"Over the years, viruses, worms and spyware have evolved considerably, making detection by traditional antivirus software increasingly difficult and time-consuming," said Carey Nachenberg, chief architect with Symantec Research Labs, as Symantec yesterday announced that it has been granted U.S. patent number 6,851,057 for a system that enables the detection of complex viruses, worms, and spyware.

Symantec now owns 121 patents in a variety of areas including antivirus, intrusion detection/prevention, firewall, security and software management, storage and imaging, software distribution, compression/encryption, anti-spam, anti-spyware and virtual private network security. 

"This invention fundamentally reduces the complexity of detecting malicious software and shortens the response time needed to address new threats without the need for new product updates or patches," Nachenberg explained.

The patent was granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for Symantec's "data driven detection of viruses" system, 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.

The technology was developed and patented by Nachenberg, and marks the sixteenth information security-related patent awarded to him in the last eight years. 

"This patent is part of a strategic portfolio that allows Symantec to continue to set the standard for innovation in the information security industry," said Michael Schallop, director of Intellectual Property for Symantec. "The diversity of our intellectual property assets reflects Symantec's focus and commitment to researching the various types of technologies necessary to develop the industry-leading security and information integrity solutions that our customers need to protect themselves from today's cyber threats."

Symantec maintains a diverse portfolio of intellectual property, such as copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and technological know-how. In particular, Symantec frequently applies for patents in the United States and internationally to protect its inventions through patents.