U.S. patent application number 15/726917 was filed with the patent office on 2018-02-15 for malware data item analysis.
The applicant listed for this patent is Palantir Technologies Inc.. Invention is credited to Matthew Falk, Michael Glazer, Lucas Lemanowicz, Robin Lim, Sebastien Noury, Joseph Staehle, Timothy Yousaf.
Application Number | 20180046801 15/726917 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 53682493 |
Filed Date | 2018-02-15 |
United States Patent
Application |
20180046801 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Falk; Matthew ; et
al. |
February 15, 2018 |
MALWARE DATA ITEM ANALYSIS
Abstract
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a data analysis
system that may automatically analyze a suspected malware file, or
group of files. Automatic analysis of the suspected malware file(s)
may include one or more automatic analysis techniques. Automatic
analysis of may include production and gathering of various items
of information related to the suspected malware file(s) including,
for example, calculated hashes, file properties, academic analysis
information, file execution information, third-party analysis
information, and/or the like. The analysis information may be
automatically associated with the suspected malware file(s), and a
user interface may be generated in which the various analysis
information items are presented to a human analyst such that the
analyst may quickly and efficiently evaluate the suspected malware
file(s). For example, the analyst may quickly determine one or more
characteristics of the suspected malware file(s), whether or not
the file(s) is malware, and/or a threat level of the file(s).
Inventors: |
Falk; Matthew; (New York,
NY) ; Yousaf; Timothy; (New York, NY) ;
Staehle; Joseph; (New York, NY) ; Lemanowicz;
Lucas; (New York, NY) ; Noury; Sebastien;
(London, GB) ; Lim; Robin; (Mountain View, CA)
; Glazer; Michael; (San Francisco, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Palantir Technologies Inc. |
Palo Alto |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
53682493 |
Appl. No.: |
15/726917 |
Filed: |
October 6, 2017 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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14668833 |
Mar 25, 2015 |
9785773 |
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15726917 |
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14473860 |
Aug 29, 2014 |
9021260 |
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14668833 |
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62020905 |
Jul 3, 2014 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 63/105 20130101;
G06F 2221/034 20130101; G06F 21/6209 20130101; G06F 21/6218
20130101; G06F 21/56 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06F 21/56 20130101
G06F021/56 |
Claims
1. A computer network comprising: a database configured to store
file data items; and one or more hardware computer processors
configured to execute computer executable instructions in order to:
receive a first data item including a suspected malware file;
store, in the database, the first data item in association with at
least one of: a date of submission of the first data item, or an
identifier of the person who submitted the first data item;
initiate an internal analysis of the first data item to generate an
internal analysis information item; transmit the first data item to
an external analysis provider outside of the computer system for
external analysis; receive, from the external analysis provider, an
external analysis information item; and generate a graphical user
interface presenting analysis information items associated with the
first data item, the graphical user interface including at least: a
first node representing the first data item, and a second node
representing the internal analysis information item.
2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the graphical user
interface further includes a third node representing the external
analysis information item, wherein the first, second, and third
nodes are linked by edges in a graph or web.
3. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the one or more hardware
computer processors are further configured to execute computer
executable instructions in order to: search the database for
previously submitted data items matching the first data item; and
generate a displayable notification indicating that the first data
item was previously submitted.
4. The computer system of claim 3, wherein the displayable
notification indicates the date that the first data item was
previously submitted.
5. The computer system of claim 3, wherein the displayable
notification indicates an identifier of the person who submitted
the first data item.
6. The computer system of claim 1, wherein nodes in the graphical
user interface are user selectable icons.
7. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the one or more hardware
computer processors are further configured to execute computer
executable instructions in order to: receive a submission of a
second data item representing a suspected malware file; and
generate a fourth node in the graphical user interface, the fourth
node indicating the submission of the second data item.
8. The computer system of claim 7, wherein the one or more hardware
computer processors are further configured to execute computer
executable instructions in order to: compare an analysis
information item of the second data item to at least one of the
internal analysis information item or the external analysis
information item; determine that the second data item and the first
data item match; and in response to determining that the second
data item and the first data item match, associate a second
submission event with the first data item.
9. The computer system of claim 8, wherein comparing the analysis
information item of the second data item to at least one of the
internal analysis information item or the external analysis
information item includes: calculating a hash of the second data
item; and comparing the calculated hash to a previously calculated
hash of the first data item.
10. The computer system of claim 7, the graphical user interface
including at least: the first node representing the first data
item, the second node representing the internal analysis
information item, a third node representing the submission of the
first data item, and a fourth node representing a submission of the
second data item.
11. The computer system of claim 10, the graphical user interface
further including at least: a fifth node representing the external
analysis information item.
12. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the graphical
visualization further includes edges linking the first node to the
second, third, fourth, and fifth nodes.
13. The computer system of claim 7, wherein the one or more
hardware computer processors are further configured to execute
computer executable instructions in order to: receive a submission
of a third data item, the third data item representing another
suspected malware file; compare the third data item with at least
one of the first data item or the second data item; determine that
at the third data item and at least one of the first data item or
the second data item match; generate a fifth node in the graphical
user interface, the fifth node indicating the submission of the
third data item and linked to at least one of the first or third
node; and provide a notification that the third data item was
previously received.
14. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the internal analysis
includes at least calculation of a hash of the data item.
15. The computer system of claim 14, wherein the hash is at least
one of an MD5 hash of the first data item, a SHA-1 hash of the
first data item, a SHA-256 hash of the first data item, an SSDeep
hash of the first data item, or a size of the first data item.
16. The computer system of claim 15, the external analysis includes
analysis performed by at least a second computer system, and
wherein the external analysis includes execution of the first data
item in a sandboxed environment and analysis of the first data item
by a third-party malware analysis service.
17. The computer system of claim 16, wherein any payload provided
by the first data item after execution of the first data item in
the sandboxed environment is indicated as a node in the graphical
user interface.
18. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the one or more
hardware computer processors are further configured to execute
computer executable instructions in order to: share the first data
item and associated analysis information items with a second
computer system via a third computer system.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 14/668,833, filed Mar. 25, 2015, titled
"MALWARE DATA ITEM ANALYSIS," which is a continuation of U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 14/473,860, filed Aug. 29, 2014, titled
"MALWARE DATA ITEM ANALYSIS," which claims the benefit of U.S.
Provisional Patent Application No. 62/020,905, filed Jul. 3, 2014,
titled "MALWARE DATA ITEM ANALYSIS." The entire disclosure of each
of the above items is hereby made part of this specification as if
set forth fully herein and incorporated by reference for all
purposes, for all that it contains.
[0002] Any and all applications for which a foreign or domestic
priority claim is identified in the Application Data Sheet as filed
with the present application are hereby incorporated by reference
under 37 CFR 1.57.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Embodiments of the present disclosure generally related to
automatic analysis of data items, and specifically to automatic
analysis of malware-related data items.
[0004] Malware may include any software program (and/or group of
software programs) installed on a computer system and/or a network
of computer systems maliciously and/or without authorization. When
executed, an item of malware may take any number of undesirable
actions including, for example, collection of private or sensitive
information (for example, personal data and information, passwords
and usernames, and the like), transmission of the collected
information to another computing device, destruction or
modification of data (for example, accessing, modifying, and/or
deleting files), communication with other malware, transmission or
replication of malware onto other connected computing devices or
systems, transmission of data so as to attack another computing
device or system (for example, a Distributed Denial of Service
Attack), and/or hijacking of processing power, just to name a
few.
SUMMARY
[0005] The systems, methods, and devices described herein each have
several aspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for
its desirable attributes. Without limiting the scope of this
disclosure, several non-limiting features will now be discussed
briefly.
[0006] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a data
analysis system (also referred to herein as "the system") that may
automatically analyze a suspected malware file, or group of files.
Automatic analysis of the suspected malware file(s) (also referred
to herein as file data item(s)) may include one or more automatic
analysis techniques. Automatic analysis of a file data item may
include production and gathering of various items of information
(also referred to herein as "analysis information data items"
and/or "analysis information items") related to the file data item
including, for example, calculated hashes, file properties,
academic analysis information, file execution information,
third-party analysis information, and/or the like. The analysis
information items may be automatically associated with the file
data item, and a user interface may be generated in which the
various analysis information items are presented to a human analyst
such that the analyst may quickly and efficiently evaluate the file
data item. For example, the analyst may quickly determine one or
more characteristics of the file data item, whether or not the file
data item is malware, and/or a threat level of the file data
item.
[0007] In various embodiments, the system may receive suspected
malware files from various users. The system may automatically
analyze submitted file data items, associate the file data items
with analysis information items, and/or store the file data item
and analysis information items in one or more data stores. The
system may generate a submission data item with each submission of
a file data item, which submission data item may be associated with
the submitted file data item. The system may automatically
determine whether or not a particular submitted data item was
previously submitted to the system and, if so, may associate a new
submission data item with the previously submitted file data item.
Further, in an embodiment, the system may not re-analyze a
previously submitted file data item. Accordingly, in various
embodiments, the system may associate a file data item with various
submission data items such that information regarding, for example,
a number of submissions and/or time of submission may be presented
to the analyst. Additionally, information regarding users who
submitted the suspected malware files may be associated with the
submission file data items, and may be presented to the analyst in
connection with the respective file data items.
