Patents by Inventor Scott Field

Scott Field 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).

  • Behavior blocking access control
    Patent number: 7818781
    Abstract: A facility for setting and revoking policies is provided. The facility receives a request from a controlling process a request to set a policy on a controlled process, and determines whether the controlling process has privilege to set the policy on the controlled process. If the facility determines that the controlling process has privilege to set the policy on the controlled process, the facility sets the policy on the controlled process, which causes the policy to be applied to the controlled process to determine whether the controlled process has authorization to access one or more resources.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2010
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Gilad Golan, Mark Vayman, Scott A. Field
  • Using scenario-related information to customize user experiences
    Patent number: 7818341
    Abstract: Methods for using scenario solution-related information to generate customized user experiences are provided. Upon receiving a user query, a plurality of results is returned, each result being representative of a scenario solution which may be utilized to address a particular issue relevant to the received query. At the time of authoring, each scenario solution is organized based upon one or more keywords and/or one or more categories (i.e., namespaces). Data associated with a namespace/keyword corresponding to a returned search result may be mined to determine information beyond basic scenario solution search results that may be of interest to the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2010
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Thekkthalackal Varugis Kurien, Steven E. Jackson, Scott A. Field
  • Organizing scenario-related information and controlling access thereto
    Patent number: 7797311
    Abstract: Mechanisms for organizing scenario solution-related information based upon a user's locality are provided. Locality refers to a collection of metadata created based upon scenario solutions executed by a user and/or enablers acquired by a user during scenario solution execution. Such metadata may be stored in association with a scenario solution execution workspace and/or in association with a user-specific information store. Once such information is acquired, a user may desire to share the information, or a portion thereof, with one or more other users, for instance, the members of a user group. However, often times, the user would prefer that the information not be made available to the general public. Thus, mechanisms for controlling access to user-specific information are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2010
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Thekkthalackal Varugis Kurien, Steven E. Jackson, Scott A. Field, David B. Cross
  • Protecting operating-system resources
    Patent number: 7765374
    Abstract: This document describes tools capable of enabling a protection agent to determine, from memory inaccessible from an operating-system privilege mode, whether one or more resources of an operating system have been modified. In some instances, these tools may enable the protection agent to reside within a virtual machine monitor. In other instances, the tools may enable the protection agent to reside within a distinct virtual partition provided by the virtual machine monitor. By operating outside of the operating-system privilege mode, the protection agent may be less vulnerable to attacks by entities operating within the operating-system privilege mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 27, 2010
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Scott A. Field, Brandon Baker, Eric Traut, Suyash Sinha, Joy Ganguly, Forrest Foltz, David Cutler
  • Privilege restriction enforcement in a distributed system
    Patent number: 7757281
    Abstract: Remote administrative privileges in a distributed system are disabled by default. To administer a remote system, express action is taken to elevate a user status to obtain remote administrative privileges. When local and remote systems communicate, information pertaining to the status of the logged on user is included in the communications. If the user wishes to legitimately administer a remote system, the user provides an explicit request. The request is processed. If the user is configured as an administrator of the remote system and the request contains an indication that the user's administrative status has been elevated, an authorization token is generated. The authorization token is utilized by the remote system to allow the user to administer the remote system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2010
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Scott A. Field, Liqiang Zhu, Peter T. Brundrett, Paul J. Leach
  • SECURED COMPARTMENT FOR TRANSACTIONS
    Publication number: 20100107218
    Abstract: Systems and methods that establish a secured compartment that manages sensitive user transactions/information on a user's machine. The secured compartment qualifies user interaction with the machine, and separates such qualified interaction from other user activity on the machine. A user is switched to such secured compartment upon occurrence of a predetermined event, such as in form of: an explicit request (e.g., a secure attention sequence); an implicit request (e.g., inference of user activities); and presence of a peripheral device that is bound to the secured compartment (e.g., a USB)—wherein such actions typically cannot be generated by an application running outside the secured compartment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 24, 2008
    Publication date: April 29, 2010
    Applicant: MICROSOFT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Thekkthalackal Varugis Kurien, Cormac E. Herley, Alice Jane Bernheim Brush, Daniel C. Robbins, Arindam Chatterjee, Scott Field
  • Method and system for troubleshooting when a program is adversely impacted by a security policy
    Patent number: 7707619
    Abstract: A method and system for selectively excluding a program from a security policy is provided. The security system receives from a user an indication of a program with a problem that is to be excluded from the security policy. When the program executes and a security enforcement event occurs, the security system does not apply the security policy. If the problem appears to be resolved as a result of excluding the program from the security policy, then the user may assume that the security policy is the cause of the problem.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2010
