Symantec claims new antivirus patent

Symantec has a new patent to help them in the constant battle against the threat of viruses. With any luck, this will help to push their services forward into a better level of support. At this point, most antviruses seem to be failing in one area or another. I would really love to see this change.

Antivirus software company Symantec (Profile, Products, Articles) has been awarded a patent for a 5-year-old technology that allows antivirus researchers to scan multiple parts of a file for signs of virus infections, according to executives from the company.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded Symantec U.S. patent No. 6,851,057 for “Data driven detection of viruses,” a method of virus detection that allows researchers to program antivirus software to scan multiple areas of a file for signs of infection. The technology has been used across Symantec’s antivirus product line since 1999, according to Carey Nachenberg, the inventor and a chief architect in Symantec’s antivirus labs.

The Symantec patent specifically refers to a “virus detection system (that) operates under the control of P-code to detect the presence of a virus in a file having multiple entry points,” but the reach of the patent could be much more broad, said Michael Schallop, director of intellectual property at Symantec.

“What’s patented is a technology to use an intermediate language to drive antivirus functionality such as scanning and emulation,” he said.

That could refer to any technology that allows antivirus researchers or antivirus products to use scripting to determine, dynamically, where in a file to scan and detect threats. It could also include the use of Javascript or other common scripting languages to direct antivirus scanning, Schallop said.