Patents by Inventor Oliver G. Devane

Oliver G. Devane 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).

  • Publication number: 20250211616
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method protects a user from phishing attacks by managing commands initiated via a web browser. The method includes determining that a user has initiated a command that will send information to a target website, where the information belongs to a class that may include sensitive user data and the target website lacks a device-local phishing reputation. After this determination, the command is paused before the information is sent. While paused, a new reputation for the target website is obtained, and the command is blocked if the new reputation is deemed not safe, thereby preventing potential phishing threats.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 10, 2025
    Publication date: June 26, 2025
    Inventors: Oliver G. Devane, Abhishek Ajay Karnik
  • Patent number: 12273384
    Abstract: There is disclosed in one example a computing apparatus, including: a hardware platform including a processor and a memory; a network interface; a user-space application including instructions to interact with a web site via a uniform resource locator (URL); and a security agent including instructions to: intercept an interaction of the user-space application with the web site; determine that the intercepted interaction is to send sensitive information to the web site; suspend the interaction; and assign a reputation to the URL.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2025
    Assignee: McAfee, LLC
    Inventors: Oliver G. Devane, Abhishek Karnik
  • Publication number: 20240364736
    Abstract: There is disclosed a method of mitigating phishing, including extracting text from a website under analysis; using a spell check algorithm to compare extracted words or phrases to a language dictionary of words or phrases selected from web pages known to be phishing targets, and using a spell counter to count misspell hits from the spell check algorithm; comparing the extracted words or phrases to a case-sensitive usage reference, and using a usage counter to count mismatched usage hits from the case-sensitive usage reference; combining the spell counter and the usage counter into a combined counter; and using the combined counter to identify the website under analysis as a suspected phishing website and taking a phishing mitigation action.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 28, 2023
    Publication date: October 31, 2024
    Inventors: German Lancioni, Oliver G. Devane
  • Publication number: 20240250985
    Abstract: A computer-implemented method provides phishing mitigation. Upon a human user accessing a website, request from a cloud reputation service a reputation for a uniform resource locator (URL) associated with the website; determine that the URL does not have a reliable reputation; determine that the human user has entered data into the website, and that the data comprise sensitive data; log a data packet in a user sensitive information data store, wherein the data packet includes the URL and at least some of the sensitive data; periodically query the cloud reputation service to determine whether the URL has received a reliable reputation; and upon determining that the URL has received a reputation as a phishing website, notify the human user and provide a recommendation for a remedial action to protect the sensitive data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 24, 2023
    Publication date: July 25, 2024
    Inventors: Oliver G. Devane, Vallabh Prakash Chole, Ankit Goel, Abhishek Ajay Karnik
  • Publication number: 20240073230
    Abstract: A method includes determining first data stored in a clipboard of an operating system, determining second data is stored in the clipboard, performing a comparison of the second data against malicious data, at least in part based on a determination that the first data has changed to the second data, and performing a first security operation, at least in part based on the comparison.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 25, 2022
    Publication date: February 29, 2024
    Applicant: McAfee, LLC
    Inventors: Oliver G. Devane, Vallabh Chole, Ankit Goel, Abhishek Karnik
  • Patent number: 11689562
    Abstract: An apparatus, including systems and methods, for detecting ransomware is disclosed herein. For example, in some embodiments, an apparatus includes a memory element operable to store instructions; and a processor operable to execute the instructions, such that the apparatus is configured to receive data identifying a process and a plurality of files accessed by the process; identify an access indicator associated with each of the plurality of files accessed by the process, wherein the access indicator includes file type; determine whether the access indicator exceeds a threshold; interrupt, based on a determination that the access indicator exceeds a threshold, the process; and prompt a user to allow or disallow the process to proceed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2023
    Assignee: McAfee, LLC
    Inventors: Oliver G. Devane, Abhishek Karnik, Sriram P
  • Patent number: 11531757
    Abstract: There is disclosed in one example a computing apparatus, including: a hardware platform including a processor and a memory; a system profile store; and a ransomware detection engine including instructions encoded within the memory to instruct the processor to: detect an operation, by a process, that results in an operation on a file, wherein the operation includes newly creating the file including a file type identifier, or where the file is an existing file, changing a file type identifier for the file; querying the system profile store with a combination of the file type identifier and metadata about the file; based at least in part on the querying, determining that the process is a suspected ransomware attack; and taking a remedial action.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: McAfee, LLC
    Inventors: Abhishek Karnik, Xiaobing Lin, Asheer Malhotra, Oliver G. Devane
  • Publication number: 20220385695
    Abstract: There is disclosed in one example a computing apparatus, including: a hardware platform including a processor and a memory; a network interface; a user-space application including instructions to interact with a web site via a uniform resource locator (URL); and a security agent including instructions to: intercept an interaction of the user-space application with the web site; determine that the intercepted interaction is to send sensitive information to the web site; suspend the interaction; and assign a reputation to the URL.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 5, 2022
    Publication date: December 1, 2022
    Applicant: McAfee, LLC
    Inventors: Oliver G. Devane, Abhishek Karnik
  • Patent number: 11463440
    Abstract: There is disclosed in one example a computing apparatus, including: a processor and a memory; a network interface; and a security agent including instructions encoded within the memory to instruct the processor to: identify an unknown software object; query, via the network interface, a global reputation store for a global reputation for the unknown software object; receive a response from the global reputation store and determine that the unknown software object does not have a reliable global reputation; compute a local reputation for the unknown software object; and share the local reputation for the unknown software object with the global security cache.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2022
