Monitoring eletronic mail message digests
First Claim
1. A method for monitoring electronic mail messages, wherein each mail message may comprise:
- (a) subject header information (b) non-subject header information (c) a main body, comprising message content;
the method comprising;
receiving an electronic mail message, generating a characteristic numerical representation of at least a part of said message content, but not of said non-subject header information;
storing said generated characteristic numerical representation in a memory; and
comparing said characteristic numerical representation with each characteristic numerical representation stored in memory.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method for monitoring electronic mail messages, each mail message comprising header information and a main body, particularly for protection against virus attacks and unsolicited commercial email (UCE). The method comprises generating a summary digest of only the subject line and the message content of the main body, wherein the message content may comprise textual content and/or attached files. The generated summary digest is stored in a memory, and compared with existing summary digests stored in memory. If the number of matches exceeds a threshold value, an alert signal is raised and appropriate action initiated. A timestamp may be stored with each summary digest, together with sender/recipient details and the internet protocol (IP) address of origin, to detection of the originator of the message.
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Citations
77 Claims
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1. A method for monitoring electronic mail messages, wherein each mail message may comprise:
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(a) subject header information (b) non-subject header information (c) a main body, comprising message content;
the method comprising;
receiving an electronic mail message, generating a characteristic numerical representation of at least a part of said message content, but not of said non-subject header information;
storing said generated characteristic numerical representation in a memory; and
comparing said characteristic numerical representation with each characteristic numerical representation stored in memory. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73)
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17. A method for monitoring electronic mail messages as claimed in claims is or 16, in which said alert comprises a marker prefixed to the subject line of the message.
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25. A software product for use in a server or organisation'"'"'s mail transfer agent (MTA), for monitoring electronic mail messages, wherein each mail message may comprise:
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(a) subject header information (b) non-subject header information (c) a main body, comprising message content;
the software containing code for;
receiving an electronic mail message, generating a characteristic numerical representation of at least a part of said message content, but not of said non-subject header information;
storing said generated characteristic numerical representation in a memory; and
comparing said characteristic numerical representation with each characteristic numerical representation stored in memory. - View Dependent Claims (27)
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26. A software product for use in a client'"'"'s mail user agent (UA), for monitoring electronic mail messages, wherein each mail message may comprise:
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(a) subject header information (b) non-subject header information (c) a main body, comprising message content;
the software containing code for;
receiving an electronic mail message, generating a characteristic numerical representation of at least a part of said message content, but not of said non-subject header information;
storing said generated characteristic numerical representation in a memory; and
comparing said characteristic numerical representation with each characteristic numerical representation stored in memory.
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50. A computer system for monitoring electronic mail messages, wherein each mail message may comprise:
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(a) subject header information (b) non-subject header information (c) a main body, comprising message content;
the system containing;
means for receiving an electronic mail message, means for generating a characteristic numerical representation of at least a part of said message content, but not of said non-subject header information;
a memory for storing said generated characteristic numerical representation; and
means for comparing said characteristic numerical representation with each characteristic numerical representation stored in memory. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52, 53)
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74. A method for monitoring electronic mail messages substantially as described herein with reference to FIG. 3 of the accompanying drawings.
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75. A software product for use in a server or organisation'"'"'s mail transfer agent (MTA) for monitoring electronic mail messages substantially as described herein with reference to FIG. 3 of the accompanying drawings.
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76. A software product for use in mail user agent (UA) for monitoring electronic mail messages substantially as described herein with reference to FIG. 3 of the accompanying drawings.
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77. A computer system for monitoring electronic mail messages substantially as described herein with reference to FIG. 3 of the accompanying drawings.
Specification