Pre-emptive anti-virus protection of computing systems
First Claim
1. A method for enabling a computing system to resist infection by a computer virus, the computing system performing the method, the method comprising:
- receiving an executable file into the computing system;
determining whether there is a key associated with the executable file;
if there is a key associated with the executable file, verifying the validity of the key; and
only if the key is valid, processing the executable file with a computational processing unit (CPU) of the computing system.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system is provided that strongly inhibits infection and spread of computer viruses. Valid executable software files and supporting files, even files provided by mass-released commercial software, are associated with a numeric key that is unique to each individual computer running the software. For a file to be processed by the central processing unit (CPU) of the computer, the presence of a valid key must first be verified. Every valid executable file, including files relating to the operating system and application layer code, is provided with a unique key. Thus, viruses that attempt to gain access to the CPU to perform unauthorized actions, including replication, are prevented due to lack of a valid execution key. Execution keys are generated locally on each individual computer using a variety of methods. Execution keys can be regenerated if the security of a computer system has been compromised, or appears to have been compromised.
74 Citations
41 Claims
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1. A method for enabling a computing system to resist infection by a computer virus, the computing system performing the method, the method comprising:
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receiving an executable file into the computing system;
determining whether there is a key associated with the executable file;
if there is a key associated with the executable file, verifying the validity of the key; and
only if the key is valid, processing the executable file with a computational processing unit (CPU) of the computing system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for installing software on a computing system so as to inhibit infection and spread of computer viruses, the method comprising:
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loading the software into the computing system so as to provide at least one executable file stored in the computing system;
associating a key with the executable file; and
storing key information in a key store of the computing system for validating the key. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An improved operating system for a computing device, the improved operating system comprising:
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a determiner that determines presence of a key associated with an executable file;
a verifier that verifies validity of the key so as to determine presence of a valid key associated with the executable file; and
an execution queue for queuing a plurality of executable files for processing by a processor of the computing device, each executable file being associated with a valid execution key. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A system for use in a computing system, the computing system having a scheduler, an execution queue, and a computational processing unit, the system being for helping the computer system to resist infection by a computer virus, the system comprising:
a verification unit, cooperative with the scheduler, for determining the presence of a key associated with an executable file stored in the computing system, and for verifying the validity of the key so as to determine the presence of a valid key associated with the executable file, a valid key being required to process the executable file with the computational processing unit. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A computer-readable medium incorporating operating system software of a computing system, the operating system software being improved so as to substantially reduce the ability of computer viruses to infect the computing system, the operating system causing the computing system to:
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for each executable file loaded onto the computing system, determine presence of a key associated with the executable file;
verify validity of the key so as to determine presence of a valid key associated with the executable file; and
process the executable file using a processor of the computing system only if the presence of a valid key associated with the executable file has been verified. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37)
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38. A method for preventing further infection by a computer virus due to the spread of the computer virus from a first computing system to a second computing system, the method comprising:
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assigning a first key to an executable file containing the computer virus that does not have a valid key, the first key being valid only on the first computing system;
executing the executable file containing the virus on the first computing system, and consequently communicating an executable file containing the virus and first key to a second computing system;
receiving at the second computing system the executable file containing the virus, and verifying at the second computing system whether a key that is valid on the second computing system is present; and
placing the executable file containing the virus and the first key in quarantine upon verification that the first key is not valid on the second computing system, and consequently not allowing the executable file to execute on the second computing system, thereby avoiding infection by the virus of the second computing system, and avoiding further spread of the virus to a third computing system. - View Dependent Claims (39)
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40. A computer-readable transmitted signal incorporating operating system software of a computing system, the operating system software being improved so as to substantially reduce the ability of computer viruses to infect the computing system, the operating system causing the computing system to:
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for each executable file loaded onto the computing system, determine presence of a key associated with the executable file;
verify validity of the key so as to determine presence of a valid key associated with the executable file; and
process the executable file using a processor of the computing system only if the presence of a valid key associated with the executable file has been verified. - View Dependent Claims (41)
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Specification