Abstract: An apparatus and method is disclosed for providing the attachment of a plurality of magnetic devices for use in a decorative lighting system. The magnetic device comprises a magnetic base assembly, coupled with a magnet recessed into a first side of the magnetic base assembly, a supporting element, coupled to a second side of the magnetic base assembly, a first interior element parallel with a second interior element extending from the exterior top portion of the supporting element to a circular element in the interior bottom portion of the supporting element.

Abstract: An apparatus and method are disclosed for enabling controlled access to resources at a resource provider server. The invention may encrypt or decrypt a portion of a uniform resource identifier (URI), according to a stateless method for hiding resources and/or providing access control support. Upon receipt of a URI having an encrypted portion, the invention decrypts the encrypted portion using a predetermined key to obtain a decrypted segment, extracts additional information from the decrypted segment and forms a decrypted URI, before the decrypted URI is forwarded to a resource producer server. The invention may also encrypt a URI from a resource provider server before it is sent to a client in response to a client request.

Abstract: The invention provides methods, apparatus and systems for detecting distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks within the Internet by sampling packets at a point or points in Internet backbone connections to determine a packet metric parameter. The packet metric parameter which might comprise the volume of packets received is analysed over selected time intervals with respect to specified geographical locations in which the hosts transmitting the packets are located. The expected behaviour can be employed to identify traffic distortions revealing a DDoS attack. In a complementary aspect, the invention provides a method of authenticating packets at routers in order to elevate the QoS of authenticated packets. This method can be used to block or filter packets and can be used in conjunction with the DDoS attack detection system to defend against DDoS attacks within the Internet in a distributed manner.