Patent ID: 7757298

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for identifying and characterizing stored electronic files, said method comprising: under control of one or more configured computer systems: selecting a file from a plurality of files stored in a computer storage medium, wherein selecting the file is performed according to at least one of: selecting the file based on the size of the file by determining whether an aggregate size of plural identically-sized files exceeds a predetermined threshold; selecting the file based on whether content of the file matches a file type indicated by a name of the file; or selecting the file based on whether the file comprises data beyond an end of data marker for the file; generating an identification value associated with the selected file, wherein the identification value is representative of at least a portion of the content of the selected file; comparing the generated identification value to one or more identification values associated with one or more of a plurality of unauthorized files; and characterizing the file as an unauthorized file if the identification value matches one of the plurality of identification values associated with the unauthorized files.