    Assignee: McAfee, LLC
    Inventors: Oliver G. Devane, Federico Barbieri
  • Patent number: 11449896
    Abstract: There is disclosed in one example a computing apparatus, including: a processor and a memory; instructions encoded within the memory to instruct the processor to: identify a downloaded file on a file system; inspect a metadata object attached to the downloaded file; parse the metadata object to extract an advertiser identification string from a GET code portion of a uniform resource locator (URL); query a reputation cache for a reputation for the advertiser identification string; receive a deceptive reputation for the advertiser identification string; and take a remedial action against the downloaded file.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2022
    Assignee: McAfee, LLC
    Inventors: Oliver G. Devane, Lee Codel Lawson Tarbotton, Federico Barbieri
  • Patent number: 11411991
    Abstract: There is disclosed in one example a computing apparatus, including: a hardware platform including a processor and a memory; a network interface; a user-space application including instructions to interact with a web site via a uniform resource locator (URL); and a security agent including instructions to: intercept an interaction of the user-space application with the web site; determine that the intercepted interaction is to send sensitive information to the web site; suspend the interaction; and assign a reputation to the URL.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2022
    Assignee: McAfee, LLC
    Inventors: Oliver G. Devane, Abhishek Karnik
  • Publication number: 20210400057
    Abstract: An apparatus, including systems and methods, for detecting ransomware is disclosed herein. For example, in some embodiments, an apparatus includes a memory element operable to store instructions; and a processor operable to execute the instructions, such that the apparatus is configured to receive data identifying a process and a plurality of files accessed by the process; identify an access indicator associated with each of the plurality of files accessed by the process, wherein the access indicator includes file type; determine whether the access indicator exceeds a threshold; interrupt, based on a determination that the access indicator exceeds a threshold, the process; and prompt a user to allow or disallow the process to proceed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 17, 2020
    Publication date: December 23, 2021
    Applicant: McAfee, LLC
    Inventors: Oliver G. Devane, Abhishek Karnik, Sriram P
  • Patent number: 11100225
    Abstract: There is disclosed in one example a computing apparatus, including: a hardware platform including a processor and a memory; and one or more mediums including instructions to instruct the processor to provide a security scanner to: determine that an object to be inspected is an archive including a plurality of bundled files; determine that the archive is encrypted; identify unencrypted data within the encrypted archive that can be made visible to an end user after a failed decryption operation; scan the unencrypted data for a pattern that matches password data; and attempt to decrypt the archive according to the password data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2021
    Assignee: McAfee, LLC
    Inventor: Oliver G. Devane
  • Publication number: 20210182397
    Abstract: There is disclosed in one example a computing apparatus, including: a hardware platform including a processor and a memory; a system profile store; and a ransomware detection engine including instructions encoded within the memory to instruct the processor to: detect an operation, by a process, that results in an operation on a file, wherein the operation includes newly creating the file including a file type identifier, or where the file is an existing file, changing a file type identifier for the file; querying the system profile store with a combination of the file type identifier and metadata about the file; based at least in part on the querying, determining that the process is a suspected ransomware attack; and taking a remedial action.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 12, 2019
    Publication date: June 17, 2021
    Applicant: McAfee, LLC
    Inventors: Abhishek Karnik, Xiaobing Lin, Asheer Malhotra, Oliver G. Devane
  • Publication number: 20210097569
    Abstract: There is disclosed in one example a computing apparatus, including: a processor and a memory; instructions encoded within the memory to instruct the processor to: identify a downloaded file on a file system; inspect a metadata object attached to the downloaded file; parse the metadata object to extract an advertiser identification string from a GET code portion of a uniform resource locator (URL); query a reputation cache for a reputation for the advertiser identification string; receive a deceptive reputation for the advertiser identification string; and take a remedial action against the downloaded file.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2019
    Publication date: April 1, 2021
    Applicant: McAfee, LLC
    Inventors: Oliver G. Devane, Lee Codel Lawson Tarbotton, Federico Barbieri
  • Publication number: 20210014269
    Abstract: There is disclosed in one example a computing apparatus, including: a hardware platform including a processor and a memory; a network interface; a user-space application including instructions to interact with a web site via a uniform resource locator (URL); and a security agent including instructions to: intercept an interaction of the user-space application with the web site; determine that the intercepted interaction is to send sensitive information to the web site; suspend the interaction; and assign a reputation to the URL.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 9, 2019
    Publication date: January 14, 2021
    Applicant: McAfee, LLC
    Inventors: Oliver G. Devane, Abhishek Karnik
  • Publication number: 20200412725
    Abstract: There is disclosed in one example a computing apparatus, including: a processor and a memory; a network interface; and a security agent including instructions encoded within the memory to instruct the processor to: identify an unknown software object; query, via the network interface, a global reputation store for a global reputation for the unknown software object; receive a response from the global reputation store and determine that the unknown software object does not have a reliable global reputation; compute a local reputation for the unknown software object; and share the local reputation for the unknown software object with the global security cache.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 25, 2019
    Publication date: December 31, 2020
    Applicant: McAfee, LLC
    Inventors: Oliver G. Devane, Federico Barbieri
  • Publication number: 20200210572
    Abstract: There is disclosed in one example a computing apparatus, including: a hardware platform including a processor and a memory; and one or more mediums including instructions to instruct the processor to provide a security scanner to: determine that an object to be inspected is an archive including a plurality of bundled files; determine that the archive is encrypted; identify unencrypted data within the encrypted archive that can be made visible to an end user after a failed decryption operation; scan the unencrypted data for a pattern that matches password data; and attempt to decrypt the archive according to the password data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 28, 2018
    Publication date: July 2, 2020
    Applicant: McAfee, LLC
    Inventor: Oliver G. Devane