Patent ID: 7716743

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for generating a quarantine file from a regular file identified as being infected with a malware, the method comprising: encoding data in the regular file with a reversible function; identifying a set of metadata that describes security attributes of the regular file, the security attributes controlling access to the regular file; detecting that the regular file is infected with the malware and, in response, generating the quarantine file; combining the encoded file data and the set of metadata in the generated quarantine file; setting security attributes of the generated quarantine file to match the security attributes of the regular file; copying the set of metadata to a central location that is accessible to a user interface while maintaining the original set of metadata in the generated quarantine file, wherein the user interface displays the set of metadata to a user; and deleting the regular file after the encoded data and the set of metadata are stored in the quarantine file.