code: private boolean loadMatchRules(String rulesUrl) {
  	//load match rules from file
  	try {
              //check for file URL 
              if (rulesUrl != null && rulesUrl.toLowerCase().startsWith("file:")) {
                  return loadMatchRulesFromFile(rulesUrl);
              }
              
              //request match rules from remote URL 
      	    mCallbacks.printOutput("Loading match rules from: " + rulesUrl);
  	    URL url = new URL(rulesUrl);
              IHttpService service = new HttpService(url);
              HttpRequest request = new HttpRequest(url);
              byte[] responseBytes = mCallbacks.makeHttpRequest(
                      service.getHost(), 
                      service.getPort(), 
                      HttpService.PROTOCOL_HTTPS.equalsIgnoreCase(service.getProtocol()), 
                      request.getBytes());
              
              //parse the response
              if (responseBytes == null) return false; //no response received from server 
              HttpResponse response = HttpResponse.parseMessage(responseBytes);
              
  	    //read match rules from the response
              Reader is = new StringReader(response.getBody());
  	    BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(is);
  	    
              processMatchRules(reader);
                          
              return true;
  
  	} catch (IOException e) {
  	    scan.printStackTrace(e);
  	} catch (Exception e) {
  	    scan.printStackTrace(e);
          }
          
          return false;
      }
docs: Load match rules from a URL