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Art Shelest, Pradeep Bahl, Scott A. Field
  • System and method of selectively scanning a file on a computing device for malware
    Patent number: 7676845
    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 or more files may be sent from a trusted source to a computing device that implements the present invention. The integrity of the files that originate from a trusted source is validated using a signature-based hashing function. Any modifications made to files stored on the computing device are tracked by a component of the operating system. In instances when the file is not modified after being validated, an aspect of the present invention prevents the file from being scanned for malware when a scanning event is directed to the file. As a result, the performance of the computing device is improved as static files from trusted sources are not repeatedly scanned for malware.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2010
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Anil Francis Thomas, Michael Kramer, Scott A Field
  • System and method of efficiently identifying and removing active malware from a computer
    Patent number: 7673341
    Abstract: The present invention provides a system, method, and computer-readable medium for identifying and removing active malware from a computer. Aspects of the present invention are included in a cleaner tool that may be obtained automatically with an update service or may be downloaded manually from a Web site or similar distribution system. The cleaner tool includes a specialized scanning engine that searches a computer for active malware. Since the scanning engine only searches for active malware, the amount of data downloaded and resource requirements of the cleaner tool are less than traditional antivirus software. The scanning engine searches specific locations on a computer, such as data mapped in memory, configuration files, and file metadata for data characteristic of malware. If malware is detected, the cleaner tool removes the malware from the computer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2004
    Date of Patent: March 2, 2010
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Michael Kramer, Matthew Braverman, Marc E. Seinfeld, Jason Garms, Adrian M. Marinescu, George Cristian Chicioreanu, Scott A. Field
  • Scanning data in an access restricted file for malware
    Patent number: 7660797
    Abstract: The present invention is directed toward a system, method, and computer-readable medium that scan a file for malware that maintains a restrictive access attribute that limits access to the file. In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a method for performing a scan for malware is provided when antivirus software on a computer encounters a file with a restrictive access attribute that prevents the file from being scanned. More specifically, the method includes identifying the restrictive access attribute that limits access to the file; bypassing the restrictive access attribute to access data in the file; and using a scan engine to scan the data in the file for malware.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2005
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2010
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Adrian M Marinescu, George C Chicioreanu, Marius Gheorghe Gheorghescu, Scott A Field
  • ISOLATION OF SERVICES OR PROCESSES USING CREDENTIAL MANAGED ACCOUNTS
    Publication number: 20090328154
    Abstract: This disclosure describes methods, systems, and application programming interfaces for creating a credential managed account. This disclosure describes creating a new password managed account, defining the password managed account, wherein the password managed account is to access a service on a managed computing device, identifying the password managed account for a lifecycle, and automatically managing the password managed account by updating and changing a password for the password managed account on a periodic basis.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 25, 2008
    Publication date: December 31, 2009
    Applicant: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Scott A. Field, Ramesh Chinta, Liqiang Zhu, Umit Akkus, Siddharth Bhai, Gopinathan Kannan, James J. Simmons, Qi Cao, Paul Miller, Ryan Fairfax, Alexandru Hanganu
  • Method and system for a self-heating device
    Patent number: 7624443
    Abstract: A self-healing device is provided in which changes made between the time that an infection resulting from an attack on the device was detected and an earlier point in time to which the device is capable of being restored may be recovered based, at least in part, on what kinds of changes were made, whether the changes were bona fide or malware induced, whether the changes were made after the time that the infection likely occurred, and whether new software was installed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2004
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2009
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Michael Kramer, Scott A. Field, Marc E. Seinfeld, Carl Carter-Schwendler, Paul Luber, Adrian M. Marinescu
  • Securing network services using network action control lists
    Patent number: 7603708
    Abstract: A computer system having secured network services is presented. The computer system comprises a processor, a memory, and a network action processing module. The network action processing module processes network actions from one or more network services executing on the computer system. The computer system is further configured to execute at least network service performing network actions in conjunction with the network action processing module. Upon receiving a network action from a network service, the network action processing module determines whether the network action is a valid network action according to a network action control list. If the network action is determined to not be a valid network action, the network action is blocked. Alternatively, if the network action is determined to be a valid network action, the network action is permitted to be completed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2009
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Pradeep Bahl, Ramesh Chinta, Narasimha Rao S. S. Nagampalli, Scott A Field
