Systems and methods for authorizing delivery of incoming messages
First Claim
1. In an authentication server included in an electronic messaging system, wherein a user sends an outgoing message and receives incoming messages, a method of authenticating an incoming message comprising:
- receiving an incoming message;
analyzing the incoming message to identify whether the incoming message contains a delivery ticket that includes data and a checksum; and
if the incoming message includes a delivery ticket, determining whether the delivery ticket is valid to authenticate the incoming message.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Delivery tickets that include data and a checksum are used to authenticate incoming electronic messages on behalf of a user. The delivery ticket is located in a field in the envelope portion or in a header in the content portion of outgoing electronic messages. A bounce message or a reply message generated by a remote computer in response to the outgoing electronic message includes the delivery ticket. When the bounce message or the reply message is received by an authentication server associated with the user, the delivery ticket is authenticated to determine whether to deliver the incoming message to the user. The delivery ticket is initially validated if a checksum regenerated by applying a private key to the data of the delivery ticket is the same as the checksum included in the delivery ticket. The validation process also includes determining whether the delivery ticket complies with rules that specify the duration of time of the validity or the number of times that the delivery ticket can be used.
202 Citations
59 Claims
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1. In an authentication server included in an electronic messaging system, wherein a user sends an outgoing message and receives incoming messages, a method of authenticating an incoming message comprising:
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receiving an incoming message;
analyzing the incoming message to identify whether the incoming message contains a delivery ticket that includes data and a checksum; and
if the incoming message includes a delivery ticket, determining whether the delivery ticket is valid to authenticate the incoming message. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. In an authentication server in an electronic messaging system, wherein a user sends an outgoing message and receives incoming messages, a method of authenticating an incoming message comprising:
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inserting a first delivery ticket into an outgoing message;
receiving an incoming message;
analyzing the incoming message to identify whether the incoming message contains a second delivery ticket;
if the incoming message includes a second delivery ticket, determining whether the second delivery ticket is valid to authenticate the incoming message; and
if the second delivery ticket is valid, delivering the incoming message to the user'"'"'s inbox. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. In an electronic messaging system, in which a user sends an outgoing message and receives incoming messages, a method of authenticating an incoming bounce message comprising:
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receiving an incoming bounce message that has been generated by a remote server in response to the remote server receiving an electronic message that has been sent by a user and is addressed to a recipient account that is unavailable;
determining whether the incoming bounce message contains a delivery ticket, wherein, if the incoming bounce message contains the delivery ticket, the delivery ticket includes data and a checksum;
if the incoming bounce message includes the delivery ticket, determining whether the delivery ticket is valid by regenerating the checksum, including;
applying a private key value to data; and
determining whether the regenerated checksum is the same as the checksum included in the delivery ticket; and
if it is determined that the delivery ticket is valid, delivering the incoming bounce message to the user'"'"'s inbox. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. In an electronic messaging system, in which a user sends an outgoing message and receives incoming messages, a method of authenticating an incoming message comprising:
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receiving an incoming reply message that has been generated by a remote computer in response to an electronic message that has been sent by a user;
determining whether the incoming reply message contains a delivery ticket, wherein, if the incoming reply message contains the delivery ticket, the delivery ticket includes data and a checksum;
if the incoming reply message includes the delivery ticket, determining whether the delivery ticket is valid by regenerating the checksum, including;
applying a private key value to data; and
determining whether the regenerated checksum is the same as the checksum included in the delivery ticket; and
if it is determined that the delivery ticket is valid, delivering the incoming reply message to the user'"'"'s inbox. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. In an authentication server included in an electronic messaging system, wherein a user sends an outgoing message and receives incoming messages, a method of authenticating an incoming message comprising:
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generating an outgoing message containing a first delivery ticket, the first delivery ticket being valid for a specified period of time;
receiving an incoming message that purports to be a reply message based on the outgoing message;
determining whether the incoming message contains a second delivery ticket; and
determining whether receipt of the second delivery ticket was within the specified period of time. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. In an authentication server included in an electronic messaging system, wherein a user sends an outgoing message and receives incoming messages, a method of authenticating an incoming message comprising:
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generating an outgoing message containing a first delivery ticket without storing the first delivery ticket;
receiving an incoming message that purports to be a reply message based on the outgoing message;
determining if the incoming message contains a second delivery ticket, the second delivery ticket including a usage indicator;
referencing a database to determine whether the second delivery ticket has been previously stored; and
upon determining that the second delivery ticket has not been previously stored, storing in the database the second delivery ticket along with the usage identified by the usage indicator. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44)
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45. An electronic message having a data structure generated by an authentication server, the electronic message comprising:
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an envelope portion identifying the sender and the recipient, the envelope portion including a delivery ticket embedded in a field identifying the sender;
the delivery ticket configured to be passed on to a reply message purporting to be based from the electronic message and used to authenticate the reply message without requiring any other filtering mechanism; and
a content portion containing data to be delivered to the recipient. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48, 49)
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50. An electronic message having a data structure generated by an authentication server, the electronic message comprising:
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an envelope portion identifying the sender and the recipient; and
a content portion containing data to be delivered to the recipient, content portion comprising a message header portion, the message header portion including a delivery ticket embedded in a field uniquely identifying the message;
the delivery ticket configured to be passed on to a reply message purporting to be based from the electronic message and used to authenticate the reply message without requiring any other filtering mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
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56. In an authentication server in an electronic messaging system, a method of processing incoming messages directed to a user comprising:
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receiving an incoming message purporting to be generated in response to an outgoing message sent by the user, the incoming message containing a delivery ticket;
using the delivery ticket to determine whether the incoming message is a response to an outgoing message sent by the user; and
based on the determination, delivering, or not delivering, the incoming message to the user'"'"'s inbox. - View Dependent Claims (57, 58, 59)
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Specification