| CPC H04L 63/1408 (2013.01) [H04L 63/10 (2013.01); H04L 67/568 (2022.05); H04L 67/5651 (2022.05); H04L 67/5683 (2022.05); H04L 2463/144 (2013.01)] | 18 Claims |

|
1. A method of operating a cache node in a content delivery network comprising:
identifying a content request without a valid token for content not cached on the cache node;
determining that bot detection services are enabled for the requested content;
in response to the content request, and at least in part in response to the determination that bot detection services are enabled for the requested content, generating a challenge for an end user device that generated the content request;
communicating the challenge to the end user device;
obtaining a response from the end user device to the challenge;
determining that the content request is associated with a bot based, at least in part, on the response; and
in response to determining that the content request is associated with a bot, preventing a further content request to an origin server to obtain the content;
identifying a second content request without a valid token for second content not cached on the cache node;
in response to the second content request, generating a second challenge for a second end user device that generated the second content request;
communicating the second challenge to the second end user device;
obtaining a second response from the second end user device to the second challenge;
determining that the second content request is not associated with a bot based on the second response; and
in response to determining that the second content request is not associated with a bot:
generating a token for the second end user device; and
providing the token to the second end user device.
|