Methods, systems, and computer program products for controlling software application installations
AssigneeAT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P.
InventorJeffrey Aaron
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods, systems, and computer program products that automatically control the installation of software applications on a device are provided. The installation of a software application on a device is detected. The installation is temporarily halted and information about the detected software application installation is collected. A danger level of the detected software application is assessed based upon the collected information. Installation of the detected software application is allowed to continue if the assessed danger level is below a threshold level and installation of the detected software application is terminated if the assessed danger level is above the threshold level.
Claims12
A computer-implemented method of controlling an installation of a software application on a device, the method being performed by at least one processor and comprising:
- detecting the installation of the software application on the device based on changes in a registry of the device;
- pausing the installation;
- collecting information about the installation including name of the software application, version of the software application, source of the software application, installer of the software application, and logged network communications between the device and other devices;
- assessing a danger level of the software application based upon the collected information, comprising comparing how similar the software application is to known types of dangerous applications which include viruses, spyware, and malware, determining whether the software application is using a stealth communication method to install on the device, and determining whether the device has previously communicated with a suspicious web site;
- and
- allowing the installation of the software application to continue if the danger level is below a threshold level and stopping the installation of the software application if the danger level is above the threshold level.
A system that controls an installation of software applications on a device, comprising:
- a processor;
- a memory coupled to the processor;
- and
- computer program code residing in the memory that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform a method, the method comprising:
- detecting the installation of a software application on the device based on changes in a registry of the device;
- pausing the installation;
- collecting information about the installation including name of the software application, version of the software application, source of the software application, installer of the software application, and logged communications between the device and other devices;
- assessing a danger level of the software application based upon the collected information, comprising comparing how similar the software application is to known types of dangerous applications which include viruses, spyware, and malware, determining whether the software application is using a stealth communication method to install on the device, and determining whether the device has previously communicated with a suspicious web site;
- and
- allowing the installation of the software application to continue if the danger level is below a threshold level and stopping the installation of the software application if the danger level is above the threshold level.
A computer program product for controlling an installation of software applications on a device, comprising:
- a non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising computer readable program code that when executed by a processor causes the processor to perform operations comprising:
- detecting the installation of a software application on the device based on changes in a registry of the device;
- pausing the installation;
- collecting information about the installation including name of the software application, version of the software application, source of the software application, installer of the software application, and logged communications between the device and other devices;
- assessing a danger level of the software application based upon the collected information, comprising comparing how similar the software application is to the following known types of dangerous applications:
- viruses, spyware, and malware, determining whether the software application is using a stealth communication method to install on the device, and determining whether the device has previously communicated with a suspicious web site;
- and
- allowing the installation of the software application to continue if the danger level is below a threshold level and stopping the installation of the software application if the danger level is above the threshold level.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.