Method and software product for identifying unsolicited emails

• US 20050044160A1
• Filed: 08/19/2004
• Published: 02/24/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 08/22/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Geobytes Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Geobytes Incorporated
• Inventors: McElligott, Adrian
• Granted Patent: US 8,321,512 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/207
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/212 using filtering or selective blocking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/48 Message addressing, e.g. address format or anonymous messages, aliases

Abstract

A method and software product for detecting unsolicited emails, e.g. spam, involves altering the case of at least some symbols comprising an email user'"'"'s email address according to a predetermined criteria prior to transmitting an email message. The altered case sequence of the email user'"'"'s address is stored in a database. Subsequently, as email'"'"'s are received in the email user'"'"'s mailbox their intended recipient addresses are processed to determine if they include symbols whose case sequence, i.e. uppercase and lowercase, matches one of the sequences that was previously stored. If no match is found then the incoming email is treated as potentially constituting spam and is handled as such. Embodiments of the invention take advantage of a property of most Internet post office email servers being that they are generally case insensitive in respect of the symbols that make up an email address.

Claims

1. A method for processing email messages, said messages having an intended recipient address identifying a user'"'"'s mailbox, the method including, for each of said messages, the step of:

checking by means of a computational device that a number of the symbols comprising the intended recipient address are uppercase or lowercase in accordance with a predetermined criteria.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of checking includes determining if a case sequence of at least a portion of the intended recipient address corresponds to a previously stored case sequence.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of checking further includes determining if a domain name portion of a sender address of each of the email messages corresponds to a previously stored domain name.

4. A method according to claim 3, including determining if the domain name portion of the sender address is a case insensitive match with a previously stored domain name.

5. A method according to claim 1, further including:

applying case alterations to symbols comprising a sender'"'"'s email address prior to transmission of emails including said email address; and

storing information indicating the cases of said symbols for subsequent reference during said checking step.

6. A method according to claim 1, further including selecting case altered sender'"'"'s email addresses on the basis that they exceed a predetermined readability index.

7. A method according to claim 5, wherein the information indicating the cases of said symbols comprises a copy of a sender'"'"'s email address subsequent to applying the case alterations.

8. A method according to claim 5, wherein the information indicating the cases of said symbols comprises a binary number.

9. A method according to claim 5 further including storing strings of symbols from each email message for subsequent reference during said checking step, the strings being located in portions of the messages that are used during the generation of reply messages.

10. A method according to claim 9 wherein the strings of symbols comprise the domain names of addresses to which the emails are sent.

11. A method according to claim 5 further including the step of deleting the stored information indicating the cases of said symbols after a predetermined time.

12. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of checking is performed by software running on a computer used to read mail from the user'"'"'s mailbox.

13. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of checking is performed by software running on an Internet email server in communication with a computer used to read mail from the user'"'"'s mailbox.

14. A method according to claim 5 wherein the step of applying case alterations to symbols comprising a sender'"'"'s email address includes providing case altered email addresses for inclusion in web pages.

15. A computer readable software product for execution by one or more electronic processors said software product including:

instructions to check that a number of the symbols comprising an intended recipient address of an email message are uppercase or lowercase in accordance with a predetermined criteria.

16. A computer readable software product according to claim 15, further including

instructions to determine if a case sequence of at least a portion of the intended recipient address corresponds to a previously stored case sequence.

17. A computer readable software product according to claim 15, including instructions to determine if a domain name portion of a sender address of the email message corresponds to a previously stored domain name.

18. A computer readable software product according to claim 17, wherein the instructions to determine if a domain name portion of the sender'"'"'s address corresponds to a previously stored domain name includes instructions to determine if a domain name portion of the sender'"'"'s address is a case insensitive match with a previously stored domain name.

19. A computer readable software product according to claim 15, including instructions to apply case alterations to symbols comprising a sender'"'"'s email address prior to transmission of emails including the email address;

and

storing information indicating the cases of said symbols for subsequent reference during said checking step.

20. A computer readable software product according to claim 19, including instructions to select case altered sender'"'"'s email addresses on the basis that they exceed a predetermined readability index.

21. A computer readable software product according to claim 19, including instructions to store information indicating the cases of said symbols in the form of a binary number.

22. A computer readable software product according to claim 19, including instructions to store strings of symbols from each email message for subsequent reference during execution of said instructions to check, said strings being located in portions of the messages that are used during the generation of reply messages.

23. A computer readable software product according to claim 19, including instructions to store the domain names of the addresses to which the emails are sent.

24. A computer readable software product according to claim 15 including instructions to delete the stored information indicating the cases of said symbols after a predetermined time.

25. A method of screening email comprising:

providing a computer equipped with or linked to an email program of a sender;

parsing a sender'"'"'s email address and determining a credential therefrom;

retaining the credential; and

using the credential to ascertain whether a future email addressed to the sender is unsolicited.

26. A method according to claim 25 wherein the credential comprises a code based upon a case sequence of the sender'"'"'s email address.

27. A method according to claim 26 wherein the code comprises a binary number.

28. A method according to claim 25 wherein the credential is retained by a second computer that is remotely located.

29. A method according to claim 28 wherein the credential is generated or otherwise provided by the second computer that is remotely located.

30. A method according to claim 25 wherein the credential is used by a third computer that is remotely located to ascertain whether a second future email is unsolicited.

31. A method according to claim 25 wherein the future email is blocked if it is determined to be unsolicited.

32. A method of claim 25 wherein the future email is further processed to determine whether it is Spam if the future email is determined to be unsolicited.

33. A method according to claim 25 wherein the credential comprises a case sequence that is retained in a database along with a date of creation of the case sequence and an expiration date of the case sequence.

34. A method according to claim 33 wherein details of the addressee are also stored in the database with each corresponding case sequence.