PROTECTING USERS FROM MALICIOUS POP-UP ADVERTISEMENTS

• US 20080046975A1
• Filed: 08/15/2006
• Published: 02/21/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AirBNB Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Boss, Gregory J., Chen, Gang, Hamilton, Rick A., Langford, John S.
• Granted Patent: US 7,962,955 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/52 during program execution, e.g. stack integrity ; Preventing unwanted data erasure; Buffer overflow

Abstract

The present invention is a solution for detecting a spoofed command button in a pop-up window. The solution tracks the creation process of a pop-up window, detects the presence of command buttons in the pop-up window, verifies the value labeled on each command button in the pop-up window and determines a follow-up action generated from selecting a command button on the pop-up window.

Claims

1. A method for detecting a spoofed command button comprising:

tracking a creation process for a pop-up window;

detecting a command button created in the pop-up window;

checking an assigned value of the command button; and

determining a follow-up action generated on selection of the command button.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the detecting includes performing a background source code validation.

3. The method according to claim 1 further comprising verifying that the follow-up action generated closes the pop-up window.

4. The method according to claim 3 further comprising alerting a user that the pop-up window poses a potential danger when the follow-up action from selecting the command button is an action other than closing the pop-up window.

5. The method according to claim 2 further comprising alerting a user to proceed with caution when the assigned value of the command button restricts user selection.

6. A method for detecting a spoofed command button comprising:

validating a closing action of a pop-up window against a web browser Application Program Interface (API) for closing a window to detect an anomaly;

alerting a user on detecting that a follow-up action generated by the user on selecting the command button fails to communicate with the web browser API.

7. The method according to claim 6 further comprising closing the pop-up window on alerting the user.

8. A system for detecting a spoofed command button comprising:

a component for tracking a creation process for a pop-up window;

a component for detecting creation of a command button in the pop-up window;

a component for checking an assigned value of the command button; and

a component for determining a follow-up action generated on selection of the command button.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the component for detecting performs a background source code validation.

10. The system of claim 8 further comprising a component for verifying that the follow-up action generated closes the pop-up window.

11. The system of claim 10 further comprising a component for alerting a user that the pop-up window poses a potential danger when the follow-up action performs an action other than closing the pop-up window.

12. The system of claim 8 further comprising a component for alerting the user to proceed with caution when the assigned value of the command button restricts user selection.

13. The system of claim 8 further comprising

a component for validating the pop-up window against a web browser Application Program Interface (API) for closing a window;

a component for alerting the user on detecting the follow-up action generated by the user on selecting the command button omits communicating with the web browser API; and

a component for closing the pop-up window.

14. A computer program stored on a machine-readable medium, for detecting a spoofed command button, the computer program including program code for:

tracking a creation process for a pop-up window;

detecting a command button created in the pop-up window;

checking an assigned value of the command button; and

determining a follow-up action generated on selection of the command button.

15. The computer program of claim 14 further including program code for:

validating a closing action of the pop-up window against a web browser Application Program Interface (API) for closing a window;

alerting a user on detecting that the follow-up action generated by the user on selecting the command button fails to communicate with the web browser API; and

closing of the pop-up window.

16. The computer program of claim 14 further including program code for performing a background source code validation when the command button is detected.

17. The computer program of claim 14 further including program code for verifying that the follow-up action generated closes the pop-up window.

18. The computer program of claim 14 further including program code for alerting the user that the pop-up window poses a potential danger when the follow-up action for selecting a command button is an action other than closing the pop-up window.

19. The computer program of claim 14 further including program code for alerting the user to proceed with caution when the assigned value of the command button restricts user selection.

20. A method for deploying an application for detecting a spoofed command button, the method comprising:

providing a computer infrastructure being operable to;

track a pop-up window creation process;

detect a command button created in the pop-up window;

check an assigned value of the command button; and

determine a follow-up action generated on selection of the command button.