[0008] In various embodiments, file data items and related
information may be shared by the system with one or more
third-party systems, and/or third-party systems may share file data
items and related information with the system.
[0009] As described, some embodiments of the present disclosure
related to a system designed to provide interactive, graphical user
interfaces (also referred to herein as "user interfaces") for
enabling an analyst to quickly and efficiently analyze and evaluate
suspected malware data files. The user interfaces are interactive
such that a user may make selections, provide inputs, and/or
manipulate outputs. In response to various user inputs, the system
automatically analyzes suspected malware data files, associates
related malware data files, and provides outputs to the user
include user interfaces and various analysis information related to
the analyzed malware data files. The outputs, including various
user interfaces, may be automatically updated based on additional
inputs provided by the user.
[0010] This application is related to the following U.S. patent
applications:
TABLE-US-00001 Docket No. Serial No. Title Filed PALAN.268A2
14/473920 EXTERNAL MALWARE Aug. 19, 2014 DATA ITEM CLUSTERING AND
ANALYSIS PALAN.236A 14/280490 SECURITY SHARING May 16, 2014
SYSTEM
The entire disclosure of each of the above items is hereby made
part of this specification as if set forth fully herein and
incorporated by reference for all purposes, for all that it
contains.
[0011] According to an embodiment, a computer system comprises: one
or more computer readable storage devices configured to store: a
plurality of computer executable instructions; and a plurality of
file data items and submission data items, each submission data
item associated with at least one file data item; and one or more
hardware computer processors in communication with the one or more
computer readable storage devices and configured to execute the
plurality of computer executable instructions in order to cause the
computer system to automatically: in response to receiving a new
file data item: determine whether the received new file data item
was previously received by comparing the received new file data
item to the plurality of file data items; and generate a new
submission data item; in response to determining that the new file
data item was not previously received: initiate an analysis of the
new file data item, wherein the analysis of the new file data item
generates analysis information items, wherein initiating the
analysis of the new file data item comprises: initiating an
internal analysis of the new file data item including at least
calculation of a hash of the file data item; and initiating an
external analysis of the new file data item by one or more third
party analysis systems; associate the analysis information items
with the new file data item; associate the new submission data item
with the new file data item; and generate a user interface
including one or more user selectable portions presenting various
of the analysis information items.
[0012] According to another embodiment, the one or more hardware
computer processors are further configured to execute the a
plurality of computer executable instructions in order to cause the
computer system to: in response to determining that the new file
data item was previously received: determine a storage location of
the file data item that was previously received; retrieve the
analysis information items associated with the file data item that
was previously received; associate the new submission data item
with the file data item that was previously received; and generate
a user interface including one or more user selectable portions
presenting various of the analysis information items associated
with the file data item that was previously received, the user
interface usable by the analyst to determine one or more
characteristics of the file data item that was previously
received.
[0013] According to yet another embodiment, further in response to
determining that the new file data item was previously received,
the analyst is notified via the user interface that the new file
data item was previously received.
[0014] According to another embodiment, determining whether the
received new file data item was previously received comprises:
calculating a hash of the received new file data item and comparing
the calculated hash to previously calculated hashes associated with
the plurality of file data items.
[0015] According to yet another embodiment, the one or more
hardware computer processors are further configured to execute the
plurality of computer executable instructions in order to cause the
computer system to: in response to an analyst input selecting to
view a graph of the new file data item, generating a graph
including at least a first node representing the new file data
item, a second node representing the new submission data item, and
an edge connecting the first and second nodes and representing the
association between the new file data item and the new submission
data item.
[0016] According to another embodiment, the graph further includes
additional nodes representing other file data items and/or
submission data items associated with the new file data item, and
additional edges connecting the additional nodes and the first node
and representing associations between the other file data items
and/or submission data items and the new file data item.
[0017] According to yet another embodiment, the internal analysis
includes analysis performed by the one or more hardware computer
processors, and wherein the internal analysis further includes at
least one of calculation of an MD5 hash of the new file data item,
calculation of a SHA-1 hash of the new file data item, calculation
of a SHA-256 hash of the new file data item, calculation of an
SSDeep hash of the new file data item, or calculation of a size of
the new file data item.
[0018] According to another embodiment, the external analysis
includes analysis performed by at least a second computer system,
and wherein the external analysis includes execution of the new
file data item in a sandboxed environment and analysis of the new
file data item by a third-party malware analysis service.
[0019] According to yet another embodiment, any payload provided by
the new file data item after execution of the new file data item in
the sandboxed environment is associated with the new file data
item.
[0020] According to another embodiment, the one or more hardware
computer processors are further configured to execute the plurality
of computer executable instructions in order to cause the computer
system to: in response to an analyst input, sharing the new file
data item and associated analysis information items with a second
computer systems via a third computer system.
[0021] According to yet another embodiment, a computer-implemented
method comprises: storing on one or more computer readable storage
devices: a plurality of computer executable instructions; and a
plurality of file data items and submission data items, each
submission data item associated with at least one file data item;
in response to receiving a new file data item: determining, by one
or more hardware computer devices configured with specific computer
executable instructions, whether the received new file data item
was previously received by comparing the received new file data
item to the plurality of file data items; and generating, by the
one or more hardware computer devices, a new submission data item;
and in response to determining that the new file data item was not
previously received: initiating, by the one or more hardware
computer devices, an analysis of the new file data item, wherein
the analysis of the new file data item generates analysis
information items, wherein the initiating analysis of the new file
data item comprises initiating an internal analysis of the new file
data item including at least calculation of a hash of the file data
item; associating, by the one or more hardware computer devices,
the analysis information items with the new file data item;
associating, by the one or more hardware computer devices, the new
submission data item with the new file data item; and generating,
by the one or more hardware computer devices, a user interface
including one or more user selectable portions presenting various
of the analysis information items, the user interface usable by an
analyst to determine one or more characteristics of the new file
data item.
[0022] According to another embodiment, the method further
comprises: in response to determining that the new file data item
was previously received: determining, by the one or more hardware
computer devices, a storage location of the file data item that was
previously received; retrieving, by the one or more hardware
computer devices, the analysis information items associated with
the file data item that was previously received; associating, by
the one or more hardware computer devices, the new submission data
item with the file data item that was previously received; and
generating, by the one or more hardware computer devices, a user
interface including one or more user selectable portions presenting
various of the analysis information items associated with the file
data item that was previously received.
[0023] According to yet another embodiment, further in response to
determining that the new file data item was previously received,
the analyst is notified via the user interface that the new file
data item was previously received.
[0024] According to another embodiment, the internal analysis
includes analysis performed by the one or more hardware computer
processors, and wherein the internal analysis further includes at
least one of calculation of an MD5 hash of the new file data item,
calculation of a SHA-1 hash of the new file data item, calculation
of a SHA-256 hash of the new file data item, calculation of an
SSDeep hash of the new file data item, or calculation of a size of
the new file data item.
[0025] According to yet another embodiment, the external analysis
includes analysis performed by at least a second computer system,
and wherein the external analysis includes execution of the new
file data item in a sandboxed environment and analysis of the new
file data item by a third-party malware analysis service.
[0026] According to another embodiment, a non-transitory
computer-readable storage medium is disclosed, the non-transitory
computer-readable storage medium storing software instructions
that, in response to execution by a computer system having one or
more hardware processors, configure the computer system to perform
operations comprising: storing on one or more computer readable
storage devices: a plurality of computer executable instructions;
and a plurality of file data items and submission data items, each
submission data item associated with at least one file data item;
in response to receiving a new file data item: determining whether
the received new file data item was previously received by
comparing the received new file data item to the plurality of file
data items; and generating a new submission data item; and in
response to determining that the new file data item was not
previously received: initiating an analysis of the new file data
item, wherein the analysis of the new file data item generates
analysis information items, wherein the initiating analysis of the
new file data item comprises initiating an internal analysis of the
new file data item including at least calculation of a hash of the
file data item; associating the analysis information items with the
new file data item; associating the new submission data item with
the new file data item; and generating a user interface including
one or more user selectable portions presenting various of the
analysis information items, the user interface usable by an analyst
to determine one or more characteristics of the new file data
item.
[0027] According to yet another embodiment, the software
instructions further configure the computer system to perform
operations comprising: in response to determining that the new file
data item was previously received: determining a storage location
of the file data item that was previously received; retrieving the
analysis information items associated with the file data item that
was previously received; associating the new submission data item
with the file data item that was previously received; and
generating a user interface including one or more user selectable
portions presenting various of the analysis information items
associated with the file data item that was previously
received.
[0028] According to another embodiment, further in response to
determining that the new file data item was previously received,
the analyst is notified via the user interface that the new file
data item was previously received.
[0029] According to yet another embodiment, the internal analysis
includes analysis performed by the one or more hardware computer
processors, and wherein the internal analysis further includes at
least one of calculation of an MD5 hash of the new file data item,
calculation of a SHA-1 hash of the new file data item, or
calculation of a size of the new file data item.
