Patent ID: 8117441

Claim:
An integrity and privacy protection method for an operating system of a computer device, the method comprising: in response to installing a program on the computer device that includes the operating system, with a monitor within the operating system, assigning a monitoring program having computer-executable instructions to the program being installed, wherein the monitor assigns a first integrity and/or privacy label to the monitoring program based on predetermined criteria associated with the program being installed, the predetermined criteria based on a signature file included in the program being installed or a global user preference or code that defines the origination of the program being installed, and with the monitoring program, assigning a second integrity and/or privacy label to the program being installed that is equal to or less than the first integrity and/or privacy label assigned to the monitoring program by the monitor, wherein the assigning the second integrity and/or privacy label is based on a privacy policy associated with a digital signer of the program being installed or on a status of the program as determined by an anti-malware program, and, after the program is installed (“installed program”), in response to the installed program seeking to access an object, deciding with the monitor whether to allow access or deny access, wherein: the object comprises at least one of data or another program on the computer device or a remote network resource coupled to the computer device; the object has associated with it a third integrity and/or privacy label; and the monitor decides whether to allow or deny access based on a comparison of the second integrity and/or privacy label and the third integrity and/or privacy label.