SBIR Phase I: SpiderWeb - Self-Healing Networks for Spyware Detection

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project aims to design and develop a novel solution that addresses the spyware problem; one of the fastest growing security threats today. To address the growing spyware epidemic, this effort proposes a solution that can: (1) detect previously unseen spyware, and (2) automatically generate signatures for a newly detected spyware so that all other computers within a same network (e.g., a corporate network) can automatically gain protection from the new spyware. Two key challenges that must be addressed include: how to efficiently detect spyware behavior, and how to automatically generate succinct spyware signatures and propagate the information to other computers. Recent studies have suggested that the anti-spyware market is expected to expand from $12 million in 2003 to more than $300 million in 2008 with significant growth potential in the future. As part of the commercialization strategy, this effort plans to leverage the capability of the proposed system with two existing open-source based products: ClamAV and Snort.