System and method for attack and malware prevention
View Patent ↗The present invention is a system and method for detecting and preventing attacks and malware on mobile devices such as a cell phones, smartphones or PDAs, which are significantly limited in power consumption, computational power, and memory. The invention enables mobile devices to analyze network data, executable data files, and non-executable data files in order to detect and prevent both known and unknown attacks and malware over vectors that are not typically protected by desktop and server security systems. Security analysis is performed by a combination of “known good,” “known bad,” and decision components. The invention identifies known good executables and/or known characteristics of network data or data files that must be present in order for the data to be considered good. Furthermore, known good and known bad identifier databases may be stored on a server which may be queried by a mobile device.
1. In a server connected through a telecommunications network to receive data from and send data to a mobile communications device, the server having a memory and a microprocessor, and further having software components for processing, analyzing and storing data, including at least a known good component for identifying data that is recognizably safe, and a known bad component for identifying data that is recognizably malicious, a method comprising:
by the server, receiving a hash identifier for data from the mobile communications device;
at the server, upon receipt of a signal from the mobile communications device that an analysis of the data by a mobile communications device security component has not been able to characterize the data as recognizably safe or malicious, comparing, by the known good component, the data hash identifier against a database of identifiers of known good data which is determined to be good data by analyzing valid statefulness and structure, the database of known good identifiers being stored in memory associated with the server;
if the comparison by the known good component results in a positive match, then sending an instruction to the mobile communications device to allow the data to be processed by the mobile communications device;
if the comparison by the known good component does not result in a positive match, then comparing by the known bad component, the data hash identifier against a database of hash identifiers of known bad data stored in memory associated with the server; and
if the comparison by the known bad component results in a positive match, then sending an instruction to the mobile communications to reject the data from being processed by the mobile communications device.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the server further includes a decision component for evaluating whether data is safe or malicious, the method further comprising:
if the comparison by the known bad component does not result in a positive match, then receiving the data from the mobile communications device; and
using the decision component, performing an analysis on the data by the decision component to determine if the data is safe or malicious;
if the analysis determines that the data is safe, then sending an instruction to the mobile communications device to allow the data to be processed by the mobile communications device; and
if the analysis determines that the data is malicious, then sending an instruction to the mobile communications device to reject the data from being processed by the mobile communications device.
3. In a server connected through a telecommunications network to receive and send data, having a memory and a microprocessor, and further having software components for processing, analyzing and storing data, including at least a known good component for identifying data that is recognizably safe, and a known bad component for identifying data that is recognizably malicious, a method comprising:
receiving data at the server from the mobile communications device;
at the server, upon receipt of a signal from the mobile communications device that an analysis of the data by a mobile communications device security component has not been able to characterize the data as recognizably safe or malicious, applying by the known good component, logic on the data to determine if the data is safe, the logic examining the received data for valid statefulness and structure;
if the known good component logic determines that the data is safe, then allowing the data to be processed by the mobile communications device;
if the known good component logic does not determine that the data is safe, then rejecting the data from being processed by the mobile communications device;
if the known good component logic does not determine that the data is safe, then applying by the known bad component, logic on the data to determine if the data is malicious; and
if the known bad component logic determines that the data is malicious, then rejecting the data from being processed by the mobile communications device.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the server further includes a decision component for evaluating whether data is safe or malicious, the method further comprising:
using the decision component, performing an analysis on the data by the decision component to determine if the data is safe or malicious;
if the analysis shows that the data is safe, then allowing the data to be processed by the mobile communications device; and
if the analysis shows that the data is malicious, then rejecting the data from being processed by the mobile communications device.
5. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium for use in conjunction with a mobile communications device having a network interface for receiving and sending data, a memory and a microprocessor, and further having software components for processing, analyzing and storing data, including at least a known good component for identifying data that is recognizably safe, a known bad component for identifying data that is recognizably malicious, and a decision component for evaluating whether data is safe or malicious, having stored thereon a plurality of instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of a method comprising:
providing data on the mobile communications device;
applying a hash function to the data to create a hash identifier for the data;
comparing by the known good component, the data hash identifier against a database of hash identifiers of known good data stored in the mobile communications device memory;
if the comparison by the known good component does not result in a positive match, then rejecting the data from being processed by the mobile communications device;
if the comparison by the known good component results in a positive match, then comparing by the known bad component, the data hash identifier against either a database of identifiers of known bad data stored in the mobile communications device memory, or against a database of known bad data signatures stored in the mobile communications device memory, or against a database of known bad data patterns stored in the mobile communications device memory; and
if the comparison by the known bad component results in a positive match, then rejecting the data from being processed by the mobile communications device;
if the comparison by the known bad component does not result in a positive match, then using the decision component, performing an analysis on the data to determine if the data is safe or malicious;
if the analysis by the decision component shows that the data is safe, then allowing the data to be processed by the mobile communications device; and
if the analysis by the decision component shows that the data is malicious, then rejecting the data from being processed by the mobile communications device.
6. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium for use in conjunction with a server connected through a telecommunications network to receive and send data, having a memory and a microprocessor, and further having software components for processing, analyzing and storing data, including at least a known good component for identifying data that is recognizably safe, a known bad component for identifying data that is recognizably malicious, and a decision component for evaluating whether data is safe or malicious, having stored thereon a plurality of instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of a method comprising:
by the server, receiving a hash identifier for data from the mobile communications device;
upon receipt of a signal from the mobile communications device that an analysis of the data by a mobile communications device security component has not been able to characterize the data as recognizably safe or malicious, comparing by the known good component, the data hash identifier against a database of identifiers of known good data stored in memory associated with the server which is determined to be good data by analyzing valid statefulness and structure;
if the comparison by the known good component results in a positive match, then sending an instruction to the mobile communications device to allow the data to be processed by the mobile communications device;
if the comparison by the known good component does not result in a positive match, then comparing by the known bad component, the data hash identifier against a database of hash identifiers of known bad data stored in memory associated with the server;
if the comparison by the known bad component results in a positive match, then sending an instruction to the mobile communications to reject the data from being processed by the mobile communications device.