Patent ID: 7739739

Claim:
A networked system, comprising: a database used to evaluate data for the presence of a virus; a plurality of tiered servers at a network level in communication with a network client, the plurality of tiered servers including first and second tiered servers, wherein the second tiered server is disposed in a higher level tier than the first tiered server; first program code resident in the first tiered server and configured to receive a metafile associated with data received by a network client, evaluate the metafile for a potential viral presence by correlating the metafile to fields within the database, and route at least a portion of the metafile from the first tiered server to the second tiered server; second program code disposed in the second tiered server and configured to further evaluate the metafile by correlating the portion of the metafile to at least one additional field within the database, wherein at least one of the first and second program code is configured to assign to the data a risk level from among a plurality of risk levels stored within the database, wherein the assigned risk level is indicative of the potential viral presence.