Polymorphic Cloud-Delivered Hooks for Near-Real-Time Monitoring

Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional hooking solutions for software applications are slow, laborious, and require frequent manual updates to identify software bugs and malware, lacking rapid response capabilities.

Innovation Solution

Cloud-delivered hooks are injected into software applications from a cloud computing environment, utilizing a polymorphic universal hooking mechanism that eliminates signature requirements, allowing for near real-time software instrumentation and monitoring without manual implementation or software updates.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If conventional hooking solutions are used to intercept functions for software monitoring, then visibility of software processes is achieved, but the implementation becomes slow and laborious requiring frequent version updates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesoftware monitoring capabilityVSAvoidimplementation speed

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements preliminary action by pre-configuring hook templates in the cloud that can be rapidly deployed to client devices. These templates contain pre-defined hooking logic that eliminates the need for manual implementation on each device, enabling fast propagation of monitoring capabilities across software versions without requiring frequent updates of the hooking mechanism itself

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces a cloud-based intermediary service that manages hook templates and distributes them to client devices. This intermediary layer decouples the monitoring logic from the application code, allowing independent updates and improvements to the hooking mechanism without requiring application re-compilation or version updates, thus improving implementation speed while maintaining monitoring reliability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If conventional hooking solutions are used for software debugging and malware detection, then function interception is achieved, but rapid identification and resolution of issues is not possible

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebug detection capabilityVSAvoidtime to identify and resolve bugs

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements preliminary action by pre-configuring hook templates in the cloud that can be rapidly deployed to client devices. These templates contain pre-defined hooking logic that eliminates the need for manual implementation on each device, enabling fast propagation of monitoring capabilities across software versions without requiring frequent updates of the hooking mechanism itself

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements feedback by collecting data from deployed hooks and transmitting it back to the cloud environment for analysis. This continuous feedback loop enables rapid identification of software bugs, malware, and other issues by aggregating and analyzing monitoring data from multiple sources, significantly reducing the time required to detect and resolve problems compared to conventional isolated debugging approaches

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

3Productivity

If cloud-delivered hooks are distributed for near real time software instrumentation, then rapid software development and debugging is enabled, but the system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesoftware development speedVSAvoidhooking system complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements universality by creating a standardized cloud-delivered hook template system that can serve multiple purposes including software instrumentation, debugging, and malware detection. This universal approach consolidates various monitoring functions into a single framework, reducing the need for multiple separate systems and actually simplifying the overall architecture despite the enhanced capabilities

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces a cloud-based intermediary service that manages hook templates and distributes them to client devices. This intermediary layer decouples the monitoring logic from the application code, allowing independent updates and improvements to the hooking mechanism without requiring application re-compilation or version updates, thus improving implementation speed while maintaining monitoring reliability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS12399725B2Cloud-delivered hooks and hooking policies

Publication Date: 2025.08.26 CROWDSTRIKE

AI summary

Cloud-delivered hooks are injected as binary instrumentation into a software application. The cloud-delivered hooks are specified by a cloud computing environment. The cloud-delivered hooks may be set up, and torn down, by software updates from the cloud computing environment. The cloud-delivered hooks monitor and intercept functions, APIs, and system calls in both user space and kernel space. Moreover, the cloud-delivered hooks may utilize a polymorphic universal hooking mechanism that eliminates strict signature requirements between target functions and detour functions. Because the cloud-delivered hooks are commanded by, and received from, the cloud computing environment, the cloud-delivered hooks may be easily and nearly instantaneously distributed to clients in the field for near real time software instrumentation and reporting. The cloud-delivered hooks can thus greatly simplify and quicken software development, software debugging, malware detection, and software monitoring.