[0030] According to another embodiment, the initiating analysis of
the new file data item further comprises: initiating an external
analysis of the new file data item, wherein the external analysis
includes execution of the new file data item in a sandboxed
environment and analysis of the new file data item by a third-party
malware analysis service.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0031] The following drawings and the associated descriptions are
provided to illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure and do
not limit the scope of the claims. Aspects and many of the
attendant advantages of this disclosure will become more readily
appreciated as the same become better understood by reference to
the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with
the accompanying drawings, wherein:
[0032] FIG. 1 is a flowchart of an example method of data analysis
system, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0033] FIGS. 2A-2H illustrate example user interfaces of the data
analysis system, according to embodiments of the present
disclosure.
[0034] FIG. 3A illustrates an embodiment of a database system using
an ontology.
[0035] FIG. 3B illustrates an embodiment of a system for creating
data in a data store using a dynamic ontology.
[0036] FIG. 4 illustrates a sample user interface using
relationships described in a data store using a dynamic
ontology.
[0037] FIG. 5 illustrates a computer system with which certain
methods discussed herein may be implemented.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0038] Although certain preferred embodiments and examples are
disclosed below, inventive subject matter extends beyond the
specifically disclosed embodiments to other alternative embodiments
and/or uses and to modifications and equivalents thereof. Thus, the
scope of the claims appended hereto is not limited by any of the
particular embodiments described below. For example, in any method
or process disclosed herein, the acts or operations of the method
or process may be performed in any suitable sequence and are not
necessarily limited to any particular disclosed sequence. Various
operations may be described as multiple discrete operations in
turn, in a manner that may be helpful in understanding certain
embodiments; however, the order of description should not be
construed to imply that these operations are order dependent.
Additionally, the structures, systems, and/or devices described
herein may be embodied as integrated components or as separate
components. For purposes of comparing various embodiments, certain
aspects and advantages of these embodiments are described. Not
necessarily all such aspects or advantages are achieved by any
particular embodiment. Thus, for example, various embodiments may
be carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage
or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily
achieving other aspects or advantages as may also be taught or
suggested herein.
Terms
[0039] In order to facilitate an understanding of the systems and
methods discussed herein, a number of terms are defined below. The
terms defined below, as well as other terms used herein, should be
construed broadly to include, without limitation, the provided
definitions, the ordinary and customary meanings of the terms,
and/or any other implied meanings for the respective terms. Thus,
the definitions below do not limit the meaning of these terms, but
only provide example definitions.
[0040] Ontology: Stored information that provides a data model for
storage of data in one or more databases. For example, the stored
data may comprise definitions for object types and property types
for data in a database, and how objects and properties may be
related.
[0041] Database: A broad term for any data structure for storing
and/or organizing data, including, but not limited to, relational
databases (for example, Oracle database, mySQL database, and the
like), spreadsheets, XML files, and text file, among others. The
various terms "database," "data store," and "data source" may be
used interchangeably in the present disclosure.
[0042] Data Item (Item), Data Object (Object), or Data Entity
(Entity): A data container for information representing specific
things in the world that have a number of definable properties. For
example, a data item may represent an item such as a person, a
place, an organization, an account, a computer, an activity, a
market instrument, or other noun. A data item may represent an
event that happens at a point in time or for a duration. A data
item may represent a document or other unstructured data source
such as an e-mail message, a news report, or a written paper or
article. Each data item may be associated with a unique identifier
that uniquely identifies the data item. The data item's attributes
(for example, metadata about the data item) may be represented in
one or more properties. The terms "data item," "data object," "data
entity," "item," "object," and "entity" may be used interchangeably
and/or synonymously in the present disclosure.
[0043] Item (or Entity or Object) Type: Type of a data item (for
example, Person, Event, or Document). Data item types may be
defined by an ontology and may be modified or updated to include
additional data item types. An data item definition (for example,
in an ontology) may include how the data item is related to other
data items, such as being a sub-data item type of another data item
type (for example, an agent may be a sub-data item of a person data
item type), and the properties the data item type may have.
[0044] Properties: Also referred to as "metadata," includes
attributes of a data item that represent individual data items. At
a minimum, each property of a data item has a property type and a
value or values. Properties/metadata associated with data items may
include any information relevant to that object. For example,
properties associated with a person data item may include a name
(for example, John Doe), an address (for example, 123 S. Orange
Street), and/or a phone number (for example, 800-0000), among other
properties. In another example, metadata associated with a computer
data item may include a list of users (for example, user1, user 2,
and the like), and/or an IP (internet protocol) address, among
other properties.
[0045] Property Type: The type of data a property is, such as a
string, an integer, or a double. Property types may include complex
property types, such as a series data values associated with timed
ticks (for example, a time series), and the like.
[0046] Property Value: The value associated with a property, which
is of the type indicated in the property type associated with the
property. A property may have multiple values.
[0047] Link: A connection between two data objects, based on, for
example, a relationship, an event, and/or matching properties.
Links may be directional, such as one representing a payment from
person A to B, or bidirectional.
[0048] Link Set: Set of multiple links that are shared between two
or more data objects.
Overview
[0049] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a data
analysis system (also referred to herein as "the system") that may
automatically analyze a suspected malware file, or group of files,
and present analysis information to an analyst via a user
interface. Malware files may include any software program file
(and/or group of software program file) that may be installed on a
computer system and/or a network of computer systems maliciously
and/or without authorization. When executed, a malware file may
take any number of undesirable actions including, for example,
collection of private or sensitive information (for example,
personal data and information, passwords and usernames, and the
like), transmission of the collected information to another
computing device, destruction or modification of data (for example,
accessing, modifying, and/or deleting files), communication with
other malware, transmission or replication of malware onto other
connected computing devices or systems, transmission of data so as
to attack another computing device or system (for example, a
Distributed Denial of Service Attack), and/or hijacking of
processing power, just to name a few. In most cases such malware
infects a computing device via a network connection (for example, a
connection to the Internet), and communicates with another
computing device or system (for example, another Internet-connected
computing device) to accomplish its purpose. Oftentimes malware is
well hidden in the infected computing device such that it may not
be detectable to an average user of the computing device.
[0050] Detection and removal of malware from infected computing
devices and/or systems is a highly desirable, but oftentimes
challenging task. Detection of malware is of particular importance
to organizations (for example, businesses) that maintain internal
networks of computing devices that may be connected to various
external networks of computing devices (for example, the Internet)
because infection of a single computing device of the internal
network may quickly spread to other computing devices of the
internal network and may result in significant data loss and/or
financial consequences.
[0051] Detection of malware may be enabled by accurate and thorough
information regarding the malware. Further, whether or not a
particular file or program is an item of malware, and an accurate
assessment of threat posed by the item of malware, may be enabled
by such accurate and thorough information. Previously,
determination and collection of information about a suspected
malware file was a labor intensive task. For example, an analyst
may have had to isolate the suspected malware file, manually run
tests and analyses on the suspected malware file, and compile any
information gleaned from such tests and analyses. The compiled
information may be in varying formats and difficult to analyze.
Further, a given suspected malware file may be analyzed multiple
times in such a manual process, unbeknownst to the analyst
(because, for example, the suspected malware file may have been
found in multiple disjoint incidents).
[0052] Embodiments of the data analysis system described herein may
overcome the limitations and deficiencies of previous methods of
gathering information about suspected malware files. For example,
an analyst may simply provide a suspected malware file, or group of
files, to the data analysis system for automatic analysis and
generation of a user interface by which the analyst may efficiently
evaluate the analysis and the suspected malware file. In various
embodiments, the system, by way of automatic analysis of file data
items, may generate accurate and thorough information regarding the
file data items. Automatic analysis of the suspected malware
file(s) (also referred to herein as file data item(s)) may include
one or more automatic analysis techniques, including, for example,
determination of various properties of the file data item,
execution of the file data item in a sandbox environment to
determine payloads (e.g., files exposed and/or created by execution
of the malware, which may be referred to as "payloads," "drop
files," and/or "dropped file data items") and behaviors, and/or
submission of the file data item to one or more third-party
analysis providers, just to name a few. Automatic analysis of a
file data item may include production and gathering of various
items of information (also referred to herein as "analysis
information data items" and/or "analysis information items")
related to the file data item including, for example, calculated
hashes, file properties, academic analysis information, file
execution information, third-party analysis information, and/or the
like. The analysis information items may be automatically
associated with the file data item by the system, and a user
interface may be generated in which the various analysis
information items are presented to the analyst such that a human
analyst may quickly and efficiently evaluate the file data item.
For example, the analyst may quickly determine one or more
characteristics of the file data item, whether or not the file data
item is malware, and/or a threat level of the file data item.
[0053] In various embodiments, the system may receive suspected
malware files from various users. The system may automatically
analyze submitted file data items, associate the file data items
with analysis information items, and store the file data item and
analysis information items in one or more data stores. The system
may generate a submission data item with each submission of a file
data item, which submission data item may be associated with the
submitted file data item. The system may automatically determine
whether or not a particular submitted data item was previously
submitted to the system and, if so, may associate a new submission
data item with the previously submitted file data item. Further, in
an embodiment, the system may not re-analyze a previously submitted
file data item. Accordingly, in various embodiments, the system may
associate a file data item with various submission data items such
that information regarding, for example, a number of submissions
and/or time of submission may be presented to the analyst.
Additionally, information regarding users who submitted the
suspected malware files may be associated with the submission file
data items, and may be presented to the analyst in connection with
the respective file data items.
[0054] In various embodiments, file data items and related
information may be shared by the system with one or more
third-party systems, and/or third-party systems may share file data
items and related information with the system.
