Information protection method and system

• US 8,255,998 B2
• Filed: 08/16/2006
• Issued: 08/28/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Emc IP Holding Company LLC (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: EMC Corporation (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Claudatos, Christopher Hercules, Baim, Jason A., Cobb, Daniel S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Homayounmehr, Farid
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lauzon, Thomas C
• Application Number:
  US11/505,559
• Publication Number:
  US 20080016564A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,204 Days
• Field of Search: 726/2, 726/22
• US Class Current: 726/24
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/554 involving event detection and direct action
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/56 Computer malware detection or handling, e.g. anti-virus arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/568 eliminating virus, restoring damaged files

Abstract

A method for protecting objects in a computer system against malware is disclosed. An object is analyzed to determine whether it is infected by malware, and if it is determined to be infected, a backup copy of the object is located in a backup of the objects. The infected object is replaced with the backup copy.

Claims

1. A method for protecting objects in a computer system, comprising determining whether an object is infected by malware, and if the object is infected:

determining a pattern associated with an object, wherein determining the pattern includes analyzing at least one selected from the group comprising times of access to the object, location of access to the object, or source of changes to the object;

detecting a deviation from the pattern to identify an anomaly indicating that the object is infected by malware, wherein detecting a deviation from the pattern includes determining a degree of change or monitoring an access log for the object;

determining an infection point in time at which the object became infected based on the detected deviation;

using the infection point in time to select a first backup copy of the object in a backup of the objects;

determining whether the first backup copy is infected by malware;

replacing the object with the first backup copy if the first backup copy is not infected by malware;

locating a second backup copy of the same object in a backup of the objects if the first backup copy is infected,

wherein locating a second backup copy includes comparing a candidate backup copy to the first backup copy to determine whether the second backup copy is different from the first copy;

replacing the object with the second backup copy if the first backup copy is infected and if the second backup copy is different from the first copy;

determining valid writes based on the access log; and

applying the valid writes to the replaced object.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein locating the second backup copy includes identifying a backup copy that is older than the first backup copy.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein comparing the candidate backup copy to the first backup copy includes comparing a hash value of the candidate backup copy to a hash value of the first backup copy.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising determining whether the second backup copy is infected by malware only if the second backup copy is different from the first backup copy.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the backup comprises an online backup storage and an offline backup storage, and locating the first backup copy comprises searching the online backup storage.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising using the infection point to select the first backup copy.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein determining whether the first backup copy is infected includes submitting the first backup copy to an antivirus engine.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising querying a user whether to replace the infected object with a backup copy.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein detecting the deviation from the pattern includes analyzing the backup copies for copies that deviate from the pattern.