1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer security and detection of malicious software. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for assigning a list of security scanner attributes for computing devices within a hierarchy of computing nodes.
2. Related Art
Many computer users, particularly on the Internet, find delight in infecting another user's computer with malicious software, such as a computer virus. A computer virus is designed to replicate itself across a network of computer systems, and to interfere with the normal use of computer systems by possibly denying access, deleting data, or any of a number of other malevolent tricks. As computer systems become increasingly interconnected, protection from malicious users is becoming increasingly more important.
A software scanner can be used to protect a computer user from malicious software. A scanner makes use of a list of attributes, generated by a computer system administrator, to inspect files and to take actions specified by the list of attributes when it finds any malicious software.
Managing such a list of attributes for virus protection on a large computer network, a Corporate Intranet for example, is difficult because there are many computers and, possibly, many sites separated by large distances. To ensure that the list of attributes provides meaningful protection, the attributes are often managed globally for the network. In order to do so, a security administrator must visit each node in the hierarchy of computing nodes, either in person or across the network, to establish attributes for a software scanner located on each node.
However, a specific node may require a customized list of attributes in order to accommodate a specific hardware configuration or specific functionality. When a custom list of attributes is used for a specific computing device, the security administrator must remember to reset the custom settings at the node whenever the general list of attributes is changed. This can be a time-consuming task if many nodes in the network must be customized.
What is needed is a system that facilitates both efficient global and local control of a list of scanner attributes throughout a network of computing nodes.