Wireless hotspot with lightweight anti-malware

• US 8,516,592 B1
• Filed: 06/13/2011
• Issued: 08/20/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Trend Micro Inc.
• Original Assignee: Trend Micro Inc.
• Inventors: Wu, Tzu-Chien
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim, Jung
• Assistant Examiner(s): Jamshidi, Ghodrat
• Application Number:
  US13/158,682
• Time in Patent Office: 799 Days
• Field of Search: 726/24
• US Class Current: 726/24
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1416 Event detection, e.g. attack signature detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security

Abstract

A mobile computing device, such as a mobile phone, serves as a wireless hotspot for other mobile computing devices. The other mobile computing devices connect to the mobile phone over a wireless computer network, and the mobile phone connects to the Internet over a mobile phone network. The wireless computer network may be a WiFi network and the mobile phone network may be a 3G network. The mobile phone may include a lightweight anti-malware client for screening network traffic between the other mobile computing devices and web servers on the Internet. The lightweight anti-malware client may consult a cloud security network for reputation of data included in the network traffic.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of providing a wireless hotspot, the method comprising:

a mobile computing device connecting to a mobile phone by way of a wireless computer network, the mobile phone serving as a wireless hotspot for connecting to the Internet;

the mobile phone receiving network traffic from a web server on the Internet over a mobile phone network, the network traffic being for the mobile computing device;

the mobile phone sending identifying characteristics of an incoming data from the network traffic to a cloud security network for evaluation;

the mobile phone receiving a result of the evaluation from the cloud security network; and

the mobile phone making the forwarding of the incoming data to the mobile computing device over the wireless computer network contingent on the result of the evaluation.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the wireless computer network comprises a WiFi network.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the mobile phone network comprises a 3G network.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

the mobile phone detecting that the incoming data is malicious based on the result of the evaluation.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the incoming data comprises a computer virus.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the incoming data comprises a file.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

the mobile phone detecting that the incoming data is not malicious based on the result of the evaluation; and

in response to detecting that the incoming data is not malicious, letting the incoming data first set of network traffic to pass to the mobile computing device.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the mobile computing device comprises a tablet computer that has no installed anti-malware.

9. A system for providing a wireless hotspot, the system comprising:

a web server;

a plurality of mobile computing devices connected to the Internet by way of a wireless hotspot; and

a mobile phone configured to serve as the wireless hotspot for the plurality of mobile computing devices, the mobile phone including a wireless computer network interface for connecting to a wireless computer network and a mobile phone network interface for connecting to a mobile phone network, the mobile phone being connected to the plurality of mobile computing devices over the wireless computer network and to the web server on the Internet over the mobile phone network, the mobile phone including a lightweight anti-malware client configured to receive incoming data transmitted by the web server to a mobile computing device in the plurality of mobile computing devices and to screen the incoming data for malicious content using a remotely located cloud security network, the mobile phone forwarding the incoming data to the mobile computing device depending on a result of evaluation of the incoming data by the remotely located cloud security network.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the wireless computer network comprises a WiFi network.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein the mobile phone network comprises a 3G network.

12. The system of claim 9 wherein the lightweight anti-malware client of the mobile phone is configured to consult a server computer in the cloud security network for reputation of the incoming data.

13. The system of claim 9 wherein the mobile computing device comprises a tablet computer that has no installed anti-malware.

14. A computer-implemented method of providing a wireless hotspot, the method comprising:

a first mobile computing device serving as a wireless hotspot for a second mobile computing device;

the first mobile computing device receiving network traffic between the second mobile computing device and a web server, the first mobile computing device communicating with the second mobile computing device over a wireless computer network, the first mobile computing device communicating with the web server over a mobile phone network; and

the first mobile computing device screening the network traffic for malicious content, the first mobile computing device sending identifying characteristics of the network traffic to a cloud security network for evaluation, and blocking the network traffic to prevent the network traffic from being forwarded out of the first mobile computing device depending on a result of the evaluation of the cloud security network of the identifying characteristics of the network traffic.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14 wherein the first mobile computing device comprises a mobile phone.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the wireless computer network comprises a WiFi network.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the mobile phone network comprises a 3G network.

18. The method of claim 14 wherein the cloud security network maintains a reputation database, consults the reputation database for reputation of data included in the network traffic, and provides the reputation of the data to the first mobile computing device;

and

the mobile phone detecting that the data is malicious based on the reputation of the data received from the cloud security network.

19. The method of claim 14 wherein the second mobile computing device comprises a tablet computer that has no installed anti-malware.