Importance

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Abstract

A mechanism is provided for determining a safety reputation for a network site in a manner that provides both wide coverage of potentially malicious sites as well as improves the freshness of information from which the safety reputation is derived. Community-based information, such as reports from users related to recently-visited network sites, malware detected by reporting network nodes, non-specific information such as unusual CPU usage and network activity of visiting nodes, and information received from other types of external feeds is used in determining the safety reputation and updating the safety reputation. Such information is analyzed in order to determine network sites that are potential sources of malware, which can then be subjected to more detailed analysis. Historical information as to a site's reputation and other factors such as commercial importance can also be reviewed to make a determination as to whether information being currently gathered by a community of users is sufficient to trigger additional analysis of the network site. Thus, resources used for detailed analysis of suspect network sites is conserved.

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First Claim