Spam filtering for mobile communication devices

• US 20060041622A1
• Filed: 08/17/2004
• Published: 02/23/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/17/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: Lucent Technologies, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Sharma, Alok, Qutub, S. Shehryar
• Granted Patent: US 8,190,686 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/212 using filtering or selective blocking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication

Abstract

A spam filtering system and method are disclosed for filtering spam destined for a mobile communication device. In the spam filtering system, a processing system receives a message destined for a mobile communication device through an interface. The processing system processes the message based on first filtering criteria to make an initial determination whether the message is suspected of comprising spam. If the processing system determines that the message is not suspected of comprising spam, then the processing system transmits the message to a message center. If the processing system determines that the message is suspected of comprising spam, then the processing system processes the message based on second filtering criteria to make a final determination whether the message comprises spam. If the processing system determines that the message does comprise spam, then the processing system blocks the message.

Claims

1. A spam filtering system for a wireless network, the spam filtering system comprising:

an interface that receives a message destined for a mobile communication device; and

a processing system that receives the message from the interface, processes the message based on first filtering criteria to make an initial determination whether the message is suspected of comprising spam, transmits the message to a message center responsive to the initial determination determining that the message is not suspected of comprising spam, and processes the message based on second filtering criteria responsive to the initial determination determining that the message is suspected of comprising spam to make a final determination whether the message comprises spam.

2. The spam filtering system of claim 1 wherein:

the processing system transmits the message to the message center responsive to the final determination determining that the message does not comprise spam.

3. The spam filtering system of claim 2 wherein:

the processing system blocks the message responsive to the final determination determining that the message comprises spam.

4. The spam filtering system of claim 3 wherein:

the processing system stores the message in a data table responsive to the final determination determining that the message comprises spam, analyzes the message, and updates at least one of the first filtering criteria and the second filtering criteria based on the analysis of the message.

5. The spam filtering system of claim 4 wherein:

the processing system analyzes the content of the message for new spam patterns and updates the at least one of the first filtering criteria and the second filtering criteria based on the new spam patterns.

6. The spam filtering system of claim 1 wherein:

the message comprises at least one of a Short Message Service (SMS) message and a Multi-Media Services (MMS) message.

7. The spam filtering system of claim 1 wherein:

the processing system executes a front-end service package application to process the message based on the first filtering criteria to make the initial determination, and executes a back-end service package application to process the message based on the second filtering criteria to make the final determination.

8. The spam filtering system of claim 1 wherein:

the processing system queries human operators to make the final determination.

9. The spam filtering system of claim 1 wherein:

the processing system processes the message in substantially real-time based on the first filtering criteria to make the initial determination.

10. The spam filtering system of claim 1 wherein:

the processing system assigns a suspect level to the message responsive to the initial determination determining that the message is suspected of comprising spam.

11. A method of filtering spam in a wireless network, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a message destined for a mobile communication device;

processing the message based on first filtering criteria to make an initial determination whether the message is suspected of comprising spam;

transmitting the message to a message center responsive to the initial determination determining that the message is not suspected of comprising spam; and

processing the message based on second filtering criteria responsive to the initial determination determining that the message is suspected of comprising spam to make a final determination whether the message comprises spam.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising the step of:

transmitting the message to the message center responsive to the final determination determining that the message does not comprise spam.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising the step of:

blocking the message responsive to the final determination determining that the message comprises spam.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising the steps of:

storing the message in a data table responsive to the final determination determining that the message comprises spam,

analyzing the message, and

updating at least one of the first filtering criteria and the second filtering criteria based on the analysis of the message.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the steps of analyzing the message and updating at least one of the first filtering criteria and the second filtering criteria comprises:

analyzing the content of the message for new spam patterns, and

updating the at least one of the first filtering criteria and the second filtering criteria based on the new spam patterns.

16. The method of claim 11 wherein:

the message comprises at least one of a Short Message Service (SMS) message and a Multi-Media Services (MMS) message.

17. The method of claim 11 further comprising the steps of:

executing a front-end service package application to process the message based on the first filtering criteria to make the initial determination, and

executing a back-end service package application to process the message based on the second filtering criteria to make the final determination.

18. The method of claim 11 further comprising the step of:

querying human operators to make the final determination.

19. The method of claim 11 wherein the step of processing the message based on first filtering criteria to make an initial determination comprises:

processing the message in substantially real-time based on the first filtering criteria to make the initial determination.

20. The method of claim 11 wherein the step of processing the message based on first filtering criteria to make an initial determination comprises:

assigning a suspect level to the message responsive to the initial determination determining that the message is suspected of comprising spam.