  • Enhanced Computer Intrusion Detection Methods And Systems
    Publication number: 20090241193
    Abstract: Improved intrusion detection and/or tracking methods and systems are provided for use across various computing devices and networks. Certain methods, for example, form a substantially unique audit identifier during each authentication/logon process. One method includes identifying one or more substantially unique parameters that are associated with the authentication/logon process and encrypting them to form at least one audit identifier that can then be generated and logged by each device involved in the authentication/logon process. The resulting audit log file can then be audited along with similar audit log files from other devices to track a user across multiple platforms.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 1, 2009
    Publication date: September 24, 2009
    Applicant: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Bhalchandra S. Pandit, Praerit Garg, Richard B. Ward, Paul J. Leach, Scott A. Field, Robert P. Reichel, John E. Brezak
  • Method and system for separating rules of a security policy from detection criteria
    Patent number: 7591010
    Abstract: A method and system that enables a security policy to separate developer-provided detection criteria from an administrator-provided custom policy is provided. The security system allows a developer of detection criteria to provide a signature file containing the signatures that are available for use by a security policy. The security system also allows an administrator of a computer system to specify a custom policy that uses the signatures of the signature file. The developer may distribute the signature file to host computer systems independently of the administrator's distribution of the rules of the custom policy to the host computer systems. When a security enforcement event occurs at the host computer system, the security system applies the rules of the security policy to the event.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2009
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Art Shelest, Scott A. Field, Subhashini Raghunathan
  • Novel crystalline forms of Lestaurtinib
    Publication number: 20090227650
    Abstract: Novel crystalline forms of lestaurtinib are described, including six co-crystal forms, nineteen solvate forms, three anhydrate forms and one hemihydrate form. Methods of their preparation and use are also described.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 16, 2009
    Publication date: September 10, 2009
    Applicant: Cephalon, Inc.
    Inventors: Stephen Bierlmaier, Laurent Courvoisier, Raymond Scott Field, R.Curtis Haltiwanger, Martin J. Jacobs, Robert E. McKean, Mehran Yazdanian
  • System for Running Potentially Malicious Code
    Publication number: 20090205034
    Abstract: Systems and methods for creating a secure process on a web server can include creating an application manager process, and creating an application host process, the application host process being created under control of the application manager process. Example methods can also include restricting attributes of the application host process, and assigning a unique logon identifier to the application host process so that the application host process can only communicate with the application manager process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 11, 2008
    Publication date: August 13, 2009
    Applicant: MICROSOFT CORPORATION
    Inventors: S. Franklin Williams, Kiran Akella Venkata, David C. LeBlanc, Juraj Gottweis, Gareth A. Howell, Scott A. Field, Ramesh Chinta
  • Automated rootkit detector
    Patent number: 7571482
    Abstract: Embodiments of a RootKit detector are directed to identifying a RootKit on a computer that is designed to conceal malware. Aspects of the RootKit detector leverage services provided by kernel debugger facilities to automatically obtain data in specified data structures that are maintained by an operating system. Then the data obtained from the kernel debugger facilities is processed with an integrity checker that determines whether the data contains properties sufficient to declare that a RootKit is resident on the computer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2009
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Alexey A. Polyakov, Gretchen L. Loihle, Mihai Costea, Robert J. Hensing, Jr., Scott A. Field, Vincent R. Orgovan, Yi-Min Wang, Yun Lin
  • Method and apparatus for generating random numbers
    Patent number: 7571199
    Abstract: A system collects entropy data and stores the entropy data in a nonvolatile memory. The entropy data stored in the nonvolatile memory is updated with newly collected entropy data. The entropy data stored in the nonvolatile memory is used to generate a string of random bits. The entropy data is collected from multiple sources within a computer system and may include data related to a processor in the computer system and an operating system executing on the computer system. The entropy data is maintained in a protected portion of an operating system kernel. A hashing algorithm is applied to the entropy data to generate random seed data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2000
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2009
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Scott A. Field, Jeffrey F. Spelman
  • Enhanced computer intrusion detection methods and systems
    Patent number: 7543333
    Abstract: Improved intrusion detection and/or tracking methods and systems are provided for use across various computing devices and networks. Certain methods, for example, form a substantially unique audit identifier during each authentication/logon process. One method includes identifying one or more substantially unique parameters that are associated with the authentication/logon process and encrypting them to form at least one audit identifier that can then be generated and logged by each device involved in the authentication/logon process. The resulting audit log file can then be audited along with similar audit log files from other devices to track a user across multiple platforms.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2002
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2009
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Bhalchandra S. Pandit, Praerit Garg, Richard B. Ward, Paul J. Leach, Scott A. Field, Robert P. Reichel, John E. Brezak