File Security Damper for Parallel Safe Behavior Checks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for protecting computers from malicious data in files are inefficient and prone to errors, as they require sequential checks across multiple file types, which increases processing time and can lead to conflicts between security checks, potentially allowing unsafe data to go undetected.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method that modifies a file to ensure safe behavior across multiple file types by adding or removing data, followed by parallel checks to verify the safe behavior, thereby reducing conflicts and processing time, and ensuring the file is safe before use.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple independent security checks are performed sequentially to identify and remove unsafe data according to different file types, then the security coverage is improved, but the processing time increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of sequentially checking and removing unsafe data according to different file types, the invention inverts the approach by first adding a damper that prevents unsafe behavior, then checking whether the file exhibits safe behavior. This reversal eliminates the need for multiple sequential identification attempts while maintaining comprehensive security coverage across different file types.
Solution Approach 2:
The damper is added to the file before any security checks are performed. This preliminary action ensures that even if unsafe data exists, it cannot execute harmful behavior. Subsequent checks only need to verify safe behavior rather than identify and remove various types of unsafe data, significantly reducing processing time while maintaining security.
2Reliability
If multiple security checks are performed sequentially to add dampers according to different file types, then the security mitigation is improved, but conflicts between checks increase and may create additional unsafe data
Solution Approach 1:
The invention inverts the traditional security approach by checking for safe behavior rather than identifying and removing unsafe data. This single check for safe behavior replaces multiple sequential checks that would otherwise conflict with each other when attempting to add dampers according to different file types, eliminating the complexity of coordinating multiple security checks.
3Reliability
If sequential checks are performed to identify unsafe data according to multiple file types, then the security coverage is improved, but the chance of effective dampers being added is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The damper is added as a preliminary action before any security checks are performed. This ensures the damper is in place to prevent unsafe behavior regardless of which file type interpretation is applied. The subsequent check only verifies safe behavior, ensuring the damper is effective without the risk of being removed or disrupted by sequential checks for different file types.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer-implemented method of mitigating the effect of a security threat present in a computer file of a known type. The method involves modifying the file to mitigate unsafe behaviour when the file is interpreted in accordance with the known type and/or in accordance with one or more different file types, and subsequently checking the modified file to ensure that it exhibits a known safe behaviour when interpreted according to the one or more different file types. The modified file may be checked to ensure it exhibits known safe behaviour when interpreted according to the one or more different file types. There may be two or more independent checks each according to one of the one or more different file types. The independent checks may be done in parallel. The step of modifying may include adding a damper to the file.