Systems and methods for system recovery from a system user interface process malfunction

1. A computer-implemented method for system recovery from a system user interface process malfunction, at least a portion of the method being performed by a computing device comprising at least one processor, the method comprising:

determining, by the computing device, that a system user interface (UI) process is executing on the computing device;

detecting, by the computing device, that a dialog box comprising a message indicating a malfunction of the system UI process is displayed on the computing device;

identifying, by the computing device, a mobile application that was executing on the computing device at a time of the malfunction of the system UI process, wherein the identifying includes receiving, by the computing device, data associated with the mobile application through a service that is an accessibility service of the computing device that provides user interface enhancements to assist users with disabilities or users who are unable to fully interact with the computing device; and

in response to identifying the mobile application that was executing at the time of the malfunction of the system UI process, performing, by the computing device, a security action for recovery from the malfunction of the system UI process.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the security action comprises:

querying a policy manager comprising a security policy to terminate potentially harmful mobile applications; and

terminating the mobile application based on the security policy.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the security action comprises:

querying a policy manager comprising a security policy to block potentially harmful mobile applications;

blocking the mobile application from launching based on the security policy; and

presenting, to a user of the computing device, a new message that the mobile application is blocked in response to identifying that the mobile application was executing at the time of the malfunction of the system UI process.

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

generating a security policy based on an identification that the mobile application was executing at the time of the malfunction of the system UI process, wherein the security policy comprises the security action blocking the mobile application from being executed upon determining, at an application run-time, that the mobile application is potentially harmful; and

transmitting the security policy to a policy manager.

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

registering with the accessibility service, by the computing device, to receive events from one or more mobile applications executable on the computing device,

wherein the accessibility service provides additional information about the one or more mobile applications or data received through the one or more mobile applications to enable the one or more mobile applications to aid users by performing an action on behalf of the users;

wherein identifying the mobile application executing on the computing device at the time of the malfunction of the system UI process further comprises:

identifying the mobile application executing at the time of the malfunction of the system UI process based on the data from the accessibility service.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the mobile application executing at the time of the malfunction of the system UI process further comprises:

receiving data associated with the mobile application through an application status manager of the computing device; and

identifying the mobile application that was executing at the time of the malfunction of the system UI process based on the data from the application status manager.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the message indicating the malfunction of the system UI process is displayed comprises:

parsing the message of the dialog box; and

determining that the message comprises one or more words from a pre-defined list.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the system UI process is executing on the computing device comprises:

detecting that a system UI package for the system UI process is active.

9. A system for system recovery from a system user interface process malfunction, the system comprising:

at least one physical processor;

physical memory comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the physical processor, cause the physical processor to:

determine that a system user interface (UI) process is executing on a computing device;

detect that a dialog box comprising a message indicating a malfunction of the system UI process is displayed on the computing device;

identify a mobile application that was executing on the computing device at a time of the malfunction of the system UI process, wherein the computer-executable instructions cause the physical processor to identify the mobile application at least in part by receiving data associated with the mobile application through a service that is an accessibility service of the computing device that provides user interface enhancements to assist users with disabilities or users who are unable to fully interact with the computing device; and

in response to identifying the mobile application that was executing at the time of the malfunction of the system UI process, perform a security action for recovery from the malfunction of the system UI process.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the security action comprises:

querying a policy manager comprising a security policy to terminate potentially harmful mobile applications; and

terminating the mobile application based on the security policy.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the security action comprises:

querying a policy manager comprising a security policy to block potentially harmful mobile applications;

blocking the mobile application from launching based on the security policy; and

presenting, to a user of the computing device, a new message that the mobile application is blocked in response to identifying that the mobile application was executing at the time of the malfunction of the system UI process.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the physical processor to:

generate a security policy based on an identification that the mobile application was executing at the time of the malfunction of the system UI process, wherein the security policy comprises the security action blocking the mobile application from being executed upon determining, at an application run-time, that the mobile application is potentially harmful; and

transmit the security policy to a policy manager.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the physical processor to:

register with the accessibility service to receive events from one or more mobile applications executable on the computing device,

wherein the accessibility service provides additional information about the one or more mobile applications or data received through the one or more mobile applications to enable the one or more mobile applications to aid users by performing an action on behalf of the users;

wherein, to identify the mobile application executing on the computing device at the time of the malfunction of the system UI process, the computer-executable instructions further cause the physical processor to:

identify the mobile application executing at the time of the malfunction of the system UI process based on the data from the accessibility service.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein, to identify the mobile application executing at the time of the malfunction of the system UI process, the computer-executable instructions further cause the physical processor to:

receive data associated with the mobile application through an application status manager of the computing device; and

identify the mobile application that was executing at the time of the malfunction of the system UI process based on the data from the application status manager.

15. The system of claim 9 , wherein, to determine that the message indicating the malfunction of the system UI process is displayed, the computer-executable instructions further cause the physical processor to:

parse the message of the dialog box; and

determine that the message comprises one or more words from a pre-defined list.

16. The system of claim 9 , wherein, to determine that the system UI process is executing on the computing device, the computer-executable instructions further cause the physical processor to:

detect that a system UI package for the system UI process is active.

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:

determine that a system user interface (UI) process is executing on the computing device;

detect that a dialog box comprising a message indicating a malfunction of the system UI process is displayed on the computing device;

identify a mobile application that was executing on the computing device at a time of the malfunction of the system UI process, wherein the computer-executable instructions cause the computing device to identify the mobile application at least in part by receiving data associated with the mobile application through a service that is an accessibility service of the computing device that provides user interface enhancements to assist users with disabilities or users who are unable to fully interact with the computing device; and

in response to identifying the mobile application that was executing at the time of the malfunction of the system UI process, perform a security action for recovery from the malfunction of the system UI process.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the security action comprises:

querying a policy manager comprising a security policy to terminate potentially harmful mobile applications; and

terminating the mobile application based on the security policy.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the security action comprises:

querying a policy manager comprising a security policy to block potentially harmful mobile applications;

blocking the mobile application from launching based on the security policy; and

presenting, to a user of the computing device, a new message that the mobile application is blocked in response to identifying that the mobile application was executing at the time of the malfunction of the system UI process.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the one or more computer-executable instructions further cause the computing device to:

generate a security policy based on an identification that the mobile application was executing at the time of the malfunction of the system UI process, wherein the security policy comprises the security action blocking the mobile application from being executed upon determining, at an application run-time, that the mobile application is potentially harmful; and

transmit the security policy to a policy manager.