SYSTEM FOR BLOCKING SPAM MAIL AND METHOD OF THE SAME

• US 20090044006A1
• Filed: 05/30/2006
• Published: 02/12/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Dongho Shim, Nurivision Company Limited, Yunchan Kim
• Original Assignee: Dongho Shim, Nurivision Company Limited, Yunchan Kim
• Inventors: Kim, Yunchan, Shim, Dongho
• Application Number:
  US11/568,815
• Publication Number:
  US 20090044006A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/151
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/212 using filtering or selective blocking

Abstract

The present invention generally relates to a system for blocking spam mail and a method of the same, and the system in accordance with the present invention, comprising: a Mail transceiver receiving the e-mail, temporarily storing the e-mail in a temporary storage for a set time after authentication mail is transmitted, and deleting the e-mail it a sender'"'"'s response is not received within the set time, then transmitting the temporarily stored e-mail to mail accounts of recipients of a mail server if the sender'"'"'s response is received within the set time; an authenticator list classifying and storing, according to each recipient, an e-mail address of the sender authenticated through the authentication mail and an e-mail address of a random sender registered by the recipients of the e-mail to receive the e-mail without authentication; and an authentication processor retrieving whether the e-mail address of the sender is included in the authenticator list, sending the authentication mail to the e-mail address of the sender if the e-mail address of the sender is not included in the authenticator list, and authenticating the sender according to the sender'"'"'s access and response for the authentication mail.

Claims

1. A system for blocking spam mail located on a front end of a mail server which transceives e-mail, transmitting authentication mail for authenticating a sender to an e-mail address of the sender who sends e-mail, authenticating the sender depending on whether the sender responds to the authentication mail, and processing reception/deletion of the e-mail, comprising:

a mail transceiver receiving the e-mail, temporarily storing the e-mail in a temporary storage for a set time after the authentication mail is transmitted, deleting the e-mail if the sender'"'"'s response is not received within the set time, and transmitting the temporarily stored e-mail to mail accounts of recipients of the mail server if the sender'"'"'s response is received within the set time;

an authenticator list classifying and storing, according to each recipient, the e-mail address of the sender authenticated through the authentication mail and an e-mail address of a random sender registered by the recipients of the e-mail to receive the e-mail without authentication; and

an authentication processor retrieving whether the e-mail address of the sender is included in the authenticator list, sending the authentication mail to the e-mail address of the sender if the e-mail address of the sender is not included in the authenticator list, and authenticating the sender according to the sender'"'"'s access and response for the authentication mail.

2. The system for blocking spam mail of claim 1, wherein the authentication mail includes predetermined identification information for distinguishing the authentication mail from general e-mail, in a header of the authentication mail.

3. The system for blocking spam mail of claim 1, wherein the system for blocking spam mail performs a protocol for distinguishing the authentication mail from general e-mail with the mail server in which the sender is registered, on a front end of a protocol for sender/recipient mail account confirmation among mail transfer protocols.

4. The system for blocking spam mail of claim 1, wherein the mail transceiver provides a pending list linked with the temporarily stored e-mail so that the recipients can select, receive, and store the e-mail temporarily stored in the temporary storage.

5. The system for blocking spam mail of claim 4, wherein the mail transceiver transmits the e-mail selected by the recipients from the pending list to the mail accounts of the recipients of the mail server irrespective of the response for the authentication mail;

and

the authentication processor adds the e-mail address of the sender for the e-mail selected by the recipients from the pending list to the authenticator list.

6. The system for blocking spam mail of one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the authentication mail includes access information that includes a URL for the sender to access the authentication processor, and a unique key for authenticating the sender;

and

the authentication processor stores the unique key and an equivalent key value for verifying the sender'"'"'s response for the unique key, then authenticates the sender by confirming the sender'"'"'s access through the authentication mail and comparing the sender'"'"'s response for the unique key with the key value.

