A method for determining appropriate actions to remedy potential security lapses following infection of a device by malware. Following detection of infection of the device the device undergoes a cleaning operation. As part of the cleaning operation infected electronic files and any other associated files or objects are removed from the device. From timestamps associated with the infected files and associated files and objects, either directly or from another source such as an anti-virus trace program, the time of infection can be estimated. This allows the system to reference timestamps on the device to determine the source of the infection. Additionally, if the type of infection is identified timestamps on the device can be used to determine where there are particular areas of vulnerability due to user actions on the device.