Member Article

Kaspersky Lab patents technology that increases usability of protection solution

Kaspersky Lab today announces that it has obtained a patent for a method of correcting antivirus records. Patent No. 2487405 issued by Rospatent, the Russian patent office, covers a mechanism that helps to make security systems significantly easier to use. This is due to the prompt correction of errors caused by false positives generated by a PC security system.

The key feature of any quality security solution is its ability to detect malicious programs quickly and accurately. A signature is one of the main tools for detecting malicious programs. A signature is a record in an antivirus database which describes the unique characteristics of an individual malware specimen or an entire malware family. In the majority of cases, consulting this signature database means security solutions are able to identify which files on a user’s computer are dangerous, and which are not.

In some cases, however, a signature created to detect a malicious program can inadvertently block secure software. A false positive may occur for various reasons. For example, sometimes malware has similar structures and behaviour to legitimate programs. Additionally, in some instances, human error can result in a virus analyst creating a signature which triggers matches with some legal programs, as well as the target malware.

The real problem with false positives is that there is often a delay between detecting a false positive and correcting it; during this time, users may encounter some difficulties working with their computers.

In general, false positives are a common problem for all vendors of security software. At present there is no reliable mechanism that can completely eliminate the possibility of these incidents. However, Kaspersky Lab’s experts have developed a method to minimise any negative impact of false positives.

Kaspersky Lab’s newly patented technology helps reduce the period between detecting an error and correcting it, from several hours to several minutes. When a false positive is detected, the solution uses an algorithm which incorporates a number of checks to automatically correct the virus record. The corrected records can be sent to every computer which reports the error in question.

“We know that false positives cannot be eliminated without compromising user security, but that won’t stop us trying to deal with the problem as best we can. That is why we decided to create this technology. Our patented mechanism means we can correct possible detection errors as fast as possible, minimising any problems for users without compromising security levels,” said Oleg Ishanov, Director of Anti-Malware Research at Kaspersky Lab and a member of the Technology Development team.

Kaspersky Lab continues to obtain more and more patents for its cutting-edge digital security technologies. As of early August 2013, Kaspersky Lab’s portfolio included over 160 patents issued in the US, Russia, the EU and China. In addition to that, over 210 patent applications are currently under consideration by patent authorities in these countries.

-ENDS-

About Kaspersky Lab

Kaspersky Lab is the world’s largest privately held vendor of endpoint protection solutions. The company is ranked among the world’s top four vendors of security solutions for endpoint users*. Throughout its more than 15-year history Kaspersky Lab has remained an innovator in IT security and provides effective digital security solutions for large enterprises, SMBs and consumers. Kaspersky Lab, with its holding company registered in the United Kingdom, currently operates in almost 200 countries and territories across the globe, providing protection for over 300 million users worldwide. Learn more at www.kaspersky.co.uk

* The company was rated fourth in the IDC rating Worldwide Endpoint Security Revenue by Vendor, 2011. The rating was published in the IDC report “Worldwide Endpoint Security 2012–2016 Forecast and 2011 Vendor Shares (IDC #235930, July 2012). The report ranked software vendors according to earnings from sales of endpoint security solutions in 2011.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Alice Collins .

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