Patent ID: 8904540
Filing Date: 2014-12-02
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A computer implemented method of evaluating hygiene of a computer, the method comprising: analyzing attributes of an operating system on the computer to assign values to operating system state variables, wherein the attributes of the operating system include a level of clutter of at least one of (a) system configuration files associated with the operating system and (b) files in a file system associated with the operating system, and wherein the values assigned to the operating system state variables associated with the level of clutter measure at least one of (i) a count of system configuration keys in the system configuration files, and (ii) a count of files and directories in the file system; analyzing attributes of application software installed on the computer to assign values to application software state variables, wherein the application software includes an Internet browser, wherein the attributes of the application software include downloaded file attributes, wherein the downloaded file attributes include at least one of a file type and a file source, and wherein the values assigned to the application software state variables associated with the downloaded file attributes measure whether an associated linked file downloaded by a user within a web page represents a security risk; assigning weights to the operating system state variables and the application software state variables based on the respective values thereof; and determining a hygiene rating for the computer based on the weights, the hygiene rating indicative of the propensity of the computer to attract malware.