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MicrosoftGranted patentSecurity & privacyInterest 6/10

Microsoft patents security check using device history logs

Patent drawing
Patent drawing from the official filing.

Microsoft has been granted a patent for a method that detects security breaches by tracking how a computer's settings change over time. The system compares current configuration logs against historical records using hash values to spot unauthorized changes. If the data suggests a security incident, the system automatically generates an alert.

Why it mattersThis approach helps IT teams quickly identify if a computer has been tampered with by looking at its configuration history rather than just real-time activity.

In the filing’s own words

Security incident detection based on historian configuration data collected over time is described. Historic configuration data associated with a computing device is updated based on received configuration data indicative of a change in configuration of the computing device in a computer system. The historic configuration data indicates changes to configurations of the computing device over a time period. A determination that relationship between the computing device and an entity of the computer system has changed is made based on the updated historic configuration data. The updated historic configuration data is provided as input to a machine learning (ML) model configured to generate an indication of whether the updated historic configuration data evidences a security incident. In response to the ML model generating an indication that the updated historic configuration data evidences a security incident, a security alert indicative of the evidenced security incident is generated.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A method comprising: generating a first hash value based on an event record associated with a computing device of a computer system; storing the first hash value in a hash store; receiving, from a historian data store, a configuration log associated with the computing device; generating a second hash value based on the configuration log associated with the computing device; determining, based on a comparison between the first hash value and the second hash value, a security incident with respect to the computing device; and generating a security alert indicative of the security incident with respect to the computing device.

Facts

Company
Microsoft (Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC)
Official title
Security incident detection based on historian configuration data collected over time
Patent number
US12764149B2
Application number
18901879
Filed
Sep 30, 2024
Granted
Oct 13, 2026
Inventors
3
Claims
20

Classified under

H04L 63/1425 Electricity & electronics

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.