Computer virus protection
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method comprising:
- receiving a message containing a virus comprising executable code;
converting the executable code from an executable format to a non-executable format, such that the virus is rendered inoperable, using an application-level process that retains semantic content of the message; and
forwarding the non-executable format over a network to a target recipient of the message.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A network is protected from e-mail viruses through the use of a sacrificial server. Any executable program or other suspicious parts of incoming e-mail messages are forwarded to a sacrificial server, where they are converted to non-executable format such as Adobe Acrobat PDF and sent to the recipient. The sacrificial server is then checked for virus activity. After the execution is completed, the sacrificial server is rebooted.
37 Citations
48 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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receiving a message containing a virus comprising executable code; converting the executable code from an executable format to a non-executable format, such that the virus is rendered inoperable, using an application-level process that retains semantic content of the message; and forwarding the non-executable format over a network to a target recipient of the message. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A system comprising:
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means for receiving a message containing a virus comprising executable code; means for converting the executable code from an executable format to a non-executable format, such that the virus is rendered inoperable, using an application-level process that retains semantic content of the message; and means for forwarding the non-executable format over a network to a target recipient of the message. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A processor configured to execute program code that causes the processor to perform a method comprising:
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receiving a message containing a virus comprising executable code; converting the executable code from an executable format to a non-executable format, such that the virus is rendered inoperable, using an application-level process that retains semantic content of the message; and forwarding the non-executable format over a network to a target recipient of the message. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44)
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45. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions comprising:
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instructions to receive a message containing a virus comprising executable code; instructions to convert the executable code from an executable format to a non-executable format, such that the virus is rendered inoperable, using an application-level process that retains semantic content of the message; and instructions to forward the non-executable format over a network to a target recipient of the message.
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46. A method comprising:
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receiving a message containing executable code; converting the executable code from an executable format to a non-executable format, such that the executable code is rendered inoperable, using an application-level process that retains semantic content of the message; and forwarding the non-executable format over a network to a target recipient of the message. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48)
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Specification