ANTIVIRUS SIGNATURE DISTRIBUTION WITH DISTRIBUTED LEDGER

A computer-implemented method, including accessing, by a computing system, an electronic ledger that stores records of a plurality of virus signatures submitted for distribution by a plurality of signature authorities, wherein respective instances of the electronic ledger are separately maintained by each of a plurality of nodes in a computing network, identifying, by the computing system, a signature score associated with a first virus signature among the plurality of virus signatures, wherein the signature score represents a level of trust for the first virus signature and is determined based on at least one of a number of signature authorities that have submitted the first virus signature for distribution on the electronic ledger or a number of signature authorities that have endorsed the first virus signature on the electronic ledger, determining, by the computing system, whether to use the first virus signature in virus scans of files maintained by the computing system based on whether the signature score satisfies a threshold validity score, in response to determining that the first virus signature satisfies the threshold validity score, using, by the computing system, the first virus signature in virus scans of files maintained by the computing system, wherein the computing system is configured to delay using the first virus signature in virus scans of files maintained by the computing system until the signature score associated with the first virus signature is determined to satisfy the threshold validity score. Inn C0 U) ~ ) 4) > > U) U) >I )> 5= I) U U Q> > (z) > >I > U) I ) r'. I U g0 11 I 10/ 0i/ IfI0c re