In transit detection of computer virus with safeguard
DCFirst Claim
1. In a system for transferring digital data for storage in a computer storage medium, a method of screening the data as it is being transferred and automatically inhibiting the storage of screened data containing at least one predefined sequence, comprising the steps of:
- causing a quantity of digital data resident on a source storage medium to be transferred to a computer system having a destination storage medium;
receiving and screening the transferred digital data prior to storage on the destination storage medium to determine if at least one of a plurality of predefined sequences are present in the digital data received; and
in response to said screening step;
(a) automatically causing the screened digital data to be stored on said destination storage medium if none of the plurality of predefined sequences are present, and(b) automatically inhibiting the screened digital data from being stored on said destination storage medium if at least one predefined sequence is present.
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Abstract
Data is tested in transit between a source medium and a destination medium, such as between two computer communicating over a telecommunications link or network. Each character of the incoming data stream is tested using a finite state machine which is capable of testing against multiple search strings representing the signatures of multiple known computer viruses. When a virus is detected the incoming data is prevented from remaining on the destination storage medium. Both hardware and software implementations are envisioned.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. In a system for transferring digital data for storage in a computer storage medium, a method of screening the data as it is being transferred and automatically inhibiting the storage of screened data containing at least one predefined sequence, comprising the steps of:
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causing a quantity of digital data resident on a source storage medium to be transferred to a computer system having a destination storage medium; receiving and screening the transferred digital data prior to storage on the destination storage medium to determine if at least one of a plurality of predefined sequences are present in the digital data received; and in response to said screening step; (a) automatically causing the screened digital data to be stored on said destination storage medium if none of the plurality of predefined sequences are present, and (b) automatically inhibiting the screened digital data from being stored on said destination storage medium if at least one predefined sequence is present. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of preventing the spread of computer viruses to a computer having a storage medium, comprising the steps of:
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simultaneously searching for a plurality of virus signatures, each of which comprising an identifiable digital sequence, while said computer is receiving a stream of digital data for storage on said storage medium; providing an indication of the detection of a virus from said searching step; and automatically inhibiting the storage of said digital stream on said storage medium if any of said virus signatures have been detected. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification