Abstract: The present invention provides a system, method, and computer-readable medium that opportunistically install a software update on a computer that closes a vulnerability that existed on the computer. In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, when antivirus software on a computer identifies malware, a method causes a software update that closes the vulnerability exploited by the malware to be installed on the computer. The method includes identifying the vulnerability exploited by the malware, using a software update system to obtain a software update that is configured to close the vulnerability; and causing the software update to be installed on the computer where the vulnerability exists.

Abstract: The present invention provides a system, method, and computer-readable medium that opportunistically install a software update on a computer that closes a vulnerability that existed on the computer. In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, when antivirus software on a computer identifies malware, a method causes a software update that closes the vulnerability exploited by the malware to be installed on the computer. The method includes identifying the vulnerability exploited by the malware, using a software update system to obtain a software update that is configured to close the vulnerability; and causing the software update to be installed on the computer where the vulnerability exists.

Abstract: The present invention provides a system, method, and computer-readable medium that opportunistically install a software update on a computer that closes a vulnerability that existed on the computer. In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, when antivirus software on a computer identifies malware, a method causes a software update that closes the vulnerability exploited by the malware to be installed on the computer. The method includes identifying the vulnerability exploited by the malware, using a software update system to obtain a software update that is configured to close the vulnerability; and causing the software update to be installed on the computer where the vulnerability exists.

Abstract: A system is described for remediating a malicious modern application installed on an end user device. In an embodiment, the system includes an antimalware program executing on the end user device that can detect and attempt to remediate the malicious modern application, an operating system executing on the end user device that is configured to interact with the antimalware program for the purpose of facilitating the establishment of a connection between the end user device and an application support system in response to determining that the antimalware program has detected and attempted to remediate the malicious modern application, and the application support system that can perform remediation operations beyond those that can be performed by the antimalware program.

Abstract: Techniques are described herein that are capable of selectively scanning objects for infection by malware (i.e., to determine whether one or more of the objects are infected by malware). For instance, metadata that is associated with the objects may be reviewed to determine whether update(s) have been made with regard to the objects since a determination was made that the objects were not infected by malware. An update may involve increasing a number of the objects, modifying one of the objects, etc. Objects that have been updated (e.g., added and/or modified) since the determination may be scanned. Objects that have not been updated since the determination need not necessarily be scanned. For instance, an allowance may be made to perform operations with respect to the objects that have not been updated since the determination without first scanning the objects for infection by malware.

Abstract: An arrangement for scanning and patching injected malware code that is executing in otherwise legitimate processes running on a computer system is provided in which malware code is located in the memory of processes by extracting the start addresses of processes' threads and then searching near these addresses. Additional blocks of code in memory that are invoked by the code identified by each start address are also identified and the blocks are then matched against scanning signatures associated with known malware threads. If the entire signature can be matched against a subset of the blocks, then the thread is determined to be infected. The infected thread is suspended and in-memory modifications are performed to patch the injected code to render it harmless. The thread can be resumed or terminated to disable the protection mechanisms of the malware without causing any harm to the process in which the thread is injected.

Abstract: A reliable automated malware classification approach with substantially low false positive rates is provided. Graph-based local and/or global file relationships are used to improve malware classification along with a feature selection algorithm. File relationships such as containing, creating, copying, downloading, modifying, etc. are used to assign malware probabilities and simultaneously reduce the false positive and false negative rates on executable files.

Abstract: The subject disclosure is directed towards a technology by which antimalware detection logic is maintained and operated at a backend service, with which a customer frontend machine communicates (queries) for purposes of malware detection. In this way, some antimalware techniques are maintained at the backend service rather than revealed to antimalware authors. The backend antimalware detection logic may be based upon feature selection, and may be updated rapidly, in a manner that is faster than malware authors can track. Noise may be added to the results to make it difficult for malware authors to deduce the logic behind the results. The backend may return results indicating malware or not malware, or return inconclusive results. The backend service may also detect probing-related queries that are part of an attempt to deduce the unrevealed antimalware detection logic, with noisy results returned in response and/or other actions taken to foil the attempt.

Abstract: The subject disclosure is directed towards detecting malware or possible malware in an input file by allowing the input file to be opened, and by monitoring for one or more behaviors corresponding to the open file that likely indicate malware. Only certain executable files and/or file types opened thereby may be monitored, with various collected event data used for antimalware purposes when improper behavior is observed. Example behaviors include writing of a file to storage, generation of network traffic, injection of a process, running of script, and/or writing system registry data. Telemetry data and/or a sample of the file may be sent to an antimalware service, and malware remediation may be performed. Data (e.g., the collected events) may be distributed to other nodes for use in antimalware detection, e.g., to block execution of a similar file.

Abstract: In accordance with this invention, a system, method, and computer-readable medium that selectively scans files stored on a computing device for malware is provided. One aspect of the present invention includes identifying files that need to be scanned for malware when a software update that includes a malware signature is received. More specifically, attributes of the new malware are identified by searching metadata associated with the malware. Then, the method searches a scan cache and determines whether each file with an entry in the scan cache is the type that may be infected by the malware. If a file is the type that may be infected by the malware, the file is scanned for malware when a scanning event such as an I/O request occurs. Conversely, if the file is not the type that may be infected by the malware, the file may be accessed without a scan being performed.

