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Press Release

 

ROBOT GENIUS INTRODUCES NEW TECHNOLOGY
TO STOP ALL MALWARE ATTACKS

Comprehensive Solution Prevents, Detects and Remediates Malware Threats
and Reverses Infections with Greater Than 99 Percent Success Rate

OAKLAND, Calif. – April 30, 2007 – Robot Genius today  introduced new behavior-based security products, effective against all types of malware attacks. Robot Genius created web crawler technology that is the first fully automated process for locating and testing for all types of malware, including spyware, adware, rootkits and other malicious programs on the web.  Additionally, the Robot Genius security client can reverse any malware infection with greater than 99 percent success rate, protecting users and the network against malware attacks, managing containment, and speeding remediation.

"More than two thirds of personal computers have malware," said Stephen Hsu, , co-founder of Robot Genius.  "Traditional approaches rely on reactive protection methods, which protects users only after a new threat has been discovered.  Robot Genius takes a unique approach by preventing, detecting and remeditating malware with the most advanced behavior-based  security technology. Not only does it reliably detect all malware, even stealth attacks, it has the ability to reverse an infection."

Robot Genius' suite includes three products:

  1. web-crawler data, which features a comprehensive 'blacklist' of all URLs containing malware on the Internet,
  2. a lightweight browser plug-in-enhancement that works in tandem with the crawler data, and
  3. an anti-malware desktop security client that renders the ability to guard against zero-day malware attacks. These components work together to deliver the industry's most comprehensive prevention, detection, and remediation against malicious threats.

Prevention: RGcrawler Data

Robot Genius' multi-point solutions were created from unique behavior-based anti-malware technology with the goal of detecting and preventing attacks.

RGcrawler data is the product of the industry's first automated web crawler technology for locating and testing all executables on the Internet.  The data includes a blacklist identifying the exact locations (full path URLs) of malware on the Internet. The RGcrawler data is created from patent-pending automated processes for discovering, downloading and testing every executable on the Internet, without human intervention. It creates blacklists with groundbreaking speed and accuracy, delivering results for zero-day threat protection.

RGcrawler locates all Windows executable programs on the web (including active X or cab files, applets and zip files) and downloads them to local multi-terabyte storage. Tests are performed on the programs to determine if they are malware, and results are stored in an XML database that includes all registry changes, DLL injections, browser exploits, and the exact URL of the executables. RGcrawler data looks at certain characteristics, such as the uninstaller within an executable, to determine whether or not that executable is a threat.

In addition to the behavioral analysis described above, each executable is tested using AV scanners from leading vendors: Symantec (Norton), McAfee, Trend and Microsoft Defender. This provides another check on the results. None of these signature-based AV products detects more than about 60 percent of the malware identified by RGcrawler; the worst performer detects as little as 15-20 percent.

Detection: RGguard

Working in tandem with the RGcrawler data, RGguard is a lightweight browser plug-in enhancement that helps prevent malware infections by proactively warning individuals of danger while they browse the web. RGguard marks up search results links with color-coded safety indicators to alert users of potential threats.

RGguard knows not just the domain, but also the exact full path URL that points to each instance of malware.  For example, it might identify http://flydownloads.com/games/dragracer.exe as malware, whereas dozens of other games available on the www.flydownloads.com site are not considered dangerous. The exactness of the alerts reduces false positives keeping restricted sites to a minimum, and also keeps 'noisy' security alerts to a minimum.

For enterprise applications, RGguard Enterprise Edition allows IT administrators to block users from downloading or even browsing to URLs known to contain malware by remote locked-down via a Java-based management server.

Remediation: Spyberus

To address remediation, Robot Genius developed a unique behavior-based client, Spyberus, which tracks all installed files on a system and detects malware.  The product monitors all programs installed by tracking file and kernel activity and writes to the hard drive. Sypberus can reverse  any malware infection at a greater than 99 percent success rate. If malware invades a user's PC, the "Take Control" feature can be used to stop all malware-hijacked processes so that the system can be brought under user control and a proper program removal performed.

Sypberus creates a program activity history database by storing all URLs from which software was downloaded, enabling the tracing back of malware to its original web site, and all subsequent file and system activity. As a result, when a questionable or malicious program needs uninstalling, the Spyberus client can locate and ensure that every file and registry entry is purged completely.

"Spyberus anti-malware desktop security client is the perfect complement to existing antivirus protection.  Whereas traditional antivirus programs only protect against known threats based on identified signatures, Spyberus protects against new or unknown zero-day threats," said Hsu.  "By blocking URLs that contain malware and alerting the user to malicious activity of programs installed, Spyberus provides reliable anti-malware protection. Plus, it runs in the background, so there's virtually no impact on system performance or resources."

Spyberus Enterprise Edition's management interface gives IT administrators remote control of individual client installations, enabling IT to enforce rules and restrict the downloading and installation of unauthorized software, protect users and the network against malware attacks, manage containment, and speed remediation.

About Robot Genius

Robot Genius, Inc. creates behavior-based technology that locates, identifies and protects against various forms of malware.  Its products include RGcrawler data, the most comprehensive 'blacklist' of all exact URLs containing malware on the Internet; RGguard, a lightweight browser plug-in enhancement that works in tandem with the RGcrawler data; and Spyberus, a behavior-based anti-malware desktop security client.  Robot Genius, is headquartered in Oakland, California.