Granted Patent B2

US 8,732,834 · App. 13/604,422 · Granted May 20, 2014

Abstract

Claims (53)

1. A computer-implemented method for detecting illegitimate applications, at least a portion of the method being performed by a computing device comprising at least one processor, the method comprising:

identifying an installation of an application on a computing system;

determining, in response to identifying the installation of the application, that at least one system file with privileged access on the computing system was unexpectedly changed prior to the installation of the application, wherein the privileged access comprises an access level that may enable installation of illegitimate applications;

determining that the application is illegitimate based at least in part on the application being installed after the system file with privileged access was changed;

performing a remediation action on the application in response to determining that the application is illegitimate.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 ,

further comprising:

identifying a plurality of computing systems;

determining that the application was installed on each of the plurality of computing systems following a system file change on each of the plurality of computing systems;

wherein determining that the application is illegitimate is further based on determining that the application was installed on each of the plurality of computing systems.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the system file was changed further comprises determining that the system file changed without a legitimate system update to the system file.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the application is illegitimate is further based on an activity level of the application relative to the time of the change to the system file.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the installation of the application on the computing system comprises identifying an update of the application on the computing system.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the system file was changed prior to the installation of the application comprises:

storing an attribute of the system file prior to the installation of the application;

identifying a current state of the attribute of the system file and determining that the attribute has changed subsequent to storing the attribute but prior to the installation of the application.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining that an additional application was installed prior to the change to the system file;

determining, based at least in part on determining that the additional application was installed prior to the change to the system file, that the additional application caused the change to the system file and the installation of the application.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the system file with privileged access on the computing system was changed prior to the installation of the application comprises comparing an application installation history with a system file history.

9. A system for detecting illegitimate applications, the system comprising:

an identification module programmed to identify an installation of an application on a computing system;

a change module programmed to determine, in response to identifying the installation of the application, that at least one system file with privileged access on the computing system was unexpectedly changed prior to the installation of the application, wherein the privileged access comprises an access level that may enable installation of illegitimate applications;

a determination module programmed to determine that the application is illegitimate based at least in part on the application being installed after the system file with privileged access was changed;

a remediation module programmed to perform a remediation action on the application in response to determining that the application is illegitimate;

at least one processor configured to execute the identification module, the change module, the determination module, and the remediation module.

10. The system of claim 9 ,

wherein the change module is further programmed to:

identify a plurality of computing systems;

determine that the application was installed on each of the plurality of computing systems following a system file change on each of the plurality of computing systems;

wherein the determination module is programmed to determine that the application is illegitimate further based on determining that the application was installed on each of the plurality of computing systems.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the change module is programmed to determine that the system file was changed by determining that the system file changed without a legitimate system update to the system file.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the determination module is programmed to determine that the application is illegitimate further based on an activity level of the application relative to the time of the change to the system file.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the identification module is programmed to identify the installation of the application on the computing system by identifying an update of the application on the computing system.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein the change module is programmed to determine that the system file was changed prior to the installation of the application by:

storing an attribute of the system file prior to the installation of the application;

identifying a current state of the attribute of the system file and determining that the attribute has changed subsequent to storing the attribute but prior to the installation of the application.

15. The system of claim 9 , wherein:

the change module is further programmed to determine that an additional application was installed prior to the change to the system file;

the determination module is further programmed to determine, based at least in part on determining that the additional application was installed prior to the change to the system file, that the additional application caused the change to the system file and the installation of the application.

16. The system of claim 9 , wherein the change module is programmed to determine that the system file with privileged access on the computing system was changed prior to the installation of the application by comparing an application installation history with a system file history.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising one or more computer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computing device, cause the computing device to:

identify an installation of an application on a computing system;

determine, in response to identifying the installation of the application, that at least one system file with privileged access on the computing system was unexpectedly changed prior to the installation of the application, wherein the privileged access comprises an access level that may enable installation of illegitimate applications;

determine that the application is illegitimate based at least in part on the application being installed after the system file with privileged access was changed;

perform a remediation action on the application in response to determining that the application is illegitimate.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 ,

wherein the one or more computer-executable instructions further cause the computing device to:

identify a plurality of computing systems;

determine that the application was installed on each of the plurality of computing systems following a system file change on each of the plurality of computing systems;

wherein the one or more computer-executable instructions cause the computing device to determine that the application is illegitimate further based on determining that the application was installed on each of the plurality of computing systems.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the one or more computer-executable instructions cause the computing device to determine that the system file was changed by causing the computing device to determine that the system file changed without a legitimate system update to the system file.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the one or more computer-executable instructions cause the computing device to determine that the application is illegitimate further based on an activity level of the application relative to the time of the change to the system file.

Assignments (6)