Method of authorizing email senders
First Claim
1. A method implemented by a mail client application of authorizing a mail server to receive electronic mail messages, comprising:
- determining the destination address of an outgoing electronic mail message; and
sending an authorization message to a mail server that handles incoming mail;
said authorization message containing the destination address of the outgoing electronic mail message and an authorization code authorizing the mail server to receive electronic mail messages originating from the intended recipient of the outgoing mail message.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An anti-spamming agent filters incoming email messages to eliminate unsolicited and unwanted email messages, particularly bulk email messages commonly known as spam. The anti-spamming agent gives all incoming mail messages a score and processes the messages based on the message score. Messages receiving a qualifying score are forwarded to the user. All other messages are either discarded or quarantined while the anti-spamming agent performs further authorization procedures, such as a challenge-response procedure. When a message from an unknown sender is received, a verified mail registry may be queried to authenticate the sender, and the mail may be processed based on the response from the verified mail registry.
59 Citations
38 Claims
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1. A method implemented by a mail client application of authorizing a mail server to receive electronic mail messages, comprising:
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determining the destination address of an outgoing electronic mail message; and
sending an authorization message to a mail server that handles incoming mail;
said authorization message containing the destination address of the outgoing electronic mail message and an authorization code authorizing the mail server to receive electronic mail messages originating from the intended recipient of the outgoing mail message. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method implemented by a mail server of handling incoming mail, comprising:
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receiving an authorization message from a user, said authorization message including a mail address and an authorization code authorizing the mail server to receive electronic mail messages for the user originating from the designated mail address; and
configuring the mail server responsive to the authorization message to accept mail from the designated address to the user without challenge; and
challenging a sender of an incoming mail message for which no previous authorization exists. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7)
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8. A method of registering with a mail server to send mail to a designated recipient, comprising:
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determining the destination address of an outgoing electronic mail message intended for the designated recipient;
sending an authorization request to the mail server for the designated recipient, said authorization request including a source address associated with the sender and the destination address of the outgoing mail message;
receiving a challenge from the mail server responsive to the authorization request; and
sending a response to the challenge. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of authorizing a sender to send electronic mail messages to a designated recipient, comprising:
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receiving an authorization request at a mail server for the designated recipient for the sender, said authorization request including a source address associated with the sender and the destination address of the designated recipient;
sending a challenge to the sender of the authorization request;
configuring the mail server to accept mail for the designated recipient from the sender if an acceptable response to the challenge is received; and
challenging a sender of an incoming mail message for which no previous authorization exists. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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15. An electronic mail system comprising:
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a computer having a processor and a memory;
a mail client application stored in memory and executed by said processor, said mail client application including code to;
determine the destination address of an outgoing electronic mail message; and
send an authorization message to a mail server that handles incoming mail, said authorization message containing the destination address of the outgoing electronic mail message and an authorization code authorizing the mail server to receive electronic mail messages originating from the intended recipient of the outgoing mail message. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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19. A electronic mail system implemented by a mail server of handling incoming mail, comprising:
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a computer having a processor and a memory;
a mail server application stored in memory and executed by said processor, said mail server application including code to;
process authorization messages received from a user, said authorization messages including a designated mail address and an authorization code authorizing the mail server to receive electronic mail messages for the user originating from the designated mail address;
configure the mail server responsive to the authorization message to accept mail for the user from the designated address without challenge; and
send a challenge to the sender of an incoming mail message for which no previous authorization exists. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
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22. An electronic mail system for registering with a mail server to send mail to a designated recipient, comprising:
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a computer having a processor and a memory;
a mail client application stored in memory and executed by said processor, said mail client application including code to;
determine the destination address of an outgoing electronic mail message intended for the designated recipient;
send an authorization request to the mail server for the designated recipient, said authorization request including a source address associated with the sender and the destination address of the outgoing mail message;
receive a challenge from the mail server responsive to the authorization request; and
send a response to the challenge. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A electronic mail system for authorizing a sender to send electronic mail messages to a designated recipient, comprising:
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a computer having a processor and a memory;
a mail server application stored in memory and executed by said processor, said mail server application including code to;
process a received authorization request, said authorization request including a source address associated with the sender and the destination address of the designated recipient;
send a challenge to the sender of the authorization request;
configure the mail server to accept mail from the sender for the designated recipient if an acceptable response to the challenge is received; and
send a challenge to the sender of an incoming mail message for which no previous authorization exists. - View Dependent Claims (28)
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29. The mail client application stored in a computer readable medium comprising code to:
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determine the destination address of an outgoing electronic mail message; and
send an authorization message to a mail server that handles incoming mail, said authorization message containing the destination address of the outgoing electronic mail message and an authorization code authorizing the mail server to receive electronic mail messages originating from the intended recipient of the outgoing mail message. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32)
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33. A mail server application stored in a computer readable medium comprising code to:
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process authorization messages received from a user, said authorization messages including a designated mail address and an authorization code authorizing the mail server to receive electronic mail messages for the user originating from the designated mail address;
configure the mail server responsive to the authorization message to accept mail for the user from the designated address without challenge; and
send a challenge to the sender of an incoming mail message for which no previous authorization exists. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35)
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36. A mail client application stored in a computer readable medium comprising code to:
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determine the destination address of an outgoing electronic mail message intended for the designated recipient;
send an authorization request to the mail server for the designated recipient, said authorization request including a source address associated with the sender and the destination address of the outgoing mail message;
receive a challenge from the mail server responsive to the authorization request; and
send a response to the challenge. - View Dependent Claims (37)
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38. A mail server application stored in a computer readable medium comprising code to:
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process a received authorization request, said authorization request including a source address associated with the sender and the destination address of the designated recipient;
send a challenge to the sender of the authorization request;
configure the mail server to accept mail from the sender for the designated recipient if an acceptable response to the challenge is received; and
send a challenge to the sender of an incoming mail message for which no previous authorization exists.
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Specification