System and method for preventing execution of malicious instructions stored in memory and malicious threads within an operating system of a computing device

A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions for causing a processor to perform the following steps:

• determine if a program of instructions in memory is backed by a file stored in the non-volatile storage device and is executable by the processor;
• if the program of instructions is not backed by a file stored in the non-volatile storage device or is not executable, identify the program of instructions as potentially malicious and replace the program of instructions with one or more No Operation (NOP) instructions and shell code, thereby preventing execution of the potentially malicious program of instructions by the processor;
• and
• if the program of instructions is backed by a file stored in the non-volatile storage device and is executable, allow the processor to execute the program of instructions.

A method of preventing a program of instructions from being executed in a computer system comprising a processor, memory, and a non-volatile storage device, the method comprising:

• loading the program of instructions into memory;
• determining if the program of instructions is malicious;
• determining if the program of instructions is backed by a file stored in the non-volatile storage device;
• and
• if the program of instructions is not backed by a file stored in the non-volatile storage device, identifying the program of instructions as potentially malicious and replacing the program of instructions with one or more No Operation (NOP) instructions and shell code, thereby preventing execution of the potentially malicious program of instructions by the processor.