SBIR Phase I: A Secure Virtual Machine Approach for Detecting Zero Day Memory Corruption Exploits

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase (SBIR) I project proposes a novel secure virtual machine approach to detect and mitigate a broad class of memory corruption attacks. If successful, the approach will: (i) detect a broad class of memory corruption attacks, (ii) be lightweight and efficient, (iii) detect zero-day exploits and (iv) work directly with binary files. If successfully developed, the proposed memory corruption protection technology has the potential to significantly advance the state-of-the-art in protecting businesses and consumers from zero-day worm attacks that exploit memory vulnerabilities. It will be able to protect vulnerable mission-critical business applications until a patch becomes available and also provide enterprises with a larger time window to test critical patches prior to deployment. End users will be afforded a safer experience when opening email attachments or accessing links in browsers. The proposed technology complements existing security software suites such as virus scanners and personal firewalls by adding a new dimension of protection.