Jonathan H Mark

US Patent:

8281398, Oct 2, 2012

Filed:

Jan 6, 2009

Appl. No.:

12/349506

Inventors:

Jonathan Daniel Mark Ness - Bothell WA, US
Bruce Dang - Tacoma WA, US
Robert John Hensing - York SC, US
Morgan Daniel Beenfeldt - Sammamish WA, US

Assignee:

Microsoft Corporation - Redmond WA

International Classification:

G06F 12/14
G06F 11/30
G06F 9/45
G06F 21/00
G06F 21/22
G06N 3/12
G06F 11/00

US Classification:

726 23, 726 24, 713194, 717136

Abstract:

Structured document files, such as those utilized by standard productivity applications or for portable documents can have malicious computer executable instructions embedded within them. Modifications to such files can prevent the execution of such malware. Modifications can operate at a file sector level, such as either fragmenting or defragmenting the file, or they can operate at a file record level, such as removing records, adding records, or rearranging the order of records. Other modifications include writing random data into records deemed likely to have malware, removing unaccounted for space, or removing records that are not known to be good and are inordinately large. A scan of the structured document file can identify relevant information and inform the selection of the modifications to be applied.