[0055] In various embodiments, file data items may be submitted and
evaluated by a single person (for example, the user submitting the
file data item, and the analyst evaluating the results of the
system's analysis, may be the same person), or may be submitted by
a first person and evaluated by a second person.
[0056] In various embodiments, the data analysis system as
described herein may be used in conjunction with additional systems
and/or components to enable automatic clustering of various data
items related to an analyzed file data item. Examples of such
clustering, and further analysis of data clusters and generation of
associated user interfaces are described in U.S. patent application
Ser. No. 14/473,920, titled "EXTERNAL MALWARE DATA ITEM CLUSTERING
AND ANALYSIS," previously incorporated by reference herein.
Accordingly, in various embodiments, the data analysis system may
enable automatic, efficient, and effective detection, analysis, and
evaluation (by an analyst) of likely malware on computing devices
and/or network.
Description of the Figures
[0057] Embodiments of the disclosure will now be described with
reference to the accompanying Figures, wherein like numerals refer
to like elements throughout. The terminology used in the
description presented herein is not intended to be interpreted in
any limited or restrictive manner, simply because it is being
utilized in conjunction with a detailed description of certain
specific embodiments of the disclosure. Furthermore, embodiments of
the disclosure described above and/or below may include several
novel features, no single one of which is solely responsible for
its desirable attributes or which is essential to practicing the
embodiments of the disclosure herein described.
[0058] FIG. 1 is a flowchart of an example method of data analysis
system, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In
various embodiments, fewer blocks or additional blocks may be
included in the example method of FIG. 1, or various blocks may be
performed in an order different from that shown. The functionality
of the data analysis system as described in reference to FIG. 1 may
be implemented in one or more computer modules and/or processors,
as is described below in reference to FIG. 5. For example, in
various embodiments, one or more blocks in the flowchart may be
performed by one or more components of the data analysis system,
for example, computer system 800 and/or various servers 830, as
described below in reference to FIG. 5.
[0059] In the embodiment of the flowchart of FIG. 1, at block 102
one or more suspected malware files (also referred to herein as
"file data items") are received by the system. The file data items
may be submitted to the system, for example, by a user and via a
user interface of the system. FIG. 2A illustrates an example user
interface 202 of the system by which a user may submit a file data
item, according to an embodiment. In the example user interface
202, the user may provide information regarding the submission via
fields 204. For example, the user may select the suspect malware
file (or files) to submit, may indicate a case name (for example,
the user may associate the submission with a particular
investigation or case file by providing a case name), may provide a
date associated with the submission (that may be, for example, a
date on which the file data items is submitted or, alternatively, a
date when the file data item was obtained), may indicate a team or
name to associate with the file data item, and/or may provide a
name of the submitter (for example, the user). The information
provided by the user may be associated with the submitted file data
item such that the file data item may be associated with other
related file data items by the system (for example, other file data
items of the same "case," submitted by the same "team", submitted
within an organization, etc.). Further, the information provided by
the user may be included in a further user interface of the system
as described below.
[0060] The user interface 202 further includes a submit button (or
other user interface element) 206 that the user may select to
submit the file data item and initiate an automatic analysis of the
file data item, as described below. An "add to graph" button may
also be provided that, when selected, may cause the system to,
before or after analysis, add the file data item to a graph and/or
view the file data item and other related data items in a graph or
other visualization, similar to the description below in reference
to FIGS. 2H and 4, and as described in U.S. patent application Ser.
No. 14/473,920, titled "EXTERNAL MALWARE DATA ITEM CLUSTERING AND
ANALYSIS."
[0061] In other embodiments, file data items may be automatically
received by, or submitted to, the system based on one or more
factors, such as when a file data item is stored, accessed, and/or
updated on a storage device of the system.
[0062] Returning to the flowchart of FIG. 1, when a file data item
is received by the system, at block 104 the system determines
whether or not the file data item was previously received.
Determination of whether a file data item was previously received
by the system may enable more efficient operation of the system.
For example, as described below, a previously received file may not
be re-analyzed, but a previous analysis may be retrieved by the
system and presented to the analyst. The system may determine
whether a file data item was previously submitted to the system in
any of a variety of ways, and/or by any combination of the variety
of ways. For example, the system may compute and compare hashes
(by, for example, any known hash function) of submitted file data
items, may compare file names of submitted file data items, may
compare file sizes of submitted file data items, and/or the like.
As mentioned, in various embodiments the system may base a
determination of whether or not a file data item was previously
received on multiple equally or unequally weighted factors.
[0063] If the system determines that the file data item was
previously received, at block 116 the system provides a previously
determined analysis to the analyst and notifies the analyst that
the file data item was previously received (via, for example, a
popup window). For example, the system may retrieve a previous
analysis of the previously submitted file data item from a data
store of the system, and as shown at block 114 (and as described
below), provide a user interface to the analyst with the previous
analysis information. At block 118, a new submission data item
associated with the current submission is generated by the system
and associated with the previously submitted file data item. The
submission data item may include, for example, the various
information provided in the user interface of FIG. 2A. Generation
and association of submission data items in connection with each
submission by a user enables the system to determine all instances
of particular file data items being submitted to the system,
associate those instances with the file data item, and present that
information to the analyst, as described below.
[0064] If the system determines that the file data item was not
previously received, the system proceeds with an automatic analysis
of the file data item.
[0065] At block 106 the system initiates a basic analysis of the
received file data item. The basic analysis (also referred to
herein as an "internal analysis") is generally performed by the
system and may include various analyses of the received file data
item. Examples of the various analyses performed on the received
file data item include, for example, calculation of hash values
106a (for example, calculation of MD5, SHA-1, SHA256, and/or the
like) of the file data item, calculation of fuzzy hash values 106b
(for example, calculation of SSDeep and/or the like) of the file
data item, calculation of other hashes of the file data item,
determination of a file size of the file data item (as shown at
block 106c), determination of a file type of the file data item,
determination of a file name of the file data item, and/or the
like. Any information provided by the basic analysis processes may
be referred to herein as basic analysis information items, and such
basic analysis information items are associated with the file data
item analyzed. In various embodiments, as described below, the
basic analysis information may be provided to one or more external
analysis services to enable more efficient analysis of the file
data item. Further, the basic analysis information may be used by
the analyst to evaluate the file data item. For example, the
analyst may determine, based on the file size of the file data
item, that the file data item is less likely to be a malware
file.
[0066] In an embodiment, when a file data item received by the
system is compressed and/or encrypted (for example, contained in a
"zip"-type file), the system may automatically un-compress and/or
un-encrypt the file data item prior to the basic analysis (such
that, for example, the actual file data item of interest may be
analyzed, and not a compressed version of the file data item). For
example, when necessary the system may request an encryption key
from the user upon determination that the file data item is
encrypted and/or when the file data item is submitted (for example,
via the user interface 202). In an embodiment, the system may
automatically determine that a submitted file data item is
compressed and/or encrypted. Similarly, the system may
automatically un-compress and/or un-encrypt the file data item
prior to the external analysis described below. In an embodiment,
the file data item may be kept uncompressed and/or unencrypted
during both basic analysis and external analysis, and/or during any
further analysis. Alternatively, the file data item may be
re-compressed and/or re-encrypted (by the same or different
algorithms as were used in the initial compression and/or
encryption) between the basic analysis and the external analysis
such that the file data item may be, for example, safely
transmitted to an external service (as described below). In an
embodiment, after analyzing the file data item, the system may
automatically re-compress and/or re-encrypt (by the same or
different algorithms as were used in the initial compression and/or
encryption) the file data item prior to storing the file data
item.
[0067] FIG. 2B illustrates an example user interface of the system
in which an analysis of a file data item is presented, including
basic analysis information, according to an embodiment. Such a user
interface may be provided, for example, at block 114 of FIG. 1. The
user interface of FIG. 2B includes various basic analysis
information in boxes 212 and 214. The user interface of FIG. 2B
also includes a portion 216 showing various external analysis
information, described below. Further, the user interface of FIG.
2B includes various user interface elements (for example,
selectable buttons 218) by which an analyst may perform various
actions, described below.
[0068] Returning to the flowchart of FIG. 1, at block 108 the
system initiates an external analysis of the received file data
item. The external analysis is generally performed by one or more
computing devices external to the system, however in some
embodiments aspects (or all aspects) of the external analysis may
be performed by the system. The external analysis of the file data
item may include, for example, academic analysis (as shown at block
108a), execution of the file data item in a sandbox environment (as
shown at block 108b), analysis of the file data item by one or more
third-party analysis providers (for example, FireEye, Inc. (block
108c); VirusTotal (block 108d), a service provided by Google;
and/or the like), aggregation of file data items (and/or other data
items) related to the submitted file data item, and/or the like.
Any information determined and/or obtained via one or more external
analysis processes may be referred to herein as external analysis
information items, and such external analysis information items are
associated with the file data item analyzed. In an embodiment, the
system may automatically provide one or more basic analysis data
items to the external analysis providers to enable a more efficient
external analysis. For example, the system may provide a hash of
the file data item, an encryption key of the file data item (in the
example of the file data item being encrypted and/or compressed),
and/or the like such that the external analysis provider may
quickly identify the file data item, un-compress and/or un-encrypt
the file data item, determine whether the file data item was
previously analyzed, and/or the like.
