The present invention relates to the security of
general purpose computing devices, such as
laptop or desktop PCs, and more specifically to the detection of malicious
software (
malware) on a
general purpose computing device. A challenge in detecting malicious
software is that files are typically scanned for the presence of malicious intent only once (and subsequent rescanning is typically performed in a simplistic manner). Existing methods in the art do not address how to most effectively rescan collections of files in a way that tries to optimize performance and
efficacy. Accordingly we present novel methods, components, and systems for intelligently rescanning file collections and thereby enabling retroactive detection of malicious
software and also retroactive identification of clean software. These methods may also be useful if additional information is now available regarding a file that might be useful to an end-user or an administrator, even though the file's core disposition might not have changed. More specifically, we describe methods, components, and systems that perform data analytics to intelligently rescan file collections for the purpose of retroactively identifying
malware and retroactively identifying clean files. The disclosed invention provides a significant improvement with regard to
efficacy and performance compared to previous approaches.