Patent ID: 7761912

Claim:
A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon, computer executable instructions that, when executed by a processing device, performs a method comprising: maintaining, on a client device, a plurality of reputations for applications installed on the client device, wherein the plurality of reputations for the applications, are maintained by periodically accessing a central database containing reputations for applications, and wherein the central database containing reputations comprises: feedback provided by a community of users regarding the applications; receiving a request from one or more of the applications to access the Internet; and parsing the reputations to determine whether to permit the one or more applications to access the Internet, the determination comprising searching the reputations to find data that corresponds to the one or more applications requesting access to the Internet and parsing the data that corresponds to the one or more applications to determine a level of trust rating for the one or more applications, wherein the level of trust rating comprises: a relative textual rating of the application, a textual comment corresponding to the application, and a category specifying type of use.