Document Link Threat Protection via Reputation Caching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Phishing attacks, particularly through malicious links in documents, pose a significant threat as they can deceive users into revealing financial or personal information by directing them to forged websites, and existing security measures are inadequate in detecting such threats in various types of documents like emails, spreadsheets, and presentations.
Innovation Solution
A threat protection system that detects links in documents and analyzes their reputation by using a threat protection client module to verify if they are malicious, redirecting users to a warning page if the link is harmful, and implementing a timeout mechanism to ensure timely verification, thereby preventing users from accessing potentially dangerous URLs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a threat protection system performs reputation checks for all links in documents, then user security is improved, but system processing time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary reputation checks on links when documents are opened or saved, before users actually click them. The link batch module proactively analyzes all links in advance and caches their reputation information, so that when users click links, the protection decision is already available without causing delays.
Solution Approach 2:
The system prepares threat protection data in advance by caching reputation information for links. This pre-computed protection data acts as a cushion that prevents time loss during actual link activation, as the reputation check results are already stored and can be quickly retrieved when needed.
2Reliability
If a threat protection system performs reputation checks for all links in documents, then user security is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The threat protection system is divided into separate functional modules: a link batch module that handles bulk link analysis, a threat protection client module that performs reputation checks, and a link activation module that handles individual link clicks. This segmentation allows each module to specialize in specific tasks and reduces overall system complexity through modular design.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces intermediary components such as the link batch module that acts as a mediator between document processing and threat protection analysis. This intermediary layer simplifies the interface between different system components and provides a standardized method for submitting links for analysis, reducing system complexity.
3Measurement precision
If the system checks each link individually when clicked, then detection accuracy is improved, but user experience deteriorates due to delays
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs link reputation checks in advance when documents are opened or saved, before users actually click the links. This preliminary action ensures that when users click links, the protection decision is already available, maintaining both detection accuracy and smooth user experience without noticeable delays.
Solution Approach 2:
The system maintains continuous protection by caching reputation information that remains valid over time. Once links are analyzed and cached, the protection continues seamlessly without requiring repeated checks, ensuring both accurate detection and uninterrupted user experience during the cache validity period.
Data Source
AI summary
A threat protection system provides for detecting links in a document and analyzing whether one of the detected links is a malicious link that may direct a user of the document to a malicious universal resource locator (URL). In one implementation of the described technology, when a user selects a link in a document, a link activation module calls a threat protection client module that performs a reputation check for the link. If the selected link is malicious, the threat protection client module sends a URL of a warning page to the link activation module.