Patent Publication Number: US-2015089487-A1

Title: Terminal software maintenance method, service client and service server

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application claims the priority and is a continuation of PCT/CN2013/077168, filed on Jun. 13, 2013 and entitled “TERMINAL SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE METHOD, SERVICE CLIENT AND SERVICE SERVER”, which claims the priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201210195832.4, entitled “TERMINAL SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE METHOD, SERVICE CLIENT AND SERVICE SERVER”, filed on Jun. 14, 2012 with the Chinese State Intellectual Property Office, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     The disclosure relates to the field of the technology for maintaining terminal software. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Vulnerability generally refers to a defect of a logic design for hardware, software and a protocol. Due to the defect, an attacker may access a system without authorization, leading to loss of information in a computer and even a damage to the system. Therefore, in order to ensure the safe operation of the system of a terminal, the software of the terminal is required to be updated and maintained in a real time manner. 
     SUMMARY 
     A method for maintaining terminal software, a service client and a service server thereof are provided in the disclosure, to solve at least one of the above problems. 
     According to the disclosure, it is provided a method for maintaining terminal software, including: 
     acquiring, by a service client, software information of a terminal based on a software maintenance triggering instruction from the terminal, and submitting the software information of the terminal to a service server; and 
     comparing, by the service server, the software information submitted by the service client with pre-stored software information to generate a comparison result, and feeding back the comparison result back to the service client for display. 
     The step of acquiring, by the service client, software information of a terminal based on a software maintenance triggering instruction from the terminal includes: 
     searching, by the service client, for an add/uninstall option in a control panel of the terminal, based on the software maintenance triggering instruction, to acquire the software information of the terminal. 
     The software maintenance triggering instruction includes at least one of a vulnerability scan triggering instruction and a software upgrade triggering instruction. 
     The step of comparing the software information submitted by the service client with the pre-stored software information to generate a comparison result, and feeding back the comparison result to the service client for display, includes: 
     comparing, by the service server, the software information submitted by the service client with the pre-stored information of software having a vulnerability or required to be upgraded; and 
     feeding back the comparison result to the service client in the case that the comparison result indicates that software having vulnerability or required to be upgraded corresponds to the software information submitted by the service client, to prompt a user for information of the software having vulnerability or required to be upgraded in the terminal by the service client. 
     The method further includes: 
     receiving, by the service client, a vulnerability fixing instruction or a software upgrading instruction from the terminal; and 
     fixing or upgrading the software having vulnerability or required to be upgraded based on the vulnerability fixing instruction or the software upgrading instruction. 
     According to the disclosure, it is also provided a system for maintaining terminal software, including a service client and a service server, where 
     the service client is configured to acquire software information of a terminal based on a software maintenance triggering instruction from the terminal, submit the software information of the terminal to the service server, and display a comparison result fed back by the service server; and 
     the service server is configured to compare the software information submitted by the service client with pre-stored software information to generate the comparison result, and feed back the comparison result to the service client. 
     The service client is further configured to search for an add/uninstall option in a control panel of the terminal based on the software maintenance triggering instruction, to acquire the software information of the terminal. 
     The software maintenance triggering instruction includes at least one of a vulnerability scan triggering instruction and a software upgrade triggering instruction. 
     The service server is further configured to compare the software information submitted by the service client with the pre-stored information of software having vulnerability or required to be upgraded and generate the comparison result, and feed back the comparison result to the service client in the case that the comparison result indicates that software having vulnerability or required to be upgraded corresponds to the software information submitted by the service client, to prompt a user for information of the software having vulnerability or required to be upgrade in the terminal by the service client. 
     The service client is further configured to fix or upgrade the software having vulnerability or required to be upgraded based on a vulnerability fixing instruction or a software upgrading instruction from the terminal. 
     According to the disclosure, it is also provided a service client for maintaining terminal software, including: 
     an acquiring and submitting module configured to acquire software information of a terminal based on a software maintenance triggering instruction from the terminal, and submit the software information of the terminal to a service server; 
     a result receiving module configured to receive a comparison result fed back by the service server, where the comparison result is generated by comparing the software information with the pre-stored software information by the service server; and 
     a result display module configured to display the comparison result fed back by the service server. 
     The service client further includes an instruction receiving module, where the instruction receiving module is configured to receive the software maintenance triggering instruction from the terminal. 
     The software maintenance triggering instruction includes at least one of a vulnerability scan triggering instruction and a software upgrade triggering instruction. 
     The instruction receiving module is configured to receive a vulnerability fixing instruction or a software upgrading instruction from the terminal; 
     the service client further includes a fixing module, configured to fix or upgrade software having a vulnerability or required to be upgraded based on the vulnerability fixing instruction or the software upgrading instruction. 
