METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IDENTIFYING AND CHARACTERIZING ERRANT ELECTRONIC FILES
First Claim
1. A computer implemented method for identifying and characterizing stored electronic files, the method comprising:
- under control of one or more configured computer systems;
selecting a file from a computer storage medium;
generating a checksum associated with the selected file according to at least one of;
generating the checksum for graphics files based on vector graphics analysis;
ordividing a graphical image file into blocks and comparing relationships between the blocks;
comparing the checksum associated with the selected file to one or more checksums associated with one or more of a plurality of unauthorized files;
determining that the checksum associated with the selected file matches one of the plurality of checksums associated with the unauthorized files; and
characterizing the file as an unauthorized file.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A computer system includes a server having a memory connected thereto. The server is adapted to be connected to a network to permit remote storage and retrieval of data files from the memory. A file identification application is operative with the server to identify errant files stored in the memory. The file identification application provides the functions of: (1) selecting a file stored in said memory; (2) generating a unique checksum corresponding to the stored fire; (3) comparing said unique checksum to each of a plurality of previously generated checksums, wherein the plurality of previously generated checksums correspond to known errant files; and (4) marking the file for deletion from the memory if the unique checksum matches one of the plurality of previously generated checksums.
34 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A computer implemented method for identifying and characterizing stored electronic files, the method comprising:
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under control of one or more configured computer systems; selecting a file from a computer storage medium; generating a checksum associated with the selected file according to at least one of; generating the checksum for graphics files based on vector graphics analysis;
ordividing a graphical image file into blocks and comparing relationships between the blocks; comparing the checksum associated with the selected file to one or more checksums associated with one or more of a plurality of unauthorized files; determining that the checksum associated with the selected file matches one of the plurality of checksums associated with the unauthorized files; and characterizing the file as an unauthorized file. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A computer system, comprising:
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a server having a memory connected thereto, the server being adapted to be connected to a network to permit remote storage and retrieval of data files from the memory; and a file identification application operative with the server to identify unauthorized files stored in the memory, the file identification application providing the functions of; selecting a file from a computer storage medium; generating a checksum associated with the selected file according to at least one of; generating the checksum for graphics files based on vector graphics analysis;
ordividing a graphical image file into blocks and comparing relationships between the blocks; comparing the checksum associated with the selected file to at least one checksum associated with one or more of a plurality of unauthorized files; determining that the checksum associated with the selected file matches one of the plurality of checksums associated with the unauthorized files; and characterizing the file as an unauthorized file. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A tangible computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions comprising:
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instructions for selecting a file from a plurality of files stored in a computer storage medium, wherein selecting the file is performed according to at least one of; instructions for selecting the file based on the size of the file by determining whether an aggregate size of plural identically-sized files exceeds a predetermined threshold; instructions for selecting the file based on whether content of the file matches a file type indicated by a name of the file;
orinstructions for selecting the file based upon whether the file comprises data beyond an end of data marker for the file; and instructions for categorizing the selected file as an unauthorized file based on a comparison of an identification value associated with the selected file with one or more identification values associated with one or more of a plurality of unauthorized files.
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14. A computer-implemented method for identifying and characterizing stored electronic files, the method comprising:
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under control of one or more configured computer systems; selecting a file from a plurality of files stored in a computer storage medium, wherein selecting the file is performed according to at least one of; selecting the file based upon an determination that the filename of the selected file is shared by at least one other file within the plurality of files; selecting the file based upon a determination that the filename of the selected file contains a suspect tag; selecting the file based upon a determination that the file is not linked to an HTML file within the same directory as the file stored in the computer storage medium;
orselecting the file based upon a determination that the selected file contains a hypertext link to a suspect site; generating an identification value associated with the selected file, wherein the identification value is representative of at least a portion of the content of the file; comparing the generated identification value to one or more identification values associated with respective unauthorized files; determining that the identification value matches one of the plurality of identification values associated with the unauthorized files; and characterizing the file as an unauthorized file. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification