Proposal for Virtual Web Browser by Using HTML5

Abstract

We propose a method of a virtual Web browser that enables safer Web-browsing environment. The method uses an HTML5 compliant Web browser as client environment and JavaScript-related technologies in server environment. The idea of the method is that (1) the server works as the HTTP/WebSocket proxy, (2) it transforms requested Web pages from clients into equivalent images, and (3) it returns the images to the clients, thereby making Web pages that contain malicious software (e.g., viruses, worms, and so on) harmless and protecting the clients against being infected with such malware. The virtual Web browser also supports other features such as keyboard events, mouse events, Cookies, and so on. The evaluation shows that the method provides a safer way of browsing Web pages without increasing network traffic. Finally, we conclude that the method is useful to realize safer Web-browsing environment.