Patent Document ID: 10104097
Application ID: 14569302
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A computer-implemented method for preventing targeted malware attacks, at least a portion of the method being performed by a computing device comprising at least one processor, the method comprising: identifying entities that were targets of previous targeted malware attacks, the previous targeted malware attacks comprising customized attacks designed for and directed to the entities based on characteristics of the entities; identifying, by selecting one or more of the characteristics of the entities that were the targets of the previous targeted malware attacks, a candidate risk factor for targeted malware attacks that indicates a characteristic potentially associated with being a target of a targeted malware attack; calculating a degree of association between the candidate risk factor and the previous targeted malware attacks by comparing rates of targeted malware attacks between a group that possesses the candidate risk factor and a group that does not possess the candidate risk factor; identifying a candidate target of a targeted malware attack by identifying an entity that possesses the candidate risk factor; calculating, based at least in part on the degree of association between the candidate risk factor and the previous targeted malware attacks, a probability that the targeted malware attack will be directed to the candidate target; adjusting a security policy assigned to the candidate target of the targeted malware attack based on the calculated probability; and protecting a computing system used by the candidate target from targeted malware attacks by enforcing the adjusted security policy on the computing system.