SYSTEM FOR ELIMINATING UNAUTHORIZED ELