System, method, and computer program product for conveying a status of a plurality of security applications
View Patent ↗A system, method and computer program product are provided for displaying a status of a security application. A status of at least one security application is initially identified. An index is calculated that is representative of a degree of risk associated with the status of the at least one security application. The index is then displayed.
1. A method for displaying a status of a security application, comprising:
identifying a status of at least one security application;
calculating an index representative of a degree of risk associated with the status of the at least one security application; and
displaying the index.
2. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the index includes a number between one (1) and ten (10).
3. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein a plurality of indices are each calculated for one of a plurality of security applications.
4. The method as recited in claim 3 , wherein the security applications include security applications selected from the group consisting of an anti-virus security application, a firewall security application, a privacy service security application, and an anti-spam security application.
5. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the index is associated with the status of an anti-virus security application.
6. The method as recited in claim 5 , wherein the index reflects a signature file of the anti-virus security application.
7. The method as recited in claim 5 , wherein the index reflects a version of the anti-virus security application.
8. The method as recited in claim 5 , wherein the index is calculated using a weighted average of a plurality of aspects of the anti-virus security application selected from the group consisting of a signature file of the anti-virus security application and a version of the anti-virus security application.
9. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the index is associated with the status of a firewall security application.
10. The method as recited in claim 9 , wherein the index reflects a version of the firewall security application.
11. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the index is associated with the status of a privacy service security application.
12. The method as recited in claim 11 , wherein the index reflects a version of the privacy service security application.
13. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the index includes an overall index reflecting a plurality of security applications.
14. The method as recited in claim 13 , wherein the overall index is calculated using a weighted average of a plurality of separate indices associated with each of the security applications.
15. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the index is displayed numerically.
16. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the index is displayed graphically.
17. The method as recited in claim 16 , wherein the index is displayed utilizing a bar-graph.
18. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the index is displayed utilizing a color coding.
19. The method as recited in claim 18 , wherein the color coding correlates with the degree of risk associated with the status.
20. The method as recited in claim 1 , and further comprising displaying additional information relating to the status upon the selection of the displayed index.
21. The method as recited in claim 20 , wherein the additional information includes a link capable of being selected by a user.
22. The method as recited in claim 21 , and further comprising taking an action to decrease the degree of risk associated with the status, in response to the selection of the link by the user.
23. A computer program product for displaying a status of a security application, comprising:
computer code for identifying a status of at least one security application;
computer code for calculating an index representative of a degree of risk associated with the status of the at least one security application; and
computer code for displaying the index.
24. A system for displaying a status of a security application, comprising:
means for:
identifying a status of at least one security application,
calculating an index representative of a degree of risk associated with the status of the at least one security application, and
displaying the index.
25. A system for displaying a status of a security application, comprising:
computer code for identifying a status of at least one security application and calculating an index representative of a degree of risk associated with the status of the at least one security application; and
a graphical user interface in communication with the computer code for displaying the index.
26. A method for displaying a status of a security application, comprising:
identifying a status of a security application;
representing the status of the security application in the form of a bar graph; and
displaying the bar graph.
27. A method, comprising:
determining a degree of risk associated with a plurality of security aspects associated with a computing environment of a computer; and
visually displaying the degree of risk associated with the security aspects utilizing a plurality of visual indicators.
28. A method, comprising:
identifying a status of a plurality of security applications;
calculating an individual index representative of a degree of risk associated with the status of each of the security applications, wherein each individual index is calculated using a plurality of aspects of the status of the security applications;
calculating an overall index representative of a degree of risk associated with a collective status of the security applications, the calculating of the overall index including a weighted average of the individual indices associated with each of the security applications; and
displaying each individual index and the overall index.