7. The system for blocking spam mail of one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the authentication mail contains the access information that includes the URL for the sender to access the authentication processor;

and

the authentication processor displays special character patterns processed in graphics on a web page linked with the access information, and inputs the special character patterns from the sender to authenticate the sender.

8. The system for blocking spam mail of one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the authentication mail contains the access information that includes the URL for the sender to access the authentication processor;

and

the authentication processor provides a question with an answer on the web page linked with the access information, and inputs an answer from the sender to authenticate the sender depending on whether the answer of the sender is correct.

9. The system for blocking spam mail of claim 4, wherein the system for blocking spam mail, comprising:

a blacklist storing an e-mail address or an IP address of a sender, wherein all of the recipients registered in the mail server refuse to receive the e-mail transmitted from the sender;

a blacklist processor liking with the temporary storage, the pending list, and the authenticator list, and registering the e-mail address or the IP address of the sender of e-mail having the same characteristics by comparing each characteristic of each of the e-mail, which all of the recipients of the e-mail do not receive through the pending list, among the e-mail temporarily stored in the temporary storage during the set time, then comparing the blacklist with the authenticator list in real time to delete the e-mail address of the sender, which is commonly included in the blacklist and the authenticator list, from the blacklist; and

a blacklist blocker located on a front end of the mail transceiver, and blocking the reception of the e-mail transmitted from the e-mail address or IP address included in the blacklist among the received e-mail.

10. The system for blocking spam mail of claim 9, wherein the characteristics compared by the blacklist processor include the e-mail address of the sender, a sending IP, a title of the e-mail, and the contents of the text of the e-mail.

11. A method of blocking spam mail for transmitting authentication mail for authenticating a sender to an e-mail address of the sender who sends e-mail, on a front end of a mail server A which transceives the e-mail, authenticating the sender depending on whether the sender responds to the authentication mail, and for transmitting the e-mail of the authenticated sender to recipients, comprising:

a first step of receiving the e-mail;

a second step of retrieving the e-mail address of the sender from an authenticator list which is a list of the e-mail address of the sender whose the e-mail is authenticated and permitted to be transmitted to the recipients;

if the e-mail address of the sender exists in the authenticator list, a third step of transmitting the e-mail to mail accounts of the recipients of the mail server A;

if the e-mail address of the sender does not exist in the authenticator list, a fourth step of transmitting the authentication mail to the e-mail address of the sender, and temporarily storing the e-mail in a temporary storage for a predetermined set time;

if the sender'"'"'s response for the authentication mail is received within the set time, a fifth step of transmitting the e-mail temporarily stored in the temporary storage to the mail accounts of the recipients of the mail server A, and adding the e-mail address of the sender to the authenticator list; and

if the sender'"'"'s response for the authentication mail is not received within the set time, a sixth step of deleting the e-mail temporarily stored in the temporary storage; and

wherein

the third step and the fourth to sixth steps are selectively carried out while the fifth step and the sixth step are selectively carried out.

12. The method of blocking spam mail of claim 11, wherein the fourth step is composed of:

a 4-1 step of generating predetermined identification information so that a mail server B in which the e-mail address of the sender is registered can distinguish the authentication mail from general e-mail; and

a 4-2 step of inserting the identification information into the authentication mail.

13. The method of blocking spam mail of claim 11, wherein the fourth step is composed of:

a 4-3 step of transmitting a message which demands a transmission permission of the authentication mail to the mail server B in which the e-mail address of the sender is registered; and

wherein the 4-3 step can be performed on a front end of a protocol for sender/recipient mail account confirmation among mail transfer protocols, so as to communicate with the mail server B.

14. The method of blocking spam mail of claim 13, wherein after the 4-3 step, the method of blocking spam mail further comprises:

a 4-4 step of which the mail server A receives an identification code transmitted and generated according to certain rules by the mail server B in order to verify transmission of the authentication mail;

a 4-5 step of transmitting response codes, which are generated by the certain rules and key values in a pair for the identification code, to the mail server B; and

a 4-6 step of receiving a message that approves of transmission of the authentication mail from the mail server B.

