17948104. HYPERVISOR-ASSISTED DATA BACKUP AND RECOVERY FOR NEXT GENERATION ANTI-VIRUS (NGAV) SYSTEMS simplified abstract (VMWARE, INC.)

HYPERVISOR-ASSISTED DATA BACKUP AND RECOVERY FOR NEXT GENERATION ANTI-VIRUS (NGAV) SYSTEMS

Organization Name

VMWARE, INC.

Inventor(s)

Shirish Vijayvargiya of Pune (IN)

Vasantha Kumar Dhanasekar of Pune (IN)

Bidesh Chitnis of Pune (IN)

Nakul Ranjan Ogale of Pune (IN)

Bharath Kumar Chandrasekhar of Sunnyvale CA (US)

Boris Weissman of Palo Alto CA (US)

Robert James Speaker of Barrington RI (US)

HYPERVISOR-ASSISTED DATA BACKUP AND RECOVERY FOR NEXT GENERATION ANTI-VIRUS (NGAV) SYSTEMS - A simplified explanation of the abstract

This abstract first appeared for US patent application 17948104 titled 'HYPERVISOR-ASSISTED DATA BACKUP AND RECOVERY FOR NEXT GENERATION ANTI-VIRUS (NGAV) SYSTEMS

Simplified Explanation

The enhanced next generation anti-virus (NGAV) system described in the patent application includes a hypervisor-level agent that backs up VM data only when a guest application running in the VM has been flagged as potentially malicious by the NGAV system. The agent performs this backup for data modified by the specific guest application instance and writes the backed-up data to a secure storage location inaccessible to the guest.

• Hypervisor-level agent for NGAV system:

   * Backs up VM data only when guest application is flagged as potentially malicious
   * Backs up data modified by specific guest application instance
   * Writes backed-up data to secure storage location

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1. 1. 1. Potential Applications

- Cybersecurity systems - Virtual machine environments - Malware detection and prevention tools

1. 1. 1. Problems Solved

- Inefficiencies of existing NGAV systems - Data backup for potentially malicious applications - Secure storage of backed-up data

1. 1. 1. Benefits

- Improved malware detection and prevention - Efficient use of resources - Enhanced security for virtual environments

1. 1. 1. Potential Commercial Applications of this Technology
         1. Enhanced Next Generation Anti-Virus (NGAV) Systems in Virtual Environments

1. 1. 1. Possible Prior Art

There may be prior art related to hypervisor-level agents in virtual environments for security purposes, but specific implementations like the one described in the patent application may be novel.

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1. 1. 1. 1. Unanswered Questions

1. 1. 1. How does the hypervisor-level agent determine when to back up VM data?

The agent backs up data only when a guest application is flagged as potentially malicious, but the exact criteria for this determination are not specified in the abstract.

1. 1. 1. What security measures are in place to ensure the backed-up data remains inaccessible to the guest?

While the abstract mentions that the backed-up data is stored in a secure location, the specific security mechanisms employed to prevent unauthorized access are not detailed.

Original Abstract Submitted

In one set of embodiments, an enhanced next generation anti-virus (NGAV) system is provided. In certain embodiments, this system includes a hypervisor-level agent that backs up VM data only when an instance of a guest application running in the VM has been flagged by the NGAV system as being potentially malicious (rather than on a constant, proactive basis). Further, the hypervisor-level agent performs this backup only with respect to data modified by that specific guest application instance (rather than backing up all data modified by the VM) and writes the backed-up data to a secure storage location which is inaccessible to the guest. The combination of these features addresses many of the problems and inefficiencies of existing NGAV systems.