[0069] As mentioned above, external analysis may include academic
analysis 108a. Academic analysis may include, for example,
transmission and/or submission of the file data item to an academic
team and/or academic system for analysis, such as a graduate
program at a university with a focus on improved malware detection
techniques. The academic analysis may include one or more cutting
edge analysis techniques, the results of which may be transmitted
back to the data analysis system for association with the file data
item. The results of the academic analysis may then be presented in
a user interface of the system such as the user interface of FIG.
2B.
[0070] As also mentioned above, external analysis may include
execution of the file data item in a sandbox environment 108b. A
sandbox environment may be a secure computing environment specially
designed for execution and analysis of an item of malware. The
sandbox is generally walled off from any other computing system so
as to prevent damage or infection of any other computing systems by
malware when the malware is executed. For example, a sandbox may
include a virtual machine executing on a computing system, which
has no access to the operating system executing the virtual
machine, any data outside of the virtual machine, any networks,
etc.
[0071] The data analysis system may automatically provide the file
data item to such a sandbox environment, which may then execute the
file data item. The system may then analyze and record any actions
taken or initiated by the file data item upon execution (or such
information may be obtained from a sandbox environment external to
the system that executes the file data item). For example, the file
data item may attempt to contact one or more URLs or domains, may
make modifications to files and/or a file system, may make
modification to an operating system registry, may deliver one or
more payloads (for example, additional files or programs written to
the computing system on which the file data item is executed,
and/or executed by the file data item on the computing system on
which the file data item is executed), and/or the like. The data
analysis system may then record such analysis information,
including payloads provided by the file data item, and associate
them with the file data item. The portion 216 of the user interface
of FIG. 2B illustrates example analysis information items gathered
and presented in response to a sandbox analysis. In the user
interface, the "indicators" selector 220 is selected, such that
various indictors associated with the file data item are shown in
the portion 216. For example, the portion 216 in FIG. 2B shows
network connections made by the file data item, file system
changes, and/or registry changes. Other information may also be
shown in the portion 216, and/or other sandbox analysis information
may be shown in one or more other user interfaces as described
below. In some embodiments, drop files (also referred to herein as
"payloads," "drop files," and/or "dropped file data items") created
by executing the file data item in a sandbox, for example, may be
submitted to the system for a same or similar analysis as is
discussed in FIG. 1, such as starting with block 104. The analysis
information associated with drop files, and/or file data items
associated with the drop files, may then be associated with the
file data item as described below with various types of data
items.
[0072] As also mentioned above, external analysis may include
transmission and/or submission of the file data item to one or more
third-party analysis providers for analysis. Examples of such
third-party analysis providers include FireEye (block 108c), and
VirusTotal (block 108d). The one or more third-party analysis
providers may then transmit one or more analysis information items
back to the system, where it may be associated with the file data
item and displayed to the analyst.
[0073] FIGS. 2D-2G illustrate example user interfaces of the system
in which a third-party provider analyses of a file data item are
presented, according to an embodiment. Each of FIGS. 2D-2G
illustrate information that may be presented in portion 216 of FIG.
2B when, for example, external analysis selector 236 is selected by
the analyst (as shown in FIG. 2D). As indicated in FIG. 2D,
selection of VirusTotal button 238 may cause the system to display
analysis information gathered as a result of an analysis of the
file data item by VirusTotal. The analysis information data items
returned from this example third party analysis provider include,
for example, a submission time, a vendor score (which may indicate,
for example, a threat level of the file data item as determined by
the third party analysis provider), a name by which the file data
item is known among one or more third-party analysis providers
and/or other security vendors (for example, "Generic.qx"), and
various other information, such as the other various analysis
information data items illustrated in display portion 240. In some
embodiments, portion 240 may include various selectable buttons,
such as Indicators button 241, the selection of which causes the
system to display a particular category of analysis information
data items, as shown. In an embodiment, in response to receiving
particular vendor scores (indicating, for example, threat levels of
the file data item) the system may automatically alert the analyst
and/or provide different visual indicators (for example, color the
user interface or a portion of the user interface with a color
corresponding to the threat level). For example, when a vendor
score indicates a sufficiently high threat level (as determined,
for example, by a comparison to one or more predefined thresholds)
the system may automatically alert the analyst via a popup window
and/or other notification (for example, an email and/or text
message).
[0074] FIG. 2E illustrates another user interface of the data
analysis system in which the analyst has selected Antivirus
Detection button 242 to view antivirus analysis information
provided by VirusTotal. FIG. 2F illustrates another user interface
of the data analysis system in which the analyst has selected
button FireEye 244 to view analysis information provided by example
third-party analysis provider, FireEye. As with FIG. 2D, in FIG. 2F
various selectable buttons (such as Alerts button 246) may be
provided such that the analyst may view various analysis
information. FIG. 2G illustrates another user interface of the data
analysis system in which the analyst has selected Network
Indicators button 248 to view network indicator analysis
information provided by FireEye. Network indicators may include
various analysis information items, such as those illustrated in
the example of FIG. 2G, such as domains, URLs, IP addresses, ports,
protocols, etc. associated with execution of the file data item
selected one or more third-party analysis provider (FireEye in the
example of FIG. 2G). In other embodiments, other third-party
analysis providers may be used and, thus, user interfaces may be
updated to indicate those particular third-party analysis
providers. In some embodiments, multiple third-party analyses may
be combined, such as by combining a threat risk score from multiple
third-party analysts into a single, easily understood risk level to
be provided to the analyst.
[0075] As also mentioned above, the external analysis block 108 may
include gathering of various data items (for example, other file
data items) by the system that may be related to the file data
item. Examples of such files may include submission data items (for
example, as generated each time the file data item has been
submitted to the system, as described above and below), other files
submitted to the system by users and designated as related to the
file data item, payloads gathered from execution of the file data
item in a sandbox environment, and/or the like.
[0076] FIG. 2C illustrates an example user interface of the system
in which related files are displayed, according to an embodiment.
As shown, in response to the analyst's selection of Related Items
button 230, various related file information is displayed in user
interface portions 232 and 234. Portion 232 may display, for
example, a list of submission data items associated with the file
data item. Each time the file data item is submitted to the system,
as described above and below, a new submission data item is created
and associated with the file data item. Information regarding those
submission data items may be viewed and accessed in portion 232 of
the Related Items tab of the example user interface. Portion 234
may display, for example, a list of other file data items (and/or
other data items) associated with the submitted file data item. For
example, the portion 234 may list data items gathered by the system
when the file data item is executed in a sandbox environment.
Additionally, the analyst (and/or other user of the system) may
manually submit data items to the system via, for example, the
"Upload Related Files" button shown in FIG. 2C. When a file data
item is submitted to the system in this way, the system again
automatically checks whether the file data item was previously
submitted, and if so, it may notify the analyst via, for example, a
popup window. Further, the submitted file data item is then listed
in the portion 234 as the file data item is associated with the
originally submitted file data item. In an embodiment, selection of
a data item listed in the portions 232 and/or 234 causes the data
analysis system to display a user interface (for example, similar
to the user interfaces of FIGS. 2B-2G) with details related to the
selected data item. In this embodiment, the portion 234 with
respect to each of two related file data items would show, in the
list, a link to the other file data item.
[0077] Returning to the flowchart of FIG. 1, at block 110 the
system associates the various analysis information items, such as
from one or more internal analyses (e.g., block 106) and/or one or
more external analyses (e.g., block 108) with the file data item.
Further, at block 112 the system generates a submission data item
(for example, related to the submission of the file data item at
block 102) and associates the submission data item with the
submitted file data item (similar to the description of block 118
provided above).
[0078] At block 114 the user interface (for example, the user
interface of FIG. 2C) is provided to the analyst such that the
analyst may view the various analysis information items and quickly
determine one or more characteristics of the file data item,
whether or not the file data item is malware, and/or a threat level
of the file data item. As mentioned above, the user interface of
FIG. 2B includes various selectable buttons 218 by which an analyst
may perform various actions to view and investigate information
related to an analyzed file data item. For example, an "export"
button may be used to export the gathered analysis information
items to another file format and/or to another application; an
"edit" button may be used to edit information associated with the
file data item; a "save" button may be used to commit any changes
to the information to a data store of the system; an "add to graph"
button may be used, as described above, to add the file data item
and/or any related data items to a graph and/or view the file data
item and other related data items in a graph or other
visualization, as described in reference to FIG. 2H below; an
"export malware" button may be used to retrieve the file data item
and/or related analysis information from the system (for example,
to transfer the file data item another computing system for further
analysis); and/or a "refresh external analysis" button may be used
to cause the system to re-run any external analysis on the file
data item.
