| New Error Detection Applications
System Security Technologies A Priority for Many Applicants
In the information age, error detection and system security have become increasingly important. Peer-to-Patent has recently posted a number of patent applications dealing with error/fault detection and system security.
In their second patent application on Peer-to-Patent, eBay has submitted an application relating to exception detecting and alerting. An error may occur in an application that is running in a testing system and/or production system. The error may be reported in the system as an exception. Examples include environmental exceptions or programming logic exceptions. The exception may be written to a log file for tracking and to enable further analysis. However, it may be time consuming to review the log. For example, a developer may be unable to distinguish whether a particular error occurred with the same application or a different application on the server, the error was previously resolved but is occurring again, the error is the result of an environmental change or a change to the code of the application, and the like. The patent application describes a method and system for exception detecting and alerting. An exception indicating an occurrence of an error in an application and a path to the exception in an application space may be received. The received exception may be compared to a stored exception in a prior version of an exception data structure to determine whether the received exception is a new exception. The exception data structure may include a plurality of stored exceptions and the results of the comparison may be provided. The application will be available for review on Peer-to-Patent until July 1, 2009.
Red Hat has submitted patent application for the verification of loadable objects. Operating systems generally include loading functions that enable loadable objects (e.g., device drivers, programs, dynamic link libraries (dlls), etc.) to be loaded into memory. When one of these loading functions receives a request to load an object into memory, it checks to ensure that the object is loadable before loading it into memory (e.g., that the structure of the object will support being loaded). Commercial on-access virus scanners are third party applications that scan loadable objects for known virus signatures before the loadable objects are loaded into memory. However, on-access virus scanners do not prevent loadable objects from being loaded if the loadable object includes an unknown virus, if the loadable object has been modified, or if the loadable object has been corrupted. This patent application will be available for review until June 24, 2009.
Similarly, Broadcom has submitted a patent application concerning the analysis of security threats. Modern information systems are plagued by a variety of security problems such as viruses, worms, applications changing a user’s TCP port settings, malformed packets, etc.. Many of these problems arise from the fact that a given information processing component may be connected broadly to a large universe of other components and users, such as the internet. Some of these interactions, however, may be malicious. The existing technologies for defending against such attacks tend to require significant processing and memory. These requirements may be a problem for some systems thus making them more vulnerable to attack. Some other devices, such as cable modems, have little processing power and memory. Such an embedded device therefore has limited functionality for functions other than the basic operations required of it. There is therefore a need for a system and method that addresses the above security concerns with the limited computational resources of an embedded device or other lightweight device. The patent application relates to multi-stage deep packet inspection for lightweight devices. Three stages are used, each of which addresses a particular category of threat by examining the headers and/or payload of each packet ("deep packet inspection"). The first stage detects incoming viruses or worms. The second stage detects malicious applications. The third stage detects attempts at intrusion. These three stages are followed by a fourth stage that sends any detected possible attacks to a central verification facility. In an embodiment of the invention, the verification facility is a server, coupled with a database. Here, suspect packets are compared to entries in the database to more comprehensively determine whether or not the packets represent an attempt to subvert the information processing system. This patent application will be available for review until June 24, 2009.
Discretix Technologies has taken a different approach to software security. Their patent application applies to concealing data processed in an integrated circuit. The patent covers both an integrated circuit and a method of concealing data using an integrated circuit. The integrated circuit incorporates a semi-random signal modifier that changes the state transition of the signal being processed. Examples of these semi-random changes can include changes to power consumption, electromagnetic radiation of the circuit, or time delay in processing a signal in the circuit. The method claimed essentially applies these semi-random changes or modifications to signals passing through an integrated circuit. The patent application describes a device, system, and method of obfuscating data processed within an integrated circuit. The claimed invention described has potential uses in security software, rights management software, and potentially other areas as well.
Database Management Patent Applications on Peer-to-Patent
A Number of Database Related Submissions from IBM Expiring Soon
IBM has number of patent applications concerning database technology posted on Peer-to-Patent that will be expiring soon. The first such submission describes a method and apparatus for managing database records rejected due to referential constraints. The claimed invention provides techniques for managing database records due to referential constraints. In one embodiment of this invention, such rejected records may be automatically processed. If automatically processed, the foreign key value attached to a rejected record may be forwarded to the parent table, and the rejected record may be reinserted to the destination table. In another embodiment, rejected records may be set aside in a rejection queue, and then presented to the user through a graphical interface unit (GIU). The GIU may be programmed to allow the user to manually update the parent table to include the missing foreign key value. The GIU may also be programmed to allow the user to select specific records to be added to their intended destination tables. This patent application will be available until June 11, 2009.
Another submission from IBM describes a method, system, and program product for building hierarchies. Generally, the claimed invention enables a hierarchy to be built based on a user-defined starting point and limited to known compatibilities and/or business rules. In particular, the claimed invention allows a user to define both a hierarchy with one or more peers and no parent, and a hierarchy with one or more peers and a parent, subject to valid relationships only. The claimed invention enables the user to define the starting point and drive in any desired direction as well as allows the user to define restrains on permissible relationships, thus limiting the relationships extant in the original data, or the known combining sets. The patent application claims a method, system, and computer-implementable medium encoded with a program for building hierarchies; method for deploying a system for building hierarchies; software embodied with a propagated signal for building hierarchies; data processing system for building hierarchies; and a computer-implemented business method for building hierarchies. This patent application will be available until June 3, 2009.
Finally, IBM has submitted a patent application for a coverage analysis tool for database-aware applications. Embodiments of this invention are related to testing devices of software applications. In particular, this invention provides coverage analysis of database elements accessed by a software application, therefore providing a more thorough testing of database-aware applications. In one embodiment of this invention, software configured to access a source code may be evaluated. In another embodiment, database elements accessed by the software application may be determined by a run-time test of the software application. This application will be available until May 31, 2009.
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