new server;
• and
• transmitting the token to the client computer in the network, wherein the token is used to generate a pass token for insertion into an HTTP request when a URL reputation check has been performed.

A method of protecting a client computer from a Web threat, the client computer being in a private network together with a gateway device and a newly added server, the method comprising:

• registering the newly added server on the private network, the registering operation comprising:
• receiving, at the gateway device, a request for a server token from the newly added server, the request containing a new server identifier (ID);
• creating the server token on the gateway device using a gateway secret and the new server ID, the gateway secret being a unique value that is stored in the gateway device;
• transmitting the server token from the gateway device to the server;
• and
• transmitting the server token from the server to the client computer in the network;
• preparing and transmitting an HTTP request from the client computer to the gateway device, the HTTP request containing a first pass token indicating that the URL is safe, the preparing and transmitting operation comprising:
• identifying a URL in an HTTP request at the client computer, the HTTP request being based on a request from a user of the client device to visit a web site represented by the URL;
• obtaining a URL reputation data value over the Internet from a reputation database at the client computer;
• determining whether the reputation data value indicates that the URL is safe;
• calculating the first pass token at said computing computer using the server token received from the server in the private network, the first pass token indicating that the URL is safe;
• inserting the first pass token into the HTTP request at said client computer after said determining operation, thereby creating a modified HTTP request;
• and
• transmitting the modified HTTP request to the gateway device in the private network;
• and
• validating the first pass token from the client computer at the gateway device, the validating operation comprising:
• receiving from the client computer at the gateway device, the HTTP request having the first pass token;
• obtaining the first pass token from the HTTP request;
• creating a second pass token at the gateway device using the new server ID and the gateway secret;
• determining whether the first pass token is valid by comparing the first pass token with the second pass token;
• and
• if the first pass token is equal to the second pass token, transmitting the HTTP request to a target Web server.