Identifying attributes of aggregated data

• US 20090007271A1
• Filed: 06/28/2007
• Published: 01/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Zhang, Dongmei, Hou, Xiaohui, Dang, Yingnong, Huang, Song, Wang, Jian
• Granted Patent: US 8,250,651 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• 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

Abstract

A method for identifying a portion of aggregated software security data is described. The method includes accessing aggregated data associated with software vulnerabilities retrieved from a plurality of on-line sources. The method further includes searching a portion of the aggregated data for an exact match to a particular attribute of the data and searching the portion of the aggregated data for one or more partial matches associated with the particular attribute. The method also includes associating the portion of the data with the particular attribute based on the exact match of one or more of the partial matches.

Claims

1. A method for identifying attributes of a portion of aggregated software security data comprising:

accessing a text string from aggregated data retrieved from a plurality of on-line sources;

searching a portion of said text string for an exact match to a particular attribute;

searching said text string for one or more partial matches associated with said particular attribute; and

associating said text string with said particular attribute based on said exact match or one or more of said partial matches.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining a relationship between one or more of said partial matches and said particular attribute.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein said relationship comprises a probability that one or more of said partial matches is associated with said particular attribute.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein said probability is determined by a finite state machine.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining a plurality of components of said particular attribute; and

associating one or more of said partial matches with one or more of said components of said particular attribute.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising:

determining a probability that one or more of said components of said particular attribute is associated with one or more of said partial matches.

7. The method of claim 5 further comprising:

attribute and mapping to a standard form that complies with a uniformed coding system of said particular attribute.

12. The instructions of claim 1wherein said probability is determined by a finite state machine.

8. Instructions on a computer-usable medium wherein said instructions when executed cause a computer system to perform a method for identifying a portion of aggregated data, said computer-implemented method comprising:

accessing aggregated data retrieved from a plurality of on-line sources;

searching a portion of said aggregated data for an exact match to a particular attribute;

searching said portion of said aggregated data for one or more partial matches associated with said particular attribute; and

associating said portion of said data with said particular attribute based on said exact match or one or more of said partial matches.

9. The instructions of claim 8 further comprising:

organizing a portion of said aggregated data according to said particular attribute.

10. The instructions of claim 8 wherein said method further comprises:

determining a relationship between one or more of said partial matches and said particular attribute.

11. The instructions of claim 10 wherein said relationship comprises a probability that one or more of said partial matches is associated with said particular attribute.

13. The instructions of claim 8 wherein said method further comprises:

determining a plurality of components of said particular attribute; and

associating one or more of said partial matches with one or more of said components of said particular attribute.

14. The instructions of claim 13 wherein said method further comprises:

determining a probability that one or more of said components of said particular attribute is associated with one or more of said partial matches.

15. The instructions of claim 13 wherein said method further comprises:

reordering one or more of said components of said particular attribute and mapping to a standard form that complies with a uniformed coding system of said particular attribute.

16. A system for enabling graphical representation of software security data comprising:

a data collector module for accessing aggregated data accessed from a plurality of on-line sources;

an exact match data searcher module for searching a portion of said aggregated data for an exact match to a particular attribute;

a partial match data searcher module for searching said portion of said aggregated data for one or more partial matches associated with said particular attribute; and

a data attribute associator module for associating said portion of said data with said particular attribute based on said exact match or one or more of said partial matches.

17. The system of claim 16 further comprising:

a relationship determiner module for determining a relationship between one or more of said partial matches and said particular attribute.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein said relationship determiner determines a probability that one or more of said partial matches is associated with said particular attribute.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein said probability is determined by a finite state machine.

20. The system of claim 16 further comprising:

a data component determiner for determining a plurality of components of said particular attribute wherein said data attribute associator module associates one or more of said partial matches with one or more of said components of said particular attribute.