Symantec granted patent for fundamental anti-virus technology

Iria · Dec 15, 2005, 11:42 PM

Symantec has been granted a patent for anti-virus technology by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Symantec was granted US patent number 6 971 019 for histogram-based malicious code detection technology that accelerates the detection of complex threats and security risks, including viruses, worms, Trojan horses, blended threats, spyware and adware.

Histogram-based malicious code detection is a fundamental anti-virus technology employed throughout Symantec's portfolio of anti-virus solutions at the desktop, server and gateway, to protect both consumers and enterprises.

Carey Nachenberg, Symantec Fellow and chief architect with Symantec Research Labs, developed and patented the technology. This marks the seventeenth patent awarded to Nachenberg in the field of information security since 1997.

"Histogram-based malicious code detection is one of the most effective and efficient ways of solving the problem of complex threat detection," he says. "Without this technology, it would be extremely difficult to identify such threats without also significantly impacting performance."

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Read More / Source: ICT World

mkk · Dec 16, 2005, 01:14 AM

Sounds bad if they'll decide to enforce it. And who expects Symantec to be nice?

Matth · Dec 16, 2005, 03:50 PM

I don't know when their claim dates from, but I recall an old version of AVG (4.something) which let you look at the heuristic rules that were broken in any particular case - sure sounds like "histogram based" being openly displayed before the patent is claimed.

It sounds neither unique nor original.

Dec 15, 2005, 11:42 PM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 87	Symantec granted patent for fundamental anti-virus technology Symantec has been granted a patent for anti-virus technology by the US Patent and Trademark Office. Symantec was granted US patent number 6 971 019 for histogram-based malicious code detection technology that accelerates the detection of complex threats and security risks, including viruses, worms, Trojan horses, blended threats, spyware and adware. Histogram-based malicious code detection is a fundamental anti-virus technology employed throughout Symantec's portfolio of anti-virus solutions at the desktop, server and gateway, to protect both consumers and enterprises. Carey Nachenberg, Symantec Fellow and chief architect with Symantec Research Labs, developed and patented the technology. This marks the seventeenth patent awarded to Nachenberg in the field of information security since 1997. "Histogram-based malicious code detection is one of the most effective and efficient ways of solving the problem of complex threat detection," he says. "Without this technology, it would be extremely difficult to identify such threats without also significantly impacting performance." __________ Read More / Source: ICT World

Dec 16, 2005, 01:14 AM	#2
mkk Cthulhu/Dagon 2012 Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Gefle, Sweden Posts: 4,384 Rep Power: 120 System Specs	Sounds bad if they'll decide to enforce it. And who expects Symantec to be nice?

Dec 16, 2005, 03:50 PM	#3
Matth Flash Banner Hater Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: UK Posts: 3,411 Rep Power: 91 System Specs	I don't know when their claim dates from, but I recall an old version of AVG (4.something) which let you look at the heuristic rules that were broken in any particular case - sure sounds like "histogram based" being openly displayed before the patent is claimed. It sounds neither unique nor original.