     In the technical solution provided in the disclosure, the service client acquires the software information of the terminal based on the software maintenance triggering instruction from the terminal, and submits the software information of the terminal to the service server, the service server compares the software information submitted by the service client with the pre-stored software information to be maintained to generate the comparison result, and feeds back the comparison result to the service client for display. In this way, the user is prompted that which software in the terminal has vulnerability or is required to be upgraded, and maintains the software required to be maintained is through the service client, an existing software maintenance solution is improved, thus preventing virus intrusion and ensuring security of system operation and terminal use performance. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic flow chart of a method for maintaining terminal software according to a first embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic flow chart of a method for maintaining terminal software according to a second embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 3  a schematic structural diagram of a system for maintaining terminal software according to a third embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic structural diagram of a service client for maintaining terminal software according to a fifth embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic structural diagram of a service client for maintaining terminal software according to a sixth embodiment of the invention; and 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic structural diagram of a service client for maintaining terminal software according to a seventh embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     Objects, functional features and advantages of the disclosure will be further illustrated in conjunction with embodiments with reference to accompanying drawings. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     It should be understood that the embodiments described here are merely intended to interpret the disclosure, and not intended to limit the disclosure. 
     The technical solution provided in the embodiments of the invention includes that a service client acquires software information of a terminal based on a software maintenance triggering instruction from the terminal, and submits the software information of the terminal to a service server, the service server compares the software information submitted by the service client with pre-stored software information to generate a comparison, and feeds back the comparison result to the service client for displaying the comparison result to a user. In this way, the user is prompted that which software in the terminal is required to be maintained, and the software is maintained through the service client, an existing software maintenance solution is improved, thus preventing virus intrusion and ensuring security of system operation and terminal use performance. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , a method for maintaining terminal software is provided in a first embodiment of the invention, which includes steps S 101  to S 102 . 
     Step S 101  may include a service client acquiring software information of a terminal based on a software maintenance triggering instruction from the terminal and submitting the software information of the terminal to a service server. 
     In the embodiment, an application carried by the service client may be software installed on the terminal, and has an operation interface on the terminal. The software maintenance triggering instruction may be sent to the service client through the operation interface on the terminal; the software maintenance triggering instruction may be a vulnerability scan triggering instruction, a software upgrade triggering instruction or other corresponding software maintenance instruction. In the embodiment, scanning or fixing software vulnerability is taken as an example to illustrate. 
     The service client acquires the software information of the terminal based on a vulnerability scan instruction from the terminal, and submits the acquired software information to the service server by means of listing. 
     The service client may acquire the software information of the terminal in the following manner: the software information is acquired by searching for an add/uninstall option in a control panel of the terminal. The software information includes a software name, a version number and a production company, i.e. 
     Step S 102  may include the service server comparing the software information from the service client with pre-stored software information to generate a comparison, and feeding back the comparison result to the service client for display. 
     In the embodiment, software information of software having vulnerability, such as a name, a version and a production company of the software, are stored and recorded in advance by the service server. 
     After receiving the software information submitted by the service client, the service server compares the software information submitted with the pre-stored information of the software having vulnerability to generate a comparison result. The service server feeds back the comparison result to the service client in a case that the comparison result indicates that the software having vulnerability corresponds to the software information submitted by the service client. The service client prompts the user the information of the software having vulnerability in the terminal, that is, the user is informed that which software in the terminal has vulnerability, to facilitate performing a corresponding fix processing, preventing virus intrusion and ensuring security of system operation. 
     In the embodiment, scanning vulnerability scan the software of the terminal is taken as an example, to illustrate maintenance operation to the software. Although fixing vulnerability for the software may be to uninstall the software or upgrade the software to the latest version, the solution described above may also be applied in a scenario in which the software does not have vulnerability, for example, it may be required for the user to know that which software in the terminal is required to be upgraded or uninstalled, to perform maintenance operation such as upgrading or unloading the software, which is not exemplified here. 
     In the solution of the embodiment described above, the user may be prompted that which software in the terminal is required to be maintained, for example, which software has vulnerability, thus improving the existing software maintenance solution, preventing virus intrusion or ensuring security of system operation. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , another method for maintaining terminal software is provided in a second embodiment of the invention, the difference between the second embodiment and the first embodiment is that the method in second embodiment further includes steps S 103  to S 104  after step S 102  described above. 
     Step S 103  may include the service client receiving a software maintenance instruction from the terminal. 
     In the second embodiment, the software maintenance instruction may be a vulnerability fixing instruction or a software upgrading instruction. 
     Step S 104  may include maintaining the software required to be maintained based on the software maintenance instruction. 
     In the second embodiment, software having vulnerability or required to be upgraded is fixed or upgraded by the service client based on the vulnerability fixing instruction or the software upgrading instruction. 