[0079] FIG. 2H illustrates an example user interface of the system
in which related data items are displayed in a graph 260 (for
example, in response to selection of the "add to graph" button of
FIG. 2B), according to an embodiment. The graph 260 is structured
similarly to graph 1403 described in reference to FIG. 4 below, and
accordingly the description of FIG. 4 applies to FIG. 2H, as
appropriate. FIG. 2H includes a file data item 262 (for example, a
received and analyzed file data item) with links to various related
data items. The related data items include a submission data item
264, another submission data item 266 (for example, because the
file data item 262 was submitted two times to the system, as
indicated and described above in reference to FIG. 2C), a dropped
file data item 272 (that was, for example, dropped by the file data
item 262 when the file data item 262 was executed in a sandbox),
and two data items 268 and 270 representing analysis information
items from external analysis of the file data item. Various other
data items may be presented in the graph 260 including, for
example, related file data items, users associated with submission
data items, and/or the like. Accordingly, in various embodiments, a
graph user interface such as the graph 260 may enable the analyst
to visualize the file data item and associated analysis, and
efficiently and quickly determine one or more characteristics of
the file data item, whether or not the file data item is malware,
and/or a threat level of the file data item. For example, after
automatic analysis of the submitted file data item (as described
above), the analyst may easily view various analysis information
items by viewing one or more of the user interface of FIGS. 2A-2H.
The analyst may quickly determine, for example, that the file data
item was previously submitted multiple times by multiple users, and
thus that the file data item is likely a high risk. The analyst may
quickly determine, for example, that the file data item makes
multiple modifications to a filesystem and registry, and that the
types of modifications are likely malicious. Further, for example,
the analyst may, based on various analysis information items, have
a hunch that the file data item is malicious, and such a hunch may
be confirmed by the various external analysis information items
gathered by the system and provided to the analyst. Additionally,
for example, the analyst may easily determine that a given file
data item is related to one or more other file data items that may,
for example, contact similar domains. All of these examples,
through use of the automatic analysis provided by the system in
various embodiments, may be accomplished without manual analysis by
the analyst of the file data item. Thus, according to these various
examples and the various embodiments of the disclosure described
above, the system may enable the analyst to quickly and efficiently
evaluate a file data item for suspected malware.
[0080] Returning to the flowchart of FIG. 1, at optional blocks 120
and 121, file data items and/or analysis information items
associated with file data items of the data analysis system may be
shared with various entities (e.g., computing systems or groups of
computing systems) within an organization and/or one or more
third-party systems, and/or third-party systems may share file data
items and related information with the system (for example, for
association with one or more file data items). Similarly, sharing
may take place between multiple instantiations of the data analysis
system as operated by, for example, multiple organization. Sharing
of data may be limited in various ways, such as based on access
rules that are determined by the information providing entity or a
third-party mediator that facilitates sharing, and may be limited
in various ways, such as by recipient, by type of recipient, and/or
by a type of data shared. In an embodiment, sharing may be
facilitated by a third-party system acting as, for example, a
mediator. Such a third-party system may facilitate sharing of data
item information among various other systems. Examples of sharing
of data that may be used in the data analysis system are described
in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/280,490, previously
incorporated by referenced herein.
[0081] In an embodiment, the data analysis system encrypts and/or
otherwise secures stored file data items such that they may not be
executed by the system when not being analyzed and/or outside of a
sandbox environment.
[0082] In an embodiment, an analyst may add notes and/or tags to a
file data item via a user interface of the system. For example, the
analyst may, after reviewing the analysis, make a determination
regarding the type of malware and/or threat level of the malware of
the file data item, and may add notes and/or tags to that effect to
be associated with the file data item. In this embodiment, other
analysts may then be able to review the notes and/or tags when
accessing the file data item. Additionally, the analyst and/or
other analysts may be able to determine any previous times a
particular malware file has appeared on a network and details about
those instances. In an embodiment, a notification of the previous
instances a malware file has been found and/or analyzed may be
provided to the analyst. In an embodiment, the analyst may mark the
file data item as likely malware (or, for example, "malicious") or
not likely malware.
Data Item-Centric Data Model
[0083] To provide a framework for the description of specific
systems and methods provided above and below, an example database
system 1210 using an ontology 1205 will now be described in
reference to FIGS. 3A-3B and 4. This description is provided for
the purpose of providing an example and is not intended to limit
the techniques to the example data model, the example database
system, or the example database system's use of an ontology to
represent information.
[0084] In one embodiment, a body of data is conceptually structured
according to data item-centric data model represented by ontology
1205. The conceptual data model is independent of any particular
database used for durably storing one or more database(s) 1209
based on the ontology 1205. For example, each object of the
conceptual data model may correspond to one or more rows in a
relational database or an entry in Lightweight Directory Access
Protocol (LDAP) database, or any combination of one or more
databases.
[0085] FIG. 3A illustrates data item-centric conceptual data model
(which may also be referred to as an "object-centric conceptual
data model") according to an embodiment. An ontology 1205, as noted
above, may include stored information providing a data model for
storage of data in the database 1209. The ontology 1205 may be
defined by one or more data item types (which may also be referred
to as "object types"), which may each be associated with one or
more property types. At the highest level of abstraction, data item
1201 (which may also be referred to as a "data object" or "object")
is a container for information representing things in the world.
For example, data item 1201 can represent an entity such as a
person, a place, an organization, a market instrument, or other
noun. Data item 1201 can represent an event that happens at a point
in time or for a duration. Data item 1201 can represent a document
or other unstructured data source such as a file (for example, a
malware file), an email message, a news report, or a written paper
or article. Each data item 1201 is associated with a unique
identifier that uniquely identifies the data item within the
database system.
[0086] Different types of data items may have different property
types. For example, a "file" data item (as described above) may
have various property types as described above (for example,
various hash property types, associated file property types,
various external analysis property types, and/or the like), a
"Person" data item may have an "Eye Color" property type, and an
"Event" data item may have a "Date" property type. Each property
1203 as represented by data in the database system 1210 may have a
property type defined by the ontology 1205 used by the database
1205. Properties of data items may, in an embodiment, themselves be
data items and/or associated with data items. For example, file
data items may be associated with various analysis information
items, as described above. Analysis information items may comprise
data items and/or properties associated with data items (for
example, file data items).
[0087] Items may be instantiated in the database 1209 in accordance
with the corresponding data item definition for the particular data
item in the ontology 1205. For example, a specific monetary payment
(e.g., an item of type "event") of US$30.00 (e.g., a property of
type "currency") taking place on Mar. 27, 2009 (e.g., a property of
type "date") may be stored in the database 1209 as an event data
item with associated currency and date properties as defined within
the ontology 1205.
[0088] The data objects defined in the ontology 1205 may support
property multiplicity. In particular, a data item 1201 may be
allowed to have more than one property 1203 of the same property
type. For example, a "Person" data item may have multiple "Address"
properties or multiple "Name" properties.
[0089] Each link 1202 represents a connection between two data
items 1201. In one embodiment, the connection is either through a
relationship, an event, or through matching properties. A
relationship connection may be asymmetrical or symmetrical. For
example, "Person" data item A may be connected to "Person" data
item B by a "Child Of" relationship (where "Person" data item B has
an asymmetric "Parent Of" relationship to "Person" data item A), a
"Kin Of" symmetric relationship to "Person" data item C, and an
asymmetric "Member Of" relationship to "Organization" data item X.
The type of relationship between two data items may vary depending
on the types of the data items. For example, "Person" data item A
may have an "Appears In" relationship with "Document" data item Y
or have a "Participate In" relationship with "Event" data item E.
As an example of an event connection, two "Person" data items may
be connected by an "Airline Flight" data item representing a
particular airline flight if they traveled together on that flight,
or by a "Meeting" data item representing a particular meeting if
they both attended that meeting. In one embodiment, when two data
items are connected by an event, they are also connected by
relationships, in which each data item has a specific relationship
to the event, such as, for example, an "Appears In"
relationship.
[0090] As an example of a matching properties connection, two
"Person" data items representing a brother and a sister, may both
have an "Address" property that indicates where they live. If the
brother and the sister live in the same home, then their "Address"
properties likely contain similar, if not identical property
values. In one embodiment, a link between two data items may be
established based on similar or matching properties (e.g., property
types and/or property values) of the data items. These are just
some examples of the types of connections that may be represented
by a link and other types of connections may be represented;
embodiments are not limited to any particular types of connections
between data items. For example, a document might contain
references to two different items. For example, a document may
contain a reference to a payment (one item), and a person (a second
item). A link between these two items may represent a connection
between these two entities through their co-occurrence within the
same document.
[0091] Each data item 1201 may have multiple links with another
data item 1201 to form a link set 1204. For example, two "Person"
data items representing a husband and a wife could be linked
through a "Spouse Of" relationship, a matching "Address" property,
and one or more matching "Event" properties (e.g., a wedding). Each
link 1202 as represented by data in a database may have a link type
defined by the database ontology used by the database.
[0092] FIG. 3B is a block diagram illustrating example components
and data that may be used in identifying and storing data according
to an ontology. In this example, the ontology may be configured,
and data in the data model populated, by a system of parsers and
ontology configuration tools. In the embodiment of FIG. 3B, input
data 1300 is provided to parser 1302. The input data may comprise
data from one or more sources. For example, an institution may have
one or more databases with information on credit card transactions,
rental cars, and people. The databases may contain a variety of
related information and attributes about each type of data, such as
a "date" for a credit card transaction, an address for a person,
and a date for when a rental car is rented. The parser 1302 is able
to read a variety of source input data types and determine which
type of data it is reading.
