Patents by Inventor Henry Levy

Henry Levy has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 9531752
    Abstract: A system analyzes content accessed at a network site to determine whether it is malicious. The system employs a tool able to identify spyware that is piggy-backed on executable files (such as software downloads) and is able to detect “drive-by download” attacks that install software on the victim's computer when a page is rendered by a browser program. The tool uses a virtual machine (VM) to sandbox and analyze potentially malicious content. By installing and running executable files within a clean VM environment, commercial anti-spyware tools can be employed to determine whether a specific executable contains piggy-backed spyware. By visiting a Web page with an unmodified browser inside a clean VM environment, predefined “triggers,” such as the installation of a new library, or the creation of a new process, can be used to determine whether the page mounts a drive-by download attack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2016
    Assignee: University of Washington
    Inventors: Steven Gribble, Henry Levy, Alexander Moshchuk, Tanya Bragin
  • Patent number: 9489523
    Abstract: Systems and methods for providing an auditing file system for theft-prone devices are disclosed. The auditing file system supports fine-grained file auditing: a user may obtain reliable, explicit evidence that no files have been accessed after a device's loss. A user may also disable future file access after a device's loss, even in the absence of device network connectivity. In one embodiment, files are encrypted locally but the encryption keys are stored remotely, so that an audit server is queried for encryption keys to access protected files. By configuring the audit server to refuse to return a particular file's key, the user can prevent new accesses after the device is lost.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2016
    Assignee: University of Washington through its Center for Commercialization
    Inventors: Tadayoshi Kohno, Roxana Geambasu, Henry Levy, Steven Gribble
  • Publication number: 20150326607
    Abstract: A system analyzes content accessed at a network site to determine whether it is malicious. The system employs a tool able to identify spyware that is piggy-backed on executable files (such as software downloads) and is able to detect “drive-by download” attacks that install software on the victim's computer when a page is rendered by a browser program. The tool uses a virtual machine (VM) to sandbox and analyze potentially malicious content. By installing and running executable files within a clean VM environment, commercial anti-spyware tools can be employed to determine whether a specific executable contains piggy-backed spyware. By visiting a Web page with an unmodified browser inside a clean VM environment, predefined “triggers,” such as the installation of a new library, or the creation of a new process, can be used to determine whether the page mounts a drive-by download attack.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 22, 2015
    Publication date: November 12, 2015
    Inventors: Steven Gribble, Henry Levy, Alexander Moshchuk, Tanya Bragin
  • Patent number: 9043913
    Abstract: A system analyzes content accessed at a network site to determine whether it is malicious. The system employs a tool able to identify spyware that is piggy-backed on executable files (such as software downloads) and is able to detect “drive-by download” attacks that install software on the victim's computer when a page is rendered by a browser program. The tool uses a virtual machine (VM) to sandbox and analyze potentially malicious content. By installing and running executable files within a clean VM environment, commercial anti-spyware tools can be employed to determine whether a specific executable contains piggy-backed spyware. By visiting a Web page with an unmodified browser inside a clean VM environment, predefined “triggers,” such as the installation of a new library, or the creation of a new process, can be used to determine whether the page mounts a drive-by download attack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2015
    Assignee: University of Washington through its Center for Commercialization
    Inventors: Steven Gribble, Henry Levy, Alexander Moshchuk, Tanya Bragin
  • Publication number: 20130198522
    Abstract: Systems and methods for providing an auditing file system for theft-prone devices are disclosed. The auditing file system supports fine-grained file auditing: a user may obtain reliable, explicit evidence that no files have been accessed after a device's loss. A user may also disable future file access after a device's loss, even in the absence of device network connectivity. In one embodiment, files are encrypted locally but the encryption keys are stored remotely, so that an audit server is queried for encryption keys to access protected files. By configuring the audit server to refuse to return a particular file's key, the user can prevent new accesses after the device is lost.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 8, 2011
    Publication date: August 1, 2013
    Inventors: Tadayoshi Kohno, Roxana Geambasu, Henry Levy, Steven Gribble
  • Publication number: 20130014259
    Abstract: A system analyzes content accessed at a network site to determine whether it is malicious. The system employs a tool able to identify spyware that is piggy-backed on executable files (such as software downloads) and is able to detect “drive-by download” attacks that install software on the victim's computer when a page is rendered by a browser program. The tool uses a virtual machine (VM) to sandbox and analyze potentially malicious content. By installing and running executable files within a clean VM environment, commercial anti-spyware tools can be employed to determine whether a specific executable contains piggy-backed spyware. By visiting a Web page with an unmodified browser inside a clean VM environment, predefined “triggers,” such as the installation of a new library, or the creation of a new process, can be used to determine whether the page mounts a drive-by download attack.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2012
    Publication date: January 10, 2013
    Applicant: University of Washington through its Center for Commercialization
    Inventors: Steven Gribble, Henry Levy, Alexander Moshchuk, Tanya Bragin
  • Patent number: 8196205