15. The method of blocking spam mail of one of claims 11 to 14, wherein the authentication mail includes access information that contains a URL for the sender to access a predetermined web page to respond to the authentication mail and a unique key for authenticating the sender;

and wherein the fifth step consists of;

a 5-1 step of authenticating the sender by inputting a key value corresponding to the unique key as a response from the sender.

16. The method of blocking spam mail of one of claims 11 to 14, wherein the authentication mail includes the access information that contains the URL for the sender to access the predetermined web page to respond to the authentication mail;

and wherein the fifth step consists of;

a 5-2 step of displaying special character patterns processed in graphics on the web page linked with the access information; and

a 5-3 step of authenticating the sender by inputting the special character patterns from the sender.

17. The method of blocking spam mail of one of claims 11 to 14, wherein the authentication mail includes the access information that contains the URL for the sender to access the predetermined web page to respond to the authentication mail;

and wherein the fifth step consists of;

a 5-4 step of providing a question with an answer on the web page linked with the access information; and

a 5-5 step of inputting an answer from the sender, and authenticating the sender depending on whether the answer of the sender is correct.

18. The method of blocking spam mail of claim 11, wherein the method of blocking spam mail further comprises:

a seventh step of providing a pending list which is linked with the e-mail to the recipients to check the e-mail temporarily stored in the temporary storage;

an eighth step of transmitting the e-mail selected by the recipients from the pending list to the mail accounts of the recipients of the mail server A, irrespective of the response for the authentication mail; and

a ninth step of adding the e-mail address of the sender to the authenticator list, for the e-mail selected by the recipients from the pending list; and

wherein the eighth step and the ninth step are carried out regardless of order while the seventh to ninth steps are carried out with the fourth to sixth steps regardless of order.

19. The method of blocking spam mail of claim 18, wherein the method of blocking spam mail further comprises:

a tenth step of blocking reception of e-mail transmitted from an e-mail address or an IP address included in a blacklist which stores the e-mail address or the IP address of the sender, wherein all of the recipients registered in the mail server A refuse to receive the e-mail transmitted from the sender;

an eleventh step of registering, in the blacklist, the e-mail address or the IP address of the sender of e-mail having the same characteristics, by comparing each characteristic of each of the e-mail that all of the recipients of the e-mail do not select through the pending list in the eighth step and the ninth step, among the e-mail temporarily stored in the temporary storage for the set time in the fourth step; and

a twelfth step of comparing the blacklist with the authenticator list in real time to delete the e-mail address of the sender commonly included in the blacklist and the authenticator list, from the blacklist; and

wherein

the tenth step is carried out prior to the first step, and the eleventh step is selectively carried out with the eighth step and the ninth step while the twelfth step is carried out with the first to ninth steps regardless of order.

20. The method of blocking spam mail of claim 19, wherein with regards to each of the e-mail which is not selected by all of the recipients of the e-mail through the pending list in the eighth step and the ninth step among the e-mail temporarily stored in the temporary storage during the set time in the fourth step, the eleventh step includes:

an 11-1 step of comparing the e-mail address of the sender, and if e-mail having the same e-mail address of the sender is in plural, registering the e-mail address of the sender of the e-mail having the same e-mail address of the sender, in the blacklist,

an 11-2 step of comparing a sending IP, and if e-mail having the same sending IP is in plural, registering the IP address of the sender of the e-mail having the same sending IP, in the blacklist;

an 11-3 step of comparing a title of the e-mail, and if e-mail having the same title is in plural, registering the e-mail address or the IP address of the sender of the e-mail having the same title, in the black list; and

an 11-4 step of hashing the contents of the text of the e-mail to convert the contents of the text into a code, and comparing the converted codes, then if e-mail having the same converted code is in plural, registering the e-mail address or the IP address of the sender of the e-mail having the same converted code, in the blacklist; and

wherein

the 11-1 to 11-4 steps are carried out regardless of order.