McAfee wins patent for identifying malware

[Tami]

McAfee wins patent for identifying malware



RICHMOND HILL, Ont., Oct. 21 — McAfee, Inc. has been granted a U.S. entitled Detecting Malicious Software By Analyzing Patterns Of System Calls Generated During Emulation. The patent covers various programs, products and methods for determining whether software is likely to exhibit malicious behaviour by analyzing patterns of system calls made during emulation of the software. The insulated environment protects the computer system from malicious actions of the software while the behaviour of the software is examined. Emulation results may be used to determine whether the software is likely to exhibit malicious behaviour.

According to a particular example, among many encompassed by the granted patent, a pattern of system calls made to an operating system of a computer system may be recorded during emulation of software. Such pattern of system calls may then be compared against a database containing suspect patterns of system calls. Using results of the foregoing comparison, it may then be determined whether the software is likely to exhibit malicious behaviour.

The process may be continued as necessary to search for behaviour that is likely to be malicious. Moreover, termination conditions may be used to halt the above functionality under certain circumstances. The patented use of software emulation enables improved searching for likely malicious behaviour.

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