    Abstract: A system analyzes content accessed at a network site to determine whether it is malicious. The system employs a tool able to identify spyware that is piggy-backed on executable files (such as software downloads) and is able to detect “drive-by download” attacks that install software on the victim's computer when a page is rendered by a browser program. The tool uses a virtual machine (VM) to sandbox and analyze potentially malicious content. By installing and running executable files within a clean VM environment, commercial anti-spyware tools can be employed to determine whether a specific executable contains piggy-backed spyware. By visiting a Web page with an unmodified browser inside a clean VM environment, predefined “triggers,” such as the installation of a new library, or the creation of a new process, can be used to determine whether the page mounts a drive-by download attack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2012
    Assignee: University of Washington through its Center for Commercialization
    Inventors: Steven Gribble, Henry Levy, Alexander Moshchuk, Tanya Bragin
  • Publication number: 20070260702
    Abstract: Applications and services are accessed over the Web without requiring any modification to the currently available code for such applications. Virtual machines (VMs) can each be associated with one or more pre-configured and pre-installed software applications and hosted by Web sites. A VM is accessed and run when a user of a client computing device selects a Web object for the VM in a browser program. A plug-in in the browser reads a configuration file for the selected VM from a server and requests a server-side controller daemon to launch the VM on the server. The plug-in then opens a remote desktop connection to the VM, which is displayed as an embedded window in the Web page on the browser program. The user can then interact with and use the VM and its provided application software and services from within the browser program.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 15, 2006
    Publication date: November 8, 2007
    Applicant: University of Washington
    Inventors: David Richardson, Brian Bershad, Steven Gribble, Henry Levy
  • Publication number: 20070174915
    Abstract: A system analyzes content accessed at a network site to determine whether it is malicious. The system employs a tool able to identify spyware that is piggy-backed on executable files (such as software downloads) and is able to detect “drive-by download” attacks that install software on the victim's computer when a page is rendered by a browser program. The tool uses a virtual machine (VM) to sandbox and analyze potentially malicious content. By installing and running executable files within a clean VM environment, commercial anti-spyware tools can be employed to determine whether a specific executable contains piggy-backed spyware. By visiting a Web page with an unmodified browser inside a clean VM environment, predefined “triggers,” such as the installation of a new library, or the creation of a new process, can be used to determine whether the page mounts a drive-by download attack.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 26, 2006
    Publication date: July 26, 2007
    Applicant: University of Washington
    Inventors: Steven Gribble, Henry Levy, Alexander Moshchuk, Tanya Bragin
  • Publication number: 20070136579
    Abstract: A Web browsing system using a browser operating system (BOS), which provides a trusted software layer on which Web browsers execute. The BOS runs the client-side component of each Web application (e.g., on-line banking, and Web mail) in its own virtual machine, which provides strong isolation between Web services and the user's local resources. Web publishers can thus limit the scope of their Web applications by specifying the URLs and other resources that their browsers are allowed to access, which limits the harm that can be caused by a compromised browser. Web applications are treated as first-class objects that users explicitly install and manage, giving them explicit knowledge about and control over downloaded content and code. An initial embodiment implemented using Linux and the Xen virtual machine monitor has been shown to prevent or contain about 87% of the vulnerabilities that have been identified in a conventional web browser environment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 9, 2005
    Publication date: June 14, 2007
    Applicant: University of Washington
    Inventors: Henry Levy, Steven Gribble, Jacob Hansen, Richard Cox
  • Publication number: 20060242402
    Abstract: A solution to the problem of maintaining application integrity when device drivers fail. This solution employs a new mechanism, the shadow driver, which is an operating system (OS) kernel agent that monitors communication between the OS kernel and the device driver it “shadows.” When a device driver error occurs, the shadow driver acts in place of the failed device driver, intercepting and responding to calls from the OS kernel and the device driver during cleanup, unloading, reloading, and re-initialization of the failed device driver. Applications and the OS kernel are thus isolated from the failure. An initial embodiment was developed for use with the Linux™ OS and was tested with a dozen device drivers. Results demonstrate that shadow drivers successfully mask device driver failures from applications, impose minimal performance overhead, require no changes to existing applications and device drivers, and can be implemented with relatively little code.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 6, 2006
    Publication date: October 26, 2006
    Applicant: University of Washington
    Inventors: Michael Swift, Brian Bershad, Henry Levy
  • Patent number: 5039365
    Abstract: A method of encapsulating and providing barrier containment for asbestos which forms an integral part of existing building structures includes applying an encapsulating coating comprising a water soluble polyvinyl acetate emulsion to the exterior surface of the structure. The encapsulating coating is dried to permit maximum penetration and encapsulation prior to performing subsequent steps which may disturb the asbestos fibers in the surface of the building structure. A primer coating comprising a stronger formulation of polyvinyl acetate emulsion is applied to the structure surface. An adhesive coating comprising the stronger formulation of the polyvinyl acetate emulsion is applied to the gypsum side of a sheet of a surface covering product that comprises a substantially dry, semi-hydrated gypsum. The sheet of gypsum product is applied to the surface of the structure by contacting the primer and adhesive coatings with one another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 1989
    Date of Patent: August 13, 1991
    Assignee: Wall & Floor Treatments, Inc.
    Inventors: William W. Rutledge, Sr., Henry Levy, John L. Cousins