SYSTEM, METHOD, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR SELECTING A WIRELESS NETWORK BASED ON SECURITY INFORMATION

• US 20130247132A1
• Filed: 01/07/2008
• Published: 09/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: McAfee, LLC
• Original Assignee: McAfee, Inc. (McAfee, LLC)
• Inventors: Dey, Sankha Subhra
• Granted Patent: US 8,572,745 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/00 Security arrangements for protecting computers, components thereof, programs or data against unauthorised activity
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/51 at application loading time, e.g. accepting, rejecting, starting or inhibiting executable software based on integrity or source reliability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/04 Processing captured monitoring data, e.g. for logfile generation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1433 Vulnerability analysis
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/128 Anti-malware arrangements, e.g. protection against SMS fraud or mobile malware

Abstract

A system, method, and computer program product are provided for selecting a wireless network based on security information. In use, a plurality of wireless networks is identified. Further, security information associated with each of the wireless networks is collected, such that one of the wireless networks is selected based on the security information.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

identifying a plurality of wireless networks;

collecting security information associated with each of the wireless networks, wherein the security information is collected from a plurality of agents, each agent located on a different device that includes an antivirus scanner for identifying unwanted activity;

rating each of the wireless networks based, at least in part, on identifying whether a threshold amount of unwanted data is present on each of the wireless networks, wherein one of the wireless networks is selected based on the security information and a respective rating, wherein the security information includes an indication of a location of a device on which the security information is identified, and an indication of an operating system of the device on which the security information is identified; and

displaying a pictorial representation of a security state of each of the wireless networks.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of wireless networks are identified utilizing an agent.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of wireless networks include wireless networks available to the device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the security information is collected from at least one log.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least one log is generated by a security system.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the security information is collected by a central server.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising communicating the security information from the device on which the security information is identified to a central server.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising rating each of the wireless networks based on the security information.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising displaying the rating of each of the wireless networks to a user of a particular device.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the rating is displayed via a graph.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the user of the device selects the one of the wireless networks.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising connecting to the selected one of the wireless networks in response to the selection.

4. (canceled)

9. (canceled)

10. (canceled)

11. (canceled)

12. (canceled)

18. A computer program product embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium for performing operations, comprising:

identifying a plurality of wireless networks; and

collecting security information associated with each of the wireless networks, wherein the security information is collected from a plurality of agents, each agent located on a different device that includes an antivirus scanner for identifying unwanted activity;

rating each of the wireless networks based, at least in part, on identifying whether a threshold amount of unwanted data is present on each of the wireless networks, wherein one of the wireless networks is selected based on the security information and a respective rating, wherein the security information includes an indication of a location of a device on which the security information is identified, and an indication of an operating system of the device on which the security information is identified; and

displaying a pictorial representation of a security state of each of the wireless networks.

19. A system, comprising:

a processor coupled to a memory and configured for executing instructions such that the system is configured for;

identifying a plurality of wireless networks; and

collecting security information associated with each of the wireless networks, wherein the security information is collected from a plurality of agents, each agent located on a different device that includes an antivirus scanner for identifying unwanted activity;

rating each of the wireless networks based, at least in part, on identifying whether a threshold amount of unwanted data is present on each of the wireless networks, wherein one of the wireless networks is selected based on the security information and a respective rating, wherein the security information includes an indication of a location of a device on which the security information is identified, and an indication of an operating system of the device on which the security information is identified; and

displaying a pictorial representation of a security state of each of the wireless networks.

20. The system of claim 19, further comprising memory coupled to the processor via a bus.