Reliability improvement of Internet web servers through statistical process control

The proposed method, General Cross-Correlation Process Control (GCCPC), is intended for timely detection of hacker attacks and faults, before they become critical and disrupt the normal activity of a web server. It is based on observation of the correlations between the variables measured in the course of server activity. Some of the stronger of these correlations undergo drastic weakening at the onset of faults. A methodology is presented for choice of the variables to be observed, and of the monitoring parameters. To be noted are the robustness of the method, and the low cost of installation and maintenance of the system. Recommendations are given on real-world implementation of the method, as a basis for an automated protection system.