Method and computer program product for identifying or managing vulnerabilities within a data processing network
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Abstract
Provided are methods, apparatus and computer programs for identifying vulnerabilities to viruses of hacking. Hash values are computed and stored for resources stored on systems within a network. If a first resource or a collection of resources (such as files comprising an operating system, Web Browser or mail server) is associated with a vulnerability, hash values for the first resource or collection of resources are compared with the stored hash values to identify systems which have the vulnerability. Messages may be sent to the people responsible for the vulnerable systems, or the vulnerability may be removed by automatic downloading of patches or service packs.
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Citations
47 Claims
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1-29. -29. (canceled)
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30. A method comprising:
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computing a set of first hash values derived from and representing a plurality of replicas of a resource, wherein the replicas of the resource are stored on respective data processing systems within a network; storing the computed set of first hash values; after computing and storing the set of first hash values, computing second hash values for the replicas of the resource, wherein the computing of the second hash values; at a central server within the network, automatically comparing the first and second hash values to find new hash values changed between computing the first hash values and computing the second hash values; statistically observing a creation pattern of the new hash values to evaluate the likelihood of a virus infection; and taking a selected action in response to determining a high likelihood of a virus infection from the statistical observation. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A computer program product including at least one tangible, computer readable medium, said at least one computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for execution by at least one computer system, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one computer system, cause the at least one computer system to implement a method comprising the steps of:
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computing a set of first hash values derived from and representing a plurality of replicas of a resource, wherein the replicas of the resource are stored on respective data processing systems within a network; storing the computed set of first hash values; after computing and storing the set of first hash values, computing second hash values for the replicas of the resource, wherein the computing of the second hash values; at a central server within the network, automatically comparing the first and second hash values to find new hash values changed between computing the first hash values and computing the second hash values; statistically observing a creation pattern of the new hash values to evaluate the likelihood of a virus infection; and taking a selected action in response to determining a high likelihood of a virus infection from the statistical observation. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A method comprising the steps of:
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updating, at successive update times, virus definitions for scanning resources stored on a data processing system; scanning the stored resources for viruses in first and second scanning instances responsive to the virus definitions updated at respective first and second ones of the update times; computing hash values for the resources at the first and second update times; for a selected one or more of the resources, calculating a value indicative of how long the respective resource has remained unchanged between earliest and latest clear virus scans of the selected one or more of the resources; for the selected one or more of the resources, comparing the calculated value to a pre-selected reference value, the pre-selected reference value having been selected at least partially based on an expected time that a target virus may exist but remain undetected; prioritizing virus scanning of the selected one or more of the resources based at least partially on the result of comparing the calculated value to the pre-selected reference value; updating the virus definitions at a next update time; scanning at least one high-priority resource for viruses in a next scanning instance responsive to the virus definitions updated at the next time; and after scanning the at least one high-priority resource, deferring virus scanning of at least one low-priority resource until a period of low system activity. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 46, 47)
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44. A computer program product including at least one tangible, computer readable medium, said at least one computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for execution by at least one computer system, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one computer system, cause the at least one computer system to implement a method comprising the steps of:
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updating, at successive update times, virus definitions for resources stored on a data processing system; scanning the stored resources for viruses in first and second scanning instances responsive to the virus definitions updated at respective first and second ones of the update times; computing hash values for the resources at the first and second update times; for a selected one or more of the resources, calculating a value indicative of how long the respective resource has remained unchanged between earliest and latest clear virus scans of the selected one or more of the resources; for the selected one or more of the resources, comparing the calculated value to a pre-selected reference value, the pre-selected reference value having been selected at least partially based on an expected time that a target virus may exist but remain undetected;
prioritizing virus scanning of the selected one or more of the resources based at least partially on the result of comparing the calculated value to the pre-selected reference value;updating the virus definitions at a next update time; scanning at least one high-priority resource for viruses in a next scanning instance responsive to the virus definitions updated at the next time; and after scanning at least one high-priority resource, deferring virus scanning of at least one low-priority resource until a period of low system activity. - View Dependent Claims (45)
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Specification