1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to computer networks, and more particularly provides a system and methods for protecting network-connectable devices from undesirable downloadable operation.
2. Description of the Background Art
Advances in networking technology continue to impact an increasing number and diversity of users. The Internet, for example, already provides to expert, intermediate and even novice users the informational, product and service resources of over 100,000 interconnected networks owned by governments, universities, nonprofit groups, companies, etc. Unfortunately, particularly the Internet and other public networks have also become a major source of potentially system-fatal or otherwise damaging computer code commonly referred to as “viruses.”
Efforts to forestall viruses from attacking networked computers have thus far met with only limited success at best. Typically, a virus protection program designed to identify and remove or protect against the initiating of known viruses is installed on a network firewall or individually networked computer. The program is then inevitably surmounted by some new virus that often causes damage to one or more computers. The damage is then assessed and, if isolated, the new virus is analyzed. A corresponding new virus protection program (or update thereof) is then developed and installed to combat the new virus, and the new program operates successfully until yet another new virus appears—and so on. Of course, damage has already typically been incurred.
To make matters worse, certain classes of viruses are not well recognized or understood, let alone protected against. It is observed by this inventor, for example, that Downloadable information comprising program code can include distributable components (e.g. Java™ applets and JavaScript scripts, ActiveX™ controls, Visual Basic, add-ins and/or others). It can also include, for example, application programs, Trojan horses, multiple compressed programs such as zip or meta files, among others. U.S. Pat. No. 5,983,348 to Shuang, however, teaches a protection system for protecting against only distributable components including “Java applets or ActiveX controls”, and further does so using resource intensive and high bandwidth static Downloadable content and operational analysis, and modification of the Downloadable component; Shuang further fails to detect or protect against additional program code included within a tested Downloadable. U.S. Pat. No. 5,974,549 to Golan teaches a protection system that further focuses only on protecting against ActiveX controls and not other distributable components, let alone other Downloadable types. U.S. Pat. No. 6,167,520 to Touboul enables more accurate protection than Shuang or Golan, but lacks the greater flexibility and efficiency taught herein, as do Shuang and Golan.
Accordingly, there remains a need for efficient, accurate and flexible protection of computers and other network connectable devices from malicious Downloadables.