Patent ID: 8332945

Claim:
A system for detecting malware applications residing on a mobile device powered by a battery, comprising: a data store that stores a plurality of known power signatures, each of the power signatures signifying a power consumption pattern of an application; a power monitoring module, implemented as computer executable instructions executed by a computer processor, that measures power drawn from the battery, wherein the power monitoring module includes a current measurement device interposed between the battery and a load of the mobile device and operable to output a current proportional to a current drawn by the mobile device; a capacitor coupled between the current measurement device and ground and configured to receive the current output by the current measurement device; and a microcontroller configured to measure voltage stored by the capacitor; a data analysis module, implemented as computer executable instructions executed by a computer processor, that receives power measures from the power monitor and extracts a power history signature from the power measures, the data analysis module compares the power history signature with a plurality of known power signatures and initiates a protective operation if the power history signature matches one or more of the known power signatures.