Patent ID: 7213154

Claim:
A method, comprising: formatting a data field of a query data packet with a banner, the banner configured to elicit recognition by a target software; formatting a command field of the query data packet with a command, the command configured to elicit a signature response when the command is processed by the target software; identifying a number of keys equal to a modulus of an operating system contained on first and second computers; encrypting the query data packet with each of the keys to produce a multitude of encrypted query data packets equal in number to the modulus and the number of keys, each of the multitude of encrypted query data packets encrypted using a different one of the keys; storing the multitude of encrypted query data packets in a storage medium; sending the multitude of encrypted query data packets to the first computer to determine whether the first computer contains the target software; observing that the first computer contains the target software when at least one of the encrypted query data packets elicits the signature response on the first computer; and scanning the second computer using the previously generated encrypted query data keys that are stored in the memory to determine whether the second computer contains the target software, the scanning occurring without generating a new query data packet and without re-encrypting the query data packet.