Patent ID: 7865956

Claim:
A method for predicting the incidence of a virus in a computer system, the method comprising: obtaining information relating to a new virus; obtaining information relating to a plurality of viruses which have previously infected the computer system; and comparing, utilizing a hardware processor, the information relating to the new virus to the information relating to the plurality of viruses which have previously infected the computer system, wherein comparing the information relating to the new virus to the information relating to the plurality of viruses which have previously infected the computer system includes determining a risk level associated with the new virus based on the information relating to the plurality of viruses which have previously infected the computer system, the risk level being indicative of a risk posed by the new virus to the computer system; wherein when the risk level associated with the new virus is a high risk level based on at least one duration of at least one infection associated with at least one of the plurality of viruses, the method further includes: obtaining software configured to protect the computer system against the new virus; and applying the software within the computer system; wherein comparing the information relating to the new virus to the information relating to the plurality of viruses which have previously infected the computer system further includes: determining a virus type associated with the new virus, the virus type being included in the information relating to the new virus; identifying at least a first previous virus which has previously infected the computer system, the first previous virus being included in the plurality of viruses which have previously infected the computer system, the first previous virus having the virus type associated with the new virus; determining when an infection caused by the first previous virus had at least a predetermined duration; and determining when the infection caused by the first previous virus had infected at least a predetermined percentage of the computer system.