One of the most common vehicles that cybercriminals use to infect victims with malware is corrupted JavaScript applications. Users often give Java applications permission to run, which makes them vulnerable to any attached malware.
Microsoft Research is looking to combat this infiltration method through a new AI-trained tool called Zozzle. Zozzle is a product of AI techniques that scans web pages looking for malicious software and other viruses hackers use to compromise the safety of their victims.
"The researchers [at Microsoft] used a statistical classifier to scan millions of web pages for malware," notes i-Programmer. "The JavaScript has to be de-obfuscated first and then analyzed for features that are characteristic of malware. The features are created using an abstract syntax tree. Zozzle hooks into the JavaScript engine to get the final expanded version of the JavaScript code the page contains."
According to recent reports from the internet security provider PandaLabs, the number of new malware threats detected daily has grown 15 percent over the past year. Hopefully, applications such as Zozzle can keep users safe as they browse the web. Computer users can maximize their machines' safety by downloading up-to-date antivirus software.