     Compared with the first embodiment, the method in the second embodiment further includes a step in which the software required to be maintained on the terminal is maintained by the service client. 
     For example, the vulnerability fixing instruction or the software upgrading instruction is sent to the service client through the terminal, in the case that the user is informed that that the software having vulnerability or required to be upgraded exists on the terminal through the display of the service client, the service client fixes or upgrades the software having vulnerability or required to be upgraded based on the vulnerability fixing instruction or the software upgrading instruction. 
     With the solution of the embodiment described above, the user may be prompted which software in the terminal is required to be maintained, and maintains the software through the service client, such as fixes the software having vulnerability, or upgrades software. Thus improving the existing software maintenance solution, preventing virus intrusion in a more comprehensive way, and ensuring security of system operation and terminal use performance. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , a system for maintaining terminal software is provided in a third embodiment of the invention, which includes: a service client  301  and a service server  302 . 
     The service client  301  is configured to acquire software information of a terminal based on a software maintenance triggering instruction from the terminal, submit the software information of the terminal to the service server  302 , receive a comparison result fed back by the service server  302 , and display the comparison result. 
     The service server  302  is configured to compare the software information from the service client  301  with pre-stored software information to generate a comparison result, and feed back the comparison result to the service client  301 . 
     In the embodiment, an application carried by the service client  301  may be software installed on the terminal, and has an operation interface on the terminal. The software maintenance triggering instruction may be sent to the service client  301  through the operation interface on the terminal; the software maintenance triggering instruction may be a vulnerability scan triggering instruction, a software upgrade triggering instruction or other corresponding software maintenance instruction. In the embodiment, scanning and fixing software vulnerability is taken as an example to illustrate. 
     The service client  301  acquires the software information of the terminal based on the vulnerability scan instruction from the terminal, and submits the acquired software information to the service server  302  by means of listing. 
     The service client  301  may acquire the software information of the terminal in the following manner: the software information is acquired by searching for an add/uninstall option in a control panel of the terminal. The software information includes a software name, a version number and a production company, i.e. 
     The software information of software having vulnerability, such as a name, a version and a production company of the software, are stored and recorded in advance by the service server  302 . 
     After receiving the software information submitted by the service client  301 , the service server  302  compares the software information submitted with the pre-stored information of the software having vulnerability to generate a comparison result. The service server  302  feeds back the comparison result to the service client  301  in a case that the comparison result indicates that the software having vulnerability corresponds to the software information submitted by the service client  301 . The service client  301  prompts the user information of the software having vulnerability in the terminal, that is, the user is informed that which software in the terminal has vulnerability, to facilitate performing a corresponding fix processing, preventing virus intrusion and ensuring security of system operation. 
     In the embodiment, scanning vulnerability for the software of the terminal is taken as an example, to illustrate maintenance operation to the software. Although fixing vulnerability for the software may be to uninstall the software or upgrade the software to the latest version, the solution described above may also be applied in a scenario in which the software does not have vulnerability, for example, it may be required for the user to know that which software in the terminal is required to be upgraded or uninstall, to perform maintenance operation such as upgrading or unloading the software, which is not exemplified here. 
     In the solution of the embodiment described above, the user may be prompted which software in the terminal is required to be maintained, for example, which software has vulnerability, thus improving the existing software maintenance solution, preventing virus intrusion or ensuring security of system operation. 
     Another system for maintaining terminal software is provided in a fourth embodiment of the invention, and compared with the third embodiment, a service client  301  is further configured to receive a software maintenance instruction from the terminal, and maintain software required to be maintained based on the software maintenance instruction. 
     In the embodiment, the software maintenance instruction may be a vulnerability fixing instruction or a software upgrading instruction. For example, the vulnerability fixing instruction or the software upgrading instruction is sent to the service client  301  through the terminal, in the case that the software having vulnerability or required to be upgraded exists on the terminal through the display of the service client  301 , the service client  301  fixes or upgrades the software having vulnerability or required to be upgraded based on the vulnerability fixing instruction or the software upgrading instruction. 
     In the solution of the embodiment described above, the user may be prompted that which software in the terminal is required to be maintained, and maintains the software required to be maintained through the service client  301 , such as fixes the software having vulnerability, or upgrades software upgrade. Thus improving the existing software maintenance solution, preventing virus intrusion, and ensuring security of system operation and terminal use performance. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , a service client for maintaining terminal software is provided in a fifth embodiment of the invention, which includes an acquiring and submitting module  401 , a result receiving module  402  and a result display module  403 . 
     The acquiring and submitting module  401  is configured to acquire software information of a terminal based on a software maintenance triggering instruction from the terminal, and submit the software information of the terminal to a service server. 
