Methods and systems for creating and updating approved-file and trusted-domain databases

A computer-implemented method for automatically creating and updating file whitelists, the method comprising:

• identifying, at a proxy server, an attempt by at least one client computing device to download at least one file from at least one web server that requires that a user of the client computing device complete at least one task prior to downloading the file in a manner that prevents a file whitelisting system from accessing the file until the task is performed;
• after the user of the client computing device has completed the task required to download the file, intercepting the file at the proxy server as the file is transmitted from the web server to the client computing device;
• before allowing the client computing device to access the file:
• identifying, at the proxy server, a source domain from which the file originated;
• identifying, at the proxy server, a trusted-domain database that identifies trusted source domains for software vendors that have been verified as publishing trusted files;
• determining, by causing the proxy server to query the trusted-domain database using the source domain, that the source domain associated with the file exists within the trusted-domain database as a trusted domain for a trusted software vendor;
• based on determining that the source domain from which the file originated exists within the trusted-domain database, causing the proxy server to add the file to the file whitelist by:
• creating a hash value for the file;
• and
• adding the hash value for the file to the file whitelist;
• and
• after determining that the source domain associated with the file exists within the trusted-domain database, allowing the client computing device to access the file by forwarding the file from the proxy server to the client computing device.