[0093] In accordance with the discussion above, the example
ontology 1205 comprises stored information providing the data model
of data stored in database 1209, and the ontology is defined by one
or more data item types 1310, one or more property types 1316, and
one or more link types 1330. Based on information determined by the
parser 1302 or other mapping of source input information to item
type, one or more data items 1201 may be instantiated in the
database 209 based on respective determined item types 1310, and
each of the items 1201 has one or more properties 1203 that are
instantiated based on property types 1316. Two data items 1201 may
be connected by one or more links 1202 that may be instantiated
based on link types 1330. The property types 1316 each may comprise
one or more data types 1318, such as a string, number, etc.
Property types 1316 may be instantiated based on a base property
type 1320. For example, a base property type 1320 may be
"Locations" and a property type 1316 may be "Home."
[0094] In an embodiment, a user of the system uses a item type
editor 1324 to create and/or modify the item types 1310 and define
attributes of the item types. In an embodiment, a user of the
system uses a property type editor 1326 to create and/or modify the
property types 1316 and define attributes of the property types. In
an embodiment, a user of the system uses link type editor 1328 to
create the link types 1330. Alternatively, other programs,
processes, or programmatic controls may be used to create link
types and property types and define attributes, and using editors
is not required.
[0095] In an embodiment, creating a property type 1316 using the
property type editor 1326 involves defining at least one parser
definition using a parser editor 1322. A parser definition
comprises metadata that informs parser 1302 how to parse input data
1300 to determine whether values in the input data can be assigned
to the property type 1316 that is associated with the parser
definition. In an embodiment, each parser definition may comprise a
regular expression parser 1304A or a code module parser 1304B. In
other embodiments, other kinds of parser definitions may be
provided using scripts or other programmatic elements. Once
defined, both a regular expression parser 1304A and a code module
parser 1304B can provide input to parser 1302 to control parsing of
input data 1300.
[0096] Using the data types defined in the ontology, input data
1300 may be parsed by the parser 1302 determine which item type
1310 should receive data from a record created from the input data,
and which property types 1316 should be assigned to data from
individual field values in the input data. Based on the
item/object-property mapping 1301, the parser 1302 selects one of
the parser definitions that is associated with a property type in
the input data. The parser parses an input data field using the
selected parser definition, resulting in creating new or modified
data 1303. The new or modified data 1303 is added to the database
1209 according to ontology 205 by storing values of the new or
modified data in a property of the specified property type. As a
result, input data 1300 having varying format or syntax can be
created in database 1209. The ontology 1205 may be modified at any
time using item/object type editor 1324, property type editor 1326,
and link type editor 1328, or under program control without human
use of an editor. Parser editor 1322 enables creating multiple
parser definitions that can successfully parse input data 1300
having varying format or syntax and determine which property types
should be used to transform input data 300 into new or modified
input data 1303.
[0097] The properties, data items, and links (e.g. relationships)
between the data items can be visualized using a graphical user
interface ("GUI"). For example, FIG. 4 displays a user interface
showing a graph representation 1403 of relationships (including
relationships and/or links 1404, 1405, 1406, 1407, 1408, 1409,
1410, 1411, 1412, and 1413) between the data items (including data
items 1421, 1422, 1423, 1424, 1425, 1426, 1427, 1428, and 1429)
that are represented as nodes in the example of FIG. 4. In this
embodiment, the data items include person data items 1421, 1422,
1423, 1424, 1425, and 1426; a flight item 1427; a financial account
1428; and a computer data item 1429. In this example, each person
node (associated with person data items), flight node (associated
with flight data items), financial account node (associated with
financial account data items), and computer node (associated with
computer data items) may have relationships and/or links with any
of the other nodes through, for example, other data items such as
payment data items.
[0098] For example, in FIG. 4, relationship 1404 is based on a
payment associated with the individuals indicated in person data
items 1421 and 1423. The link 1404 represents these shared payments
(for example, the individual associated with data item 1421 may
have paid the individual associated with data item 1423 on three
occasions). The relationship is further indicated by the common
relationship between person data items 1421 and 1423 and financial
account data item 1428. For example, link 1411 indicates that
person data item 1421 transferred money into financial account data
item 1428, while person data item 1423 transferred money out of
financial account data item 1428. In another example, the
relationships between person data items 1424 and 1425 and flight
data item 1427 are indicated by links 1406, 1409, and 1410. In this
example, person data items 1424 and 1425 have a common address and
were passengers on the same flight data item 1427. In an
embodiment, further details related to the relationships between
the various items may be displayed. For example, links 1411 and
1412 may, in some embodiments, indicate the timing of the
respective money transfers. In another example, the time of the
flight associated with the flight data item 1427 may be shown.
[0099] Relationships between data items may be stored as links, or
in some embodiments, as properties, where a relationship may be
detected between the properties. In some cases, as stated above,
the links may be directional. For example, a payment link may have
a direction associated with the payment, where one person data item
is a receiver of a payment, and another person data item is the
payer of payment.
[0100] In various embodiments, data items may further include
malware analysis metadata and/or links. Such malware analysis
metadata may be accessed by the data analysis system for displaying
objects and features on the user interface (as described
above).
[0101] In addition to visually showing relationships between the
data items, the user interface may allow various other
manipulations. For example, the data items within database 1108 may
be searched using a search interface 1450 (e.g., text string
matching of data item properties), inspected (e.g., properties and
associated data viewed), filtered (e.g., narrowing the universe of
data items into sets and subsets by properties or relationships),
and statistically aggregated (e.g., numerically summarized based on
summarization criteria), among other operations and
visualizations.
Implementation Mechanisms
[0102] According to an embodiment, the data analysis system and
other methods and techniques described herein are implemented by
one or more special-purpose computing devices. The special-purpose
computing devices may be hard-wired to perform the techniques, or
may include digital electronic devices such as one or more
application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or field
programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) that are persistently programmed
to perform the techniques, or may include one or more general
purpose hardware processors programmed to perform the techniques
pursuant to program instructions in firmware, memory, other
storage, or a combination. Such special-purpose computing devices
may also combine custom hard-wired logic, ASICs, or FPGAs with
custom programming to accomplish the techniques. The
special-purpose computing devices may be desktop computer systems,
server computer systems, portable computer systems, handheld
devices, networking devices or any other device or combination of
devices that incorporate hard-wired and/or program logic to
implement the techniques.
[0103] Computing device(s) are generally controlled and coordinated
by operating system software, such as iOS, Android, Chrome OS,
Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server,
Windows CE, Unix, Linux, SunOS, Solaris, iOS, Blackberry OS,
VxWorks, or other compatible operating systems. In other
embodiments, the computing device may be controlled by a
proprietary operating system. Conventional operating systems
control and schedule computer processes for execution, perform
memory management, provide file system, networking, I/O services,
and provide a user interface functionality, such as a graphical
user interface ("GUI"), among other things.
[0104] For example, FIG. 5 is a block diagram that illustrates a
computer system 800 upon which the various systems and methods
discussed herein may be implemented. Computer system 800 includes a
bus 802 or other communication mechanism for communicating
information, and a hardware processor, or multiple processors, 804
coupled with bus 802 for processing information. Hardware
processor(s) 804 may be, for example, one or more general purpose
microprocessors.
[0105] Computer system 800 also includes a main memory 806, such as
a random access memory (RAM), cache and/or other dynamic storage
devices, coupled to bus 802 for storing information and
instructions to be executed by processor 804. Main memory 806 also
may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate
information during execution of instructions to be executed by
processor 804. Such instructions, when stored in storage media
accessible to processor 804, render computer system 800 into a
special-purpose machine that is customized to perform the
operations specified in the instructions.
[0106] Computer system 800 further includes a read only memory
(ROM) 808 or other static storage device coupled to bus 802 for
storing static information and instructions for processor 804. A
storage device 810, such as a magnetic disk, optical disk, or USB
thumb drive (Flash drive), and/or any other suitable data store, is
provided and coupled to bus 802 for storing information (for
example, file data items, analysis information data items,
submission data items, and/or the like) and instructions.
[0107] Computer system 800 may be coupled via bus 802 to a display
812, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), LCD display, or touch screen
display, for displaying information to a computer user and/or
receiving input from the user. An input device 814, including
alphanumeric and other keys, is coupled to bus 802 for
communicating information and command selections to processor 804.
Another type of user input device is cursor control 816, such as a
mouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys for communicating
direction information and command selections to processor 804 and
for controlling cursor movement on display 812. This input device
typically has two degrees of freedom in two axes, a first axis
(e.g., x) and a second axis (e.g., y), that allows the device to
specify positions in a plane. In some embodiments, the same
direction information and command selections as cursor control may
be implemented via receiving touches on a touch screen without a
cursor.
[0108] Computing system 800 may include a user interface module,
and/or various other types of modules to implement one or more
graphical user interface of the data analysis system, as described
above. The modules may be stored in a mass storage device as
executable software codes that are executed by the computing
device(s). This and other modules may include, by way of example,
components, such as software components, object-oriented software
components, class components and task components, processes,
functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, segments of program
code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuitry, data, databases,
data structures, tables, arrays, and variables.