     The result receiving module  402  is configured to receive a comparison result fed back by the service server, where the comparison result is generated by comparing the software information is compared with pre-stored software information by the service server. 
     The result display module  403  is configured to display the comparison result fed back by the service server. 
     In the embodiment, an application carried by the service client may be software installed on the terminal, and has an operation interface on the terminal. The software maintenance triggering instruction may be sent to the service client through the operation interface on the terminal; the software maintenance triggering instruction may be a vulnerability scan triggering instruction, a software upgrade triggering instruction or other corresponding software maintenance instruction. In the embodiment, scanning or fixing software vulnerability is taken as an example to illustrate. 
     The acquiring and submitting module  401  of the service client acquires the software information of the terminal based on the vulnerability scan instruction from the terminal, and submits the acquired software information to the service server by means of listing. 
     The acquiring and submitting module  401  of the service client may acquire the software information of the terminal in the following manner: the software information is acquired by searching for an add/uninstall option in a control panel of the terminal. The software information includes a software name, a version number and a production company, i.e. 
     In the embodiment, software information of software having vulnerability, such as a name, a version and a production company of the software, are stored and recorded in advance by the service server. 
     After receiving the software information submitted by the service client, the service server compares the software information submitted with the pre-stored information of the software having vulnerability to generate a comparison result. The service server feeds back the comparison result to the result receiving module  402  of the service client in a case that the comparison result indicates that the software having vulnerability corresponds to the software information submitted by the service client. The result display module  403  of the service client prompts the user information of the software having vulnerability in the terminal, that is, the user is informed that which software in the terminal has vulnerability, to facilitate performing a corresponding fix processing, preventing virus intrusion and ensuring security of system operation. 
     In the embodiment, scanning vulnerability for the software of the terminal is taken as an example, to illustrate maintenance operation to the software. Although fixing vulnerability for the software may be to uninstall the software or upgrade the software to the latest version, the solution described above may also be applied in a scenario in which the software does not have vulnerability, for example, it may be required for the user to know that which software in the terminal is required to be upgraded or uninstalled, to perform maintenance operation such as upgrading or unloading the software, which is not exemplified here. 
     In the solution of the embodiment described above, the user may be prompted which software in the terminal is required to be maintained, for example, which software has vulnerability, thus improving the existing software maintenance solution, preventing virus intrusion or ensuring security of the system operation. 
     As shown in  FIG. 5 , a service client for maintaining terminal software is provided in a sixth embodiment of the invention, and compared with the fifth embodiment, the service client in the sixth embodiment further includes a fixing module  404 . 
     The fixing module  404  is configured to maintain software required to be maintained based on a received software maintenance instruction. 
     The difference between the sixth embodiment and the fifth embodiment is that the service client in the sixth embodiment further includes the fixing module which maintains the software required to be maintained on the terminal is maintained. In the embodiment, scanning or fixing software vulnerability is taken as an example to illustrate. 
     The vulnerability fixing instruction or the software upgrading instruction is sent to the service client through the terminal, in the case that the user is informed that the software having vulnerability or required to be upgraded exists on the terminal through the display of the service client, the fixing module  404  of the service client fixes or upgrades the software having vulnerability or required to be upgraded based on the vulnerability fixing instruction or the software upgrading instruction. 
     In the solution of the embodiment described above, the user may be prompted that which software in the terminal is required to be maintained, and maintains the software required to be maintained through the service client. Thus improving the existing software maintenance solution, preventing virus intrusion, and ensuring security of system operation and terminal use performance. 
     As shown in  FIG. 6 , a service client maintaining terminal software is provided in a seventh embodiment of the invention, and compared with the sixth embodiment, the service client in the seventh embodiment further includes an instruction receiving module  405 . 
     The instruction receiving module  405  is configured to receive a software maintenance triggering instruction from a terminal. 
     In the embodiment, upon reception of the software maintenance triggering instruction from the terminal, the instruction receiving module  405  sends the software maintenance triggering instruction to the acquiring and submitting module  401 . The acquiring and submitting module  401  acquires the software information of the terminal based on the software maintenance triggering instruction, and submits the software information of the terminal to the service server. 
     In addition, the instruction receiving module  405  is further configured to receive a terminal software maintenance instruction. 
     In the embodiment, upon reception of the terminal software maintenance instruction, the instruction receiving module  405  sends the terminal software maintenance instruction to the fixing module  404 , and the fixing module  404  maintains the software required to be maintained based on the received software maintenance instruction. 
     The foregoing are only preferred embodiments of the invention and therefore are not intended to limit the scope of the invention, and any equivalent structures or equivalent alternatives made based on the description and the accompanying drawings of the invention, as well as any applications made based on the disclosure which are directly or indirectly applied to other related technical field are all included in the scope of protection of the present invention.