Automatic vetting of web applications to be listed in a marketplace for web applications

• US 10,068,270 B1
• Filed: 04/03/2014
• Issued: 09/04/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/18/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Kay, Erik, Boodman, Aaron, Zheng, Lei, Noth, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Civan, Ethan D
• Application Number:
  US14/244,136
• Time in Patent Office: 1,615 Days
• Field of Search: 705 261- 272
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0766 Error or fault reporting or storing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/95 Retrieval from the web
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9566 URL specific, e.g. using aliases, detecting broken or misspelled links
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9574 of access to content, e.g. by caching
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/53 by executing in a restricted environment, e.g. sandbox or secure virtual machine
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/57 Certifying or maintaining trusted computer platforms, e.g. secure boots or power-downs, version controls, system software checks, secure updates or assessing vulnerabilities
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44526 Plug-ins; Add-ons
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/54 Interprogram communication
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0609 Buyer or seller confidence or verification
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/212 using filtering or selective blocking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0823 using certificates cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1483 service impersonation, e.g. phishing, pharming or web spoofing detection of rogue wireless access points H04W12/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/289 Intermediate processing functionally located close to the data consumer application, e.g. in same machine, in same home or in same sub-network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 : involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/564 : Enhancement of application control based on intercepted application data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 : Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching

Abstract

A computer-implemented method includes providing an online marketplace to developers of web applications that may be downloaded from the marketplace to a client computing device for execution by a browser executing on the client device and receiving a request from a party to the marketplace to list a proposed web application for sale in the marketplace. One or more processors of a computer system automatically determine the permissions requested by the proposed web application and automatically determine if the permissions match one or more predetermined permissions. If the permissions match one or more predetermined permissions, then the proposed application is flagged for a manual vetting process before listing the proposed application in the marketplace, and if they do not match, then the proposed application is listed in the marketplace without manual review of the application.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

providing an online marketplace of executable downloadable installable software applications that may be downloaded from the marketplace to a client computing device for execution by a browser executing on the client device;

receiving a request from a party to the marketplace to list a proposed executable downloadable installable software application in the marketplace;

automatically determining, by one or more processors of a computer system, one or more permissions requested by the proposed executable downloadable installable software application;

automatically determining, by one or more processors of the computer system, if the one or more requested permissions match one or more predetermined permissions, and

if so, then based at least in part on a match being determined, flagging the proposed executable downloadable installable software application for manual review by a human curator to determine whether the proposed executable downloadable installable software application includes malicious code before listing the proposed application in the marketplace, and

if the one or more requested permissions do not match the one or more predetermined permissions, then based at least in part on a match not being determined, listing the proposed executable downloadable installable software application in the marketplace without manual review by a human curator of the executable downloadable installable software application.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more predetermined permissions includes a permission to run native code as part of the execution of the executable downloadable installable software application.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more predetermined permissions includes a local hardware access permission.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the manual review by a human curator includes manually running the proposed application and checking for malicious effects of the proposed executable downloadable installable software application on a client device running the proposed application.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

automatically determining, by one or more processors of the computer system, if code of the proposed executable downloadable installable software application matches one or more known malicious code sequences, and if so, flagging the proposed executable downloadable installable software application for a manual review by a human curator before listing the proposed application in the marketplace, and

if the code of the proposed application does not match the one or more known malicious code sequences and if the permissions do not match the one or more predetermined permissions, listing the proposed application in the marketplace without manual review of the application.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

automatically determining, by one or more processors of the computer system, if code of the proposed application matches one or more suspicious code sequences, and if so, flagging the proposed application for a manual review by a human curator before listing the proposed application in the marketplace, and

if the code of the proposed application does not match the one or more suspicious code sequences and if the permissions do not match the one or more predetermined permissions, listing the proposed application in the marketplace without manual review of the application.

7. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having recorded and stored thereon instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computer system cause the computer system to:

provide an online marketplace of executable downloadable installable software applications that may be downloaded from the marketplace to a client computing device for execution by a browser executing on the client device;

receive a request from a party to the marketplace to list a proposed executable downloadable installable software application in the marketplace;

automatically determine one or more permissions requested by the proposed executable downloadable installable software application;

automatically determine if the one or more requested permissions match one or more predetermined permissions, and

if so, then based at least in part on a match being determined, flag the proposed executable downloadable installable software application for manual review by a human curator to determine whether the proposed executable downloadable installable software application includes malicious code before listing the proposed application in the marketplace, and

if the one or more requested permissions do not match the one or more predetermined permissions, then based at least in part on a match not being determined, listing the proposed executable downloadable installable software application in the marketplace without manual review by a human curator of the executable downloadable installable software application.

8. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the one or more predetermined permissions includes a permission to run native code as part of the execution of the executable downloadable installable software application.

9. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the one or more predetermined permissions includes a local hardware access permission.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the execution of the instructions further causes the computer system to:

automatically determine if code of the proposed executable downloadable installable software application matches one or more known malicious code sequences, and if so, flag the proposed executable downloadable installable software application for a manual review by a human curator before listing the proposed executable downloadable installable software application in the marketplace, and

if the code of the proposed executable downloadable installable software application does not match the one or more known malicious code sequences and if the permissions do not match the one or more predetermined permissions, list the proposed application in the marketplace without manual review of the application.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the execution of the instructions further causes the computer system to:

automatically determine if code of the proposed executable downloadable installable software application matches one or more suspicious code sequences, and if so, flag the proposed application for a manual review by a human curator before listing the proposed application in the marketplace, and

if the code of the proposed executable downloadable installable software application does not match the one or more suspicious code sequences and if the permissions do not match the one or more predetermined permissions, listing the proposed application in the marketplace without manual review of the application.

12. An apparatus comprising:

one or more memory devices arranged and configured to store executable code; and

one or more processors operably coupled to the one or more memory devices, the processors being arranged and configured to execute the code such that the apparatus performs the actions of;

providing an online marketplace of executable downloadable installable software applications that may be downloaded from the marketplace to a client computing device for execution by a browser executing on the client device;

receiving a request from a party to the marketplace to list a proposed executable downloadable installable software application in the marketplace;

automatically determining, by one or more processors of a computer system, one or more permissions requested by the proposed executable downloadable installable software application;

automatically determining, by one or more processors of the computer system, if the one or more requested permissions match one or more predetermined permissions, and

if so, then based at least in part on a match being determined, flagging the proposed executable downloadable installable software application for manual review by a human curator to determine whether the proposed executable downloadable installable software application includes malicious code before listing the proposed application in the marketplace, and

if the one or more requested permissions do not match the one or more predetermined permissions, then based at least in part on a match not being determined, listing the proposed executable downloadable installable software application in the marketplace without manual review by a human curator of the executable downloadable installable software application.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the one or more predetermined permissions includes a permission to run native code as part of the execution of the executable downloadable installable software application.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the one or more predetermined permissions includes a local hardware access permission.

15. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the manual review by a human curator includes manually running the proposed application and checking for malicious effects of the proposed executable downloadable installable software application on a client device running the proposed application.

16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the one or more memory devices are arranged and configured to store executable code and the processors are arranged and configured to execute the code such that the apparatus performs the actions of:

automatically determining, by one or more processors of the computer system, if code of the proposed executable downloadable installable software application matches one or more know malicious code sequences, and if so, flagging the proposed executable downloadable installable software application for a manual review by a human curator before listing the proposed application in the marketplace, and if the code of the proposed application does not match the one or more known malicious code sequences and if the permissions do not match the one or more predetermined permissions, listing the proposed application in the marketplace without manual review of the application.

17. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the one or more memory devices arranged and configured to store executable code and the processors are arranged and configured to execute the code such that the apparatus performs the actions of:

automatically determining, by one or more processors of the computer system, if code of the proposed application matches one or more suspicious code sequences, and if so, flagging the proposed application for a manual review by a human curator before listing the proposed application in the marketplace, and if the code of the proposed application does not match the one or more suspicious code sequences and if the permissions do not match the one or more predetermined permissions, listing the proposed application in the marketplace without manual review of the application.