US Patent 7861304 Pattern matching using embedded functions

Methods, apparati, and computer-readable media for matching patterns of symbols within computer systems. A method embodiment of the present invention comprises composing (11) a pattern matching expression; and embedding (12) a function using storage means within the expression to form a character matching string. The expression may be a regular expression. The character matching string is compared (13) against a target string. The target string may be one that is suspected to contain malicious computer code.