 Daniel Webster students
pose as software hackers
By Neelang Parghi
Nimda. Sasser. Lovebug. No matter the name, computer viruses have been a
problem for more than 20 years. As online communication through
bulletin-board systems and eventually the Internet came of age, the
viruses became more widespread, unpredictable and devastating. Today,
they cost companies billions of dollars in damages and lost
productivity. One New Hampshire-based company has developed an solution
designed to halt the spread of viruses, spyware, adware, and any other
malicious programming.
And they’ve outsourced some of their testing to students at Daniel
Webster College in Nashua, New Hampshire.
Savant is a program developed by Interpose LLC that takes a unique,
pre-emptive approach to virus protection, according to the company. The
program assigns every application on your computer a “cryptographic
key.” Any programs that try to run without this key, including all types
of malware, are detected and isolated by Savant and can be eliminated by
the user. As part of his efforts to make sure Savant is secure,
Interpose founder and Chief Technology Officer Ken Steinberg enlisted a
group of students from nearby Daniel Webster College to act as hackers.
Students worked with faculty and Interpose personnel to test and push
Savant to extremes. The lab had about 10 students working on the Savant
technology.
Daniel Webster College Computer Sciences Division Chair Thomas Goulding
said, “Our support of Interpose represents an initiative of the Computer
Science and Information Systems departments to have Daniel Webster
students participate in leading-edge research and product development
activities at high technology companies in the region.”
Officials at the college said this is the first endeavor of its kind for
Daniel Webster College, and marks the beginning of a new relationship
among the school and the region’s business and high tech communities.
In the lab, students tried to penetrate a system running Savant to
discover any weaknesses before its public release. None of them could
get through, according to the company.
The collaboration resulted in the Independent Verification Lab (IVL)
being established at the college to allow students to continually test
Savant.
“Normal programs look for the viral footprint,” said Steinberg. “I
realized the nature of malware isn’t going to change. This whole scheme
of inoculations and trying to keep up with new viruses doesn’t work.”
Steinberg adds that as hard drive size grows, so will the time it takes
for conventional virus programs to scan them.
This new method of filtering out programs that shouldn’t be there
introduces a difficult challenge to hackers. Normally, when a program is
installed on a number of computers, it will look identical to each
computer. Savant’s cryptographic key makes each instance of the
installed program unique. Even if a hacker does somehow manage to slip
by, any damage done would be to a single machine. The virus can’t
spread, said Steinberg.
Interpose is a little more than a year old and has between six and eight
employees, according to Steinberg. The company has started to develop a
worldwide channel for Savant and was invited to present the software for
the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in April.
“Reception has been nothing less than amazing,” said Steinberg. Already,
two companies, which he did not name, have provided funding. Currently,
only a Linux version is available, but Windows and Macintosh editions
are set for release next month, according to Interpose Vice President of
Business Development Jim Hickey. The software will also be available in
versions designed to protect computer systems in cars and cell phones.
Interpose is also offering Savant free of charge to every company based
in New Hampshire, as well as every children’s hospital nationwide,
according Steinberg.
He said Interpose plans to work with Daniel Webster College on all
current and subsequent releases. He said, “As a result of working with
the IVL, Interpose intends to make an already strong product even
stronger by tapping into the creative minds of the student body.”
Savant can be downloaded at http://www.savantprotection.com.
Neelang Parghi is a freelance
writer based in Boston.
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