Patent ID: 8701196

Claim:
A method, comprising: identifying a file associated with a first computer; obtaining an overall reputation associated with the file stored at a second computer, wherein the overall reputation comprises at least one characteristic associated with the file that includes undesirable code identified through a scanning activity, and wherein the overall reputation is determined by receiving information on the reputation of the file from each of a plurality of computers and aggregating the information received from each of the plurality of computers to produce the overall reputation associated with the file, and wherein the information on the reputation of the file received from each of the plurality of computers is based upon a respective determination of a reputation of the file by each of the plurality of computers; and identifying a policy, wherein an agent provisioned in the first computer prohibits downloading of the file based on whether the reputation complies with configurable reputation settings provided in the policy, and wherein the policy is configured for indicating that additional scanning is to be carried out based on the reputation of the file.