Microsoft Corporation
DETECTING UNKNOWN MALICIOUS CONTENT IN COMPUTER SYSTEMS

Abstract:

Various embodiments discussed herein enable the detection of malicious content. Some embodiments do this by determining a similarity score between content, computer objects, or indications (e.g., vectors, file hashes, file signatures, code, etc.) known to be malicious and other content (e.g., unknown files) or indications based on feature weighting. Over various training stages, certain feature characteristics for each labeled malicious content or indication can be learned. For example, for a first malware family of computer objects, the most prominent feature may be a particular URL, whereas other features change considerably for different iterations of the first malware family of computer objects. Consequently, the particular URL can be weighted to determine a particular output classification corresponding to malicious behavior.