Symantec Granted Patent For Key Information Security Technology

Symantec Granted Patent For Key Information Security Technology

Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC), the global leader in information security, today announced that it has been granted a new patent for antivirus technology by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Symantec has been granted U.S. patent number 6,851,057 for a system that enables the detection of complex viruses, worms, and spyware. The technology, “data driven detection of viruses,” is employed throughout Symantec’s portfolio of industry-leading information security solutions at the desktop, server, and gateway for both consumers and enterprises.

The invention represents a fundamental component of modern threat detection software, and is applicable to all operating systems and classes of malicious code. By establishing a mechanism that enables researchers to write simple detection scripts to allow for complex scanning and emulation of executable files, complex threats such as self-mutating viruses, worms, and spyware can be detected. Furthermore, researchers are able to aim an antivirus scanner at specific regions of each file for inspection, rather that having to scan larger regions of files and slowing down the operation of a computer.

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