Abstract: A malware detection system that determines whether an executable code module is malware according to behaviors exhibited while executing is presented. The malware detection system determines the type of code module and executes the code module in a behavior evaluation module for evaluating code corresponding to the code module's type. Some behaviors exhibited by the code module, while executing in the behavior evaluation module, are recorded as the code module's behavior signature. After the code module has completed its execution, the code module's behavior signature is compared against known malware behavior signatures stored in a malware behavior signature store. A determination as to whether the code module is malware is based on the results of the comparison.

Abstract: In accordance with this invention, a system, method, and computer-readable medium that selectively scans files stored on a computing device for malware is provided. One aspect of the present invention includes identifying files that need to be scanned for malware when a software update that includes a malware signature is received. More specifically, attributes of the new malware are identified by searching metadata associated with the malware. Then, the method searches a scan cache and determines whether each file with an entry in the scan cache is the type that may be infected by the malware. If a file is the type that may be infected by the malware, the file is scanned for malware when a scanning event such as an I/O request occurs. Conversely, if the file is not the type that may be infected by the malware, the file may be accessed without a scan being performed.

Abstract: In accordance with this invention, a system, method, and computer-readable medium that selectively scans files stored on a computing device for malware is provided. One aspect of the present invention includes identifying files that need to be scanned for malware when a software update that includes a malware signature is received. More specifically, attributes of the new malware are identified by searching metadata associated with the malware. Then, the method searches a scan cache and determines whether each file with an entry in the scan cache is the type that may be infected by the malware. If a file is the type that may be infected by the malware, the file is scanned for malware when a scanning event such as an I/O request occurs. Conversely, if the file is not the type that may be infected by the malware, the file may be accessed without a scan being performed.

Abstract: A system, method, and computer readable medium for the proactive detection of malware in operating systems that receive application programming interface (API) calls is provided. A virtual operating environment for simulating the execution of programs and determining if the programs are malware is created. The virtual operating environment confines potential malware so that the systems of the host operating environment will not be adversely effected. During simulation, a behavior signature is generated based on the API calls issued by potential malware. The behavior signature is suitable for analysis to determine whether the simulated executable is malware.

Abstract: The present invention is directed toward a system, method, and a computer-readable medium for efficiently loading data into memory in order to scan the data for malware. The logic provided in the present invention improves the experience of a user when operating a computer protected with antivirus software. One aspect of the present invention is a method that identifies a pattern in which data in a file is loaded into memory from a computer-readable medium. Then the method identifies a pattern in which data in the file may be loaded into memory in a way that minimizes the time required to read data in the file. When a subsequent scan of the file is scheduled to occur, the method causes data in the file to be loaded in memory using the pattern that minimizes the time required to read data in the file.

Abstract: In accordance with the present invention, a system, method, and computer-readable medium for identifying malware at a network transit point such as a computer that serves as a gateway to an internal or private network is provided. A network transmission is scanned for malware at a network transit point without introducing additional latency to the transmission of data over the network. In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a computer-implemented method for identifying malware at a network transit point is provided. More specifically, when a packet in a transmission is received at the network transit point, the packet is immediately forwarded to the target computer. Simultaneously, the packet and other data in the transmission are scanned for malware by an antivirus engine. If malware is identified in the transmission, the target computer is notified that the transmission contains malware.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to a method and system for automatically classifying an application into an application group which is previously classified in a knowledge base. More specifically, a runtime behavior of an application is captured as a series of events which are monitored and recorded during the execution of the application. The series of events are analyzed to find a proper application group which shares common runtime behavior patterns with the application. The knowledge base of application groups is previously constructed based on a large number of sample applications. The construction of the knowledge base is done in such a manner that each sample application can be classified into application groups based on a set of classification rules in the knowledge base. The set of classification rules are applied to a new application in order to classify the new application into one of the application groups.

Abstract: A method of identifying a malware file using multiple classifiers is disclosed. The method includes receiving a file at a client computer. The file includes static metadata. A set of metadata classifier weights are applied to the static metadata to generate a first classifier output. A dynamic classifier is initiated to evaluate the file and to generate a second classifier output. The method includes automatically identifying the file as potential malware based on at least the first classifier output and the second classifier output.

Abstract: In accordance with this invention, a system, method, and computer-readable medium that aggregates the knowledge base of a plurality of antivirus software applications are provided. User mode applications, such as antivirus software applications, gain access to file system operations through a common information model, which obviates the need for antivirus software vendors to create kernel mode filters. When file system operations are available to antivirus software applications, the present invention may cause each antivirus software application installed on a computing device to perform a scan to determine if the data is malware.

Abstract: In accordance with this invention, a system, method, and computer-readable medium that aggregates the knowledge base of a plurality of antivirus software applications are provided. User mode applications, such as antivirus software applications, gain access to file system operations through a common information model, which obviates the need for antivirus software vendors to create kernel mode filters. When file system operations are available to antivirus software applications, the present invention may cause each antivirus software application installed on a computing device to perform a scan to determine if the data is malware.