Systems and methods for addressing security vulnerabilities on computing devices

• US 8,745,746 B1
• Filed: 03/07/2012
• Issued: 06/03/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CA, Inc. (d/b/a CA Technologies) (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Symantec Corporation (NortonLifeLock Inc.)
• Inventors: Jain, Akshat
• Primary Examiner(s): DADA, BEEMNET W
• Application Number:
  US13/414,408
• Time in Patent Office: 818 Days
• Field of Search: 726/1, 726 22- 26, 709/224
• US Class Current: 726/25
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/577 Assessing vulnerabilities and evaluating computer system security
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/145 the attack involving the propagation of malware through the network, e.g. viruses, trojans or worms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/128 Anti-malware arrangements, e.g. protection against SMS fraud or mobile malware

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for addressing security vulnerabilities on computing devices may include 1) identifying a security vulnerability associated with a programmatic installation on a mobile computing platform, 2) querying, in response to identifying the security vulnerability, a database for a list of mobile computing devices that include both the programmatic installation and a security system capable of remedying security vulnerabilities, 3) generating a message to send to each mobile computing device within the list of mobile computing devices that includes a prompt to remedy the security vulnerability, and 4) prompting a user of each mobile computing device within the list of mobile computing devices to remedy the security vulnerability by transmitting the message to each mobile computing device within the list of mobile computing devices via a plurality of push notifications. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for addressing security vulnerabilities on computing devices, at least a portion of the method being performed by a computing device comprising at least one processor, the method comprising:

assembling a security vulnerability watch list of a plurality of mobile computing devices with a security system capable of remedying security vulnerabilities;

collecting identifications of programmatic installations on the plurality of mobile computing devices;

storing the identifications of programmatic installations in a database indexed by the security vulnerability watch list on a storage device;

identifying at least one security vulnerability associated with at least one programmatic installation among the programmatic installations on at least one of the mobile computing devices;

querying, in response to identifying the security vulnerability, the database for a list of mobile computing devices that are vulnerable to the security vulnerability;

generating a message to send to each mobile computing device within the list of mobile computing devices, the message comprising a prompt to remedy the security vulnerability;

prompting a user of each mobile computing device within the list of mobile computing devices to remedy the security vulnerability by transmitting the message to each mobile computing device within the list of mobile computing devices via a plurality of push notifications via a telecommunication network.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

identifying the security vulnerability associated with the programmatic installation comprises identifying malware within an application for mobile computing platforms;

querying the database comprises querying the database for a list of mobile computing devices with the application installed.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein generating the message comprises generating a message that prompts the user to download a malware definition for identifying the malware within the application.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein generating the message comprises generating a message that prompts the user to uninstall the application.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

identifying the security vulnerability associated with the programmatic installation comprises identifying an exploit within a firmware of a mobile computing platform;

querying the database comprises querying the database for a list of mobile computing devices with the firmware installed.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein generating the message comprises generating a message prompting a user to upgrade the firmware to a secure version of the firmware.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the database comprises information identifying a plurality of applications from a plurality of vendors installed on a plurality of mobile computing devices.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein identifying the security vulnerability associated with the programmatic installation on a mobile computing platform comprises receiving an alert from an affected mobile computing device that detected the security vulnerability associated with the programmatic installation.

9. A system for addressing security vulnerabilities on computing devices, the system comprising:

an identification module programmed to;

assemble a security vulnerability watch list of a plurality of mobile computing devices with a security system capable of remedying security vulnerabilities;

collect identifications of programmatic installations on the plurality of mobile computing devices;

store the identifications of programmatic installations in a database indexed by the security vulnerability watch list on a storage device;

identify at least one security vulnerability associated with at least one programmatic installation among the programmatic installations on at least one of the mobile computing devices;

a query module programmed to query, in response to identifying the security vulnerability, the database for a list of mobile computing devices that are vulnerable to the security vulnerability;

a generation module programmed to generate a message to send to each mobile computing device within the list of mobile computing devices, the message comprising a prompt to remedy the security vulnerability;

a prompting module programmed to prompt a user of each mobile computing device within the list of mobile computing devices to remedy the security vulnerability by transmitting the message to each mobile computing device within the list of mobile computing devices via a plurality of push notifications via a telecommunication network;

at least one processor configured to execute the identification module, the query module, the generation module, and the prompting module.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein:

the identification module is programmed to identify the security vulnerability associated with the programmatic installation by identifying malware within an application for mobile computing platforms;

the query module is programmed to query the database by querying the database for a list of mobile computing devices with the application installed.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the generation module is programmed to generate the message by generating a message that prompts the user to download a malware definition for identifying the malware within the application.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the generation module is programmed to generate the message by generating a message that prompts the user to uninstall the application.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein:

the identification module is programmed to identify the security vulnerability associated with the programmatic installation by identifying an exploit within a firmware of a mobile computing platform;

the query module is programmed to query the database by querying the database for a list of mobile computing devices with the firmware installed.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the generation module is programmed to generate the message by generating a message prompting a user to upgrade the firmware to a secure version of the firmware.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the database comprises information identifying a plurality of applications from a plurality of vendors installed on a plurality of mobile computing devices.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the identification module is programmed to identify the security vulnerability associated with the programmatic installation on a mobile computing platform by receiving an alert from an affected mobile computing device that detected the security vulnerability associated with the programmatic installation.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable-storage medium comprising one or more computer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computing device, cause the computing device to:

assemble a security vulnerability watch list of a plurality of mobile computing devices with a security system capable of remedying security vulnerabilities;

collect identifications of programmatic installations on the plurality of mobile computing devices;

store the identifications of programmatic installations in a database indexed by the security vulnerability watch list on a storage device;

identify at least one security vulnerability associated with at least one programmatic installation among the programmatic installations on at least one of the mobile computing devices;

query, in response to identifying the security vulnerability, the database for a list of mobile computing devices that are vulnerable to the security vulnerability;

generate a message to send to each mobile computing device within the list of mobile computing devices, the message comprising a prompt to remedy the security vulnerability;

prompt a user of each mobile computing device within the list of mobile computing devices to remedy the security vulnerability by transmitting the message to each mobile computing device within the list of mobile computing devices via a plurality of push notifications via a telecommunication network.

18. The computer-readable-storage medium of claim 17, wherein:

the one or more computer-executable instructions cause the computing device to identify the security vulnerability associated with the programmatic installation by causing the computing device to identify malware within an application for mobile computing platforms;

the one or more computer-executable instructions cause the computing device to query the database by causing the computing device to query the database for a list of mobile computing devices with the application installed.

19. The computer-readable-storage medium of claim 18, wherein the one or more computer-executable instructions cause the computing device to generate the message by causing the computing device to generate a message that prompts the user to download a malware definition for identifying the malware within the application.

20. The computer-readable-storage medium of claim 18, wherein the one or more computer-executable instructions cause the computing device to generate the message by causing the computing device to generate a message that prompts the user to uninstall the application.