[0109] In general, the word "module," as used herein, refers to a
collection of software instructions, possibly having entry and exit
points, written in a programming language, such as, for example,
Java, Lua, C or C++. A software module may be compiled and linked
into an executable program, installed in a dynamic link library, or
may be written in an interpreted programming language such as, for
example, BASIC, Perl, or Python. It will be appreciated that
software modules may be callable from other modules or from
themselves, and/or may be invoked in response to detected events or
interrupts. Software modules configured for execution on computing
devices may be provided on a computer readable medium, such as a
compact disc, digital video disc, flash drive, magnetic disc, or
any other tangible medium, or as a digital download (and may be
originally stored in a compressed or installable format that
requires installation, decompression or decryption prior to
execution). Such software code may be stored, partially or fully,
on a memory device of the executing computing device, for execution
by the computing device. Software instructions may be embedded in
firmware, such as an EPROM. It will be further appreciated that
hardware devices (such as processors and CPUs) may be comprised of
connected logic units, such as gates and flip-flops, and/or may be
comprised of programmable units, such as programmable gate arrays
or processors. Generally, the modules described herein refer to
logical modules that may be combined with other modules or divided
into sub-modules despite their physical organization or storage. In
various embodiments, aspects of the methods and systems described
herein may be implemented by one or more hardware devices, for
example, as logic circuits. In various embodiments, some aspects of
the methods and systems described herein may be implemented as
software instructions, while other may be implemented in hardware,
in any combination.
[0110] As mentioned, computer system 800 may implement the
techniques described herein using customized hard-wired logic, one
or more ASICs or FPGAs, firmware and/or program logic which in
combination with the computer system causes or programs computer
system 800 to be a special-purpose machine. According to one
embodiment, the techniques herein are performed by computer system
800 in response to processor(s) 804 executing one or more sequences
of one or more modules and/or instructions contained in main memory
806. Such instructions may be read into main memory 806 from
another storage medium, such as storage device 810. Execution of
the sequences of instructions contained in main memory 806 causes
processor(s) 804 to perform the process steps described herein. In
alternative embodiments, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place
of or in combination with software instructions.
[0111] The term "non-transitory media," and similar terms, as used
herein refers to any media that store data and/or instructions that
cause a machine to operate in a specific fashion. Such
non-transitory media may comprise non-volatile media and/or
volatile media. Non-volatile media includes, for example, optical
or magnetic disks, such as storage device 810. Volatile media
includes dynamic memory, such as main memory 806. Common forms of
non-transitory media include, for example, a floppy disk, a
flexible disk, hard disk, solid state drive, magnetic tape, or any
other magnetic data storage medium, a CD-ROM, any other optical
data storage medium, any physical medium with patterns of holes, a
RAM, a PROM, and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, NVRAM, any other memory chip
or cartridge, and networked versions of the same.
[0112] Non-transitory media is distinct from but may be used in
conjunction with transmission media. Transmission media
participates in transferring information between nontransitory
media. For example, transmission media includes coaxial cables,
copper wire and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise bus
802. Transmission media can also take the form of acoustic or light
waves, such as those generated during radio-wave and infra-red data
communications.
[0113] Various forms of media may be involved in carrying one or
more sequences of one or more instructions to processor 804 for
execution. For example, the instructions may initially be carried
on a magnetic disk or solid state drive of a remote computer. The
remote computer can load the instructions and/or modules into its
dynamic memory and send the instructions over a telephone line
using a modem. A modem local to computer system 800 can receive the
data on the telephone line and use an infra-red transmitter to
convert the data to an infra-red signal. An infra-red detector can
receive the data carried in the infra-red signal and appropriate
circuitry can place the data on bus 802. Bus 802 carries the data
to main memory 806, from which processor 804 retrieves and executes
the instructions. The instructions received by main memory 806 may
optionally be stored on storage device 810 either before or after
execution by processor 804.
[0114] Computer system 800 also includes a communication interface
818 coupled to bus 802. Communication interface 818 provides a
two-way data communication coupling to a network link 820 that is
connected to a local network 822. For example, communication
interface 818 may be an integrated services digital network (ISDN)
card, cable modem, satellite modem, or a modem to provide a data
communication connection to a corresponding type of telephone line.
As another example, communication interface 818 may be a local area
network (LAN) card to provide a data communication connection to a
compatible LAN (or WAN component to communicated with a WAN).
Wireless links may also be implemented. In any such implementation,
communication interface 818 sends and receives electrical,
electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital data streams
representing various types of information.
[0115] Network link 820 typically provides data communication
through one or more networks to other data devices. For example,
network link 820 may provide a connection through local network 822
to a host computer 824 or to data equipment operated by an Internet
Service Provider (ISP) 826. ISP 826 in turn provides data
communication services through the world wide packet data
communication network now commonly referred to as the "Internet"
828. Local network 822 and Internet 828 both use electrical,
electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital data streams.
The signals through the various networks and the signals on network
link 820 and through communication interface 818, which carry the
digital data to and from computer system 800, are example forms of
transmission media.
[0116] Computer system 800 can send messages and receive data,
including program code, through the network(s), network link 820
and communication interface 818. In the Internet example, a server
830 might transmit a requested code for an application program
through Internet 828, ISP 826, local network 822 and communication
interface 818. For example, in an embodiment various aspects of the
data analysis system may be implemented on one or more of the
servers 830 and may be transmitted to and from the computer system
800. For example, submitted malware data items may be transmitted
to one of the servers 830, aspects of the basic analysis may be
implemented on one or more of the servers 830, and/or aspects of
the external analysis may be implemented on one or more of the
servers 830. In an example, requests for external analyses of file
data items may be transmitted to one or more third-party servers
830 (from, for example, the computer system 800 and/or another
server 830 of the system), and analysis data may then be
transmitted back from third-party servers 830.
[0117] In an embodiment, the data analysis system may be accessible
by the user through a web-based viewer, such as a web browser. In
this embodiment, the user interfaces of the system may be generated
by a server (such as one of the servers 830) and/or the computer
system 800 and transmitted to the web browser of the user. The user
may then interact with the user interfaces through the web-browser.
In an embodiment, the computer system 800 may comprise a mobile
electronic device, such as a cell phone, smartphone, and/or tablet.
The system may be accessible by the user through such a mobile
electronic device, among other types of electronic devices.
Additional Embodiments
[0118] While the foregoing is directed to various embodiments,
other and further embodiments may be devised without departing from
the basic scope thereof. For example, aspects of the present
disclosure may be implemented in hardware or software or in a
combination of hardware and software. An embodiment of the
disclosure may be implemented as a program product for use with a
computer system. The program(s) of the program product define
functions of the embodiments (including the methods described
herein) and may be contained on a variety of computer-readable
storage media. Illustrative computer-readable storage media
include, but are not limited to: (i) non-writable storage media
(e.g., read-only memory devices within a computer such as CD-ROM
disks readable by a CD-ROM drive, flash memory, ROM chips or any
type of solid-state non-volatile semiconductor memory) on which
information is permanently stored; and (ii) writable storage media
(e.g., hard-disk drive or any type of solid-state random-access
semiconductor memory) on which alterable information is stored.
Each of the processes, methods, and algorithms described in the
preceding sections may be embodied in, and fully or partially
automated by, code modules executed by one or more computer systems
or computer processors comprising computer hardware. The processes
and algorithms may alternatively be implemented partially or wholly
in application-specific circuitry.
[0119] The various features and processes described above may be
used independently of one another, or may be combined in various
ways. All possible combinations and subcombinations are intended to
fall within the scope of this disclosure. In addition, certain
method or process blocks may be omitted in some implementations.
The methods and processes described herein are also not limited to
any particular sequence, and the blocks or states relating thereto
can be performed in other sequences that are appropriate. For
example, described blocks or states may be performed in an order
other than that specifically disclosed, or multiple blocks or
states may be combined in a single block or state. The example
blocks or states may be performed in serial, in parallel, or in
some other manner. Blocks or states may be added to or removed from
the disclosed example embodiments. The example systems and
components described herein may be configured differently than
described. For example, elements may be added to, removed from, or
rearranged compared to the disclosed example embodiments.
[0120] Conditional language, such as, among others, "can," "could,"
"might," or "may," unless specifically stated otherwise, or
otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally
intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other
embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and/or
steps. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to
imply that features, elements and/or steps are in any way required
for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments
necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without user input
or prompting, whether these features, elements and/or steps are
included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.
[0121] The term "comprising" as used herein should be given an
inclusive rather than exclusive interpretation. For example, a
general purpose computer comprising one or more processors should
not be interpreted as excluding other computer components, and may
possibly include such components as memory, input/output devices,
and/or network interfaces, among others.
[0122] Any process descriptions, elements, or blocks in the flow
diagrams described herein and/or depicted in the attached figures
should be understood as potentially representing modules, segments,
or portions of code which include one or more executable
instructions for implementing specific logical functions or steps
in the process. Alternate implementations are included within the
scope of the embodiments described herein in which elements or
functions may be deleted, executed out of order from that shown or
discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse
order, depending on the functionality involved, as would be
understood by those skilled in the art.
[0123] It should be emphasized that many variations and
modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments, the
elements of which are among other acceptable examples. All such
modifications and variations are intended to be included herein
within the scope of this disclosure. The foregoing description
details certain embodiments of the invention. It will be
appreciated, however, that no matter how detailed the foregoing
appears in text, the invention may be practiced in many ways. As is
also stated above, it should be noted that the use of particular
terminology when describing certain features or aspects of the
invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology is
being re-defined herein to be restricted to including any specific
characteristics of the features or aspects of the invention with
which that terminology is associated. The scope of the invention
should therefore be construed in accordance with the appended
claims and any equivalents thereof.
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