System and method for mobile communication device application advisement

• US 9,367,680 B2
• Filed: 08/25/2010
• Issued: 06/14/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lookout Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Lookout Incorporated
• Inventors: Mahaffey, Kevin Patrick, Hering, John G., Burgess, James David, Grubb, Jonathan Pantera, Golombek, David, Richardson, David Luke, Lineberry, Anthony McKay, Wyatt, Timothy Micheal
• Primary Examiner(s): CHOUDHURY, AZIZUL Q
• Application Number:
  US12/868,676
• Publication Number:
  US 20110047594A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,120 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3013 where the computing system is an embedded system, i.e. a combination of hardware and software dedicated to perform a certain function in mobile devices, printers, automotive or aircraft systems testing or monitoring of control systems or parts thereof G05B23/02
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/50 Monitoring users, programs or devices to maintain the integrity of platforms, e.g. of processors, firmware or operating systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/564 by virus signature recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/171 Portable consumer electronics, e.g. mobile phone

Abstract

This disclosure is directed to a system and method for providing advisement about applications on mobile communication devices such as smartphones, netbooks, and tablets. A server gathers data about mobile applications, analyzes the applications, and produces an assessment that may advise users on a variety of factors, including security, privacy, battery impact, performance impact, and network usage. The disclosure helps users understand the impact of applications to improve the experience in using their mobile device. The disclosure also enables a server to feed information about applications to other protection systems such as application policy systems and network infrastructure. The disclosure also enables advisement about applications to be presented in a variety of forms, such as through a mobile application, as part of a web application, or integrated into other services via an API.

Claims

1. A method for classifying a data object by a server, the method comprising:

retrieving, by the server from an application marketplace, marketplace metadata associated with the data object, the data object being at least one of an application available on the application marketplace or a component of the application, and the marketplace metadata being displayed on the application marketplace;

analyzing, by the server, the marketplace metadata associated with the data object;

classifying, by the server, the data object into a first category based on the marketplace metadata analysis;

receiving, at the server from a plurality of mobile communication devices, behavioral data of the data object when executed on each of the plurality of mobile communication devices, wherein the behavioral data includes data pertaining to at least one of utilization of resources associated with the mobile communication devices by the data object and functionality of operating systems associated with the mobile communication devices during execution of the data object;

determining, by the server, an assessment for the data object based on the behavioral data received from the plurality of mobile communication devices and

classifying, by the server, the data object into a second category based on the assessment, the second category being different from the first category.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprises receiving, at a server, application data for the data object and processing, by the server, the application data to determine the assessment for the data object.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the application data is characterization data for the data object.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the application data is trust data for the data object.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the application data is privacy data for the data object.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the marketplace metadata is marketplace data for the data object.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the marketplace metadata is categorization data for the data object.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the marketplace metadata is distribution data for the data object.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein processing comprises aggregating the received behavioral data.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising applying a model to determine the assessment for the data object.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the assessment is selected from the group consisting of battery usage information, memory usage information, CPU usage information, application program interface (“

API”

) usage information, network usage information, privacy information, data usage information, and location query information.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the assessment comprises characterization data for the data object.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the assessment comprises categorization data for the data object.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the assessment comprises trust data for the data object.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the assessment comprises privacy data for the data object.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the assessment comprises calculating an average battery usage caused by the data object executing on each of the mobile communication devices.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the assessment comprises calculating an average network usage caused by the data object executing on each of the mobile communication devices.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the assessment comprises calculating an average of a battery rating for the data object executing on each of the mobile communication devices.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the assessment comprises calculating a risk rating for the data object executing on each of the mobile communication devices.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the assessment comprises calculating a privacy rating for the data object executing on each of the mobile communication devices.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the assessment comprises calculating a performance rating for the data object executing on each of the mobile communication devices.

22. The method of claim 1, further comprising publishing the assessment to a web interface.

23. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing the assessment to a user by exposing an API.

24. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting the assessment to at least one of the plurality of mobile communication devices.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein at least one of the plurality of mobile communication devices is configured to display the assessment as an icon.

26. The method claim 1, further comprising providing the assessment in response to a search query for the data object.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein the component of the application includes a plurality of data files.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein the component of the application is an application file.

29. The method of claim 1, further comprising publishing the assessment to an application provider.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising dynamically configuring access to the data object by at least one of the plurality of mobile communication devices based upon the assessment.

31. The method of claim 1, further comprising implementing a policy based upon the assessment.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the policy comprises dynamically configuring access to the data object.

33. A system for providing instructions to a plurality of mobile communication devices by a server, the system comprising:

one or more processors; and

a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a plurality of instructions, which when executed, cause the one or more processors to;

retrieve, from an application marketplace, marketplace metadata associated with a data object, the data object being at least one of an application available on the application marketplace or a component of the application, and the marketplace metadata being displayed on the application marketplace;

analyze the marketplace metadata associated with the data object;

classify the data object into a first category based on the marketplace metadata analysis;

permit execution of the data object on the plurality of mobile communication devices based on the classification of the data object to the first category;

receive from the plurality of mobile communication devices, behavior data for the data object;

determine an assessment for the data object based on the behavior data, wherein the behavior data includes data collected from at least one of permitting execution of the data object at the plurality of mobile communication devices, utilization of resources associated with mobile communication devices by the data object, and functionality of operating systems associated with the mobile communication devices during execution of the data object;

classify the data object into a second category based on the assessment, the second category being different from the first category; and

transmit instructions to the plurality of mobile communication devices to block execution of the data object at the plurality of mobile communication devices based on the classification of the data object to the second category.

34. The method system of claim 33, further comprising instructions, which when executed, cause the one or more processors to process marketplace data for the data object to determine the assessment.

35. The system of claim 33, further comprising instructions, which when executed, cause the one or more processors to process characterization data for the data object to determine the assessment.

36. The system of claim 33, further comprising instructions, which when executed, cause the one or more processors to process categorization data for the data object to determine the assessment.

37. The system of claim 33, further comprising instructions, which when executed, cause the one or more processors to process trust data for the data object to determine the assessment.

38. The method system of claim 33, further comprising instructions, which when executed, cause the one or more processors to process privacy data for the data object to determine the assessment.

39. The method system of claim 33, further comprising instructions, which when executed, cause the one or more processors to process distribution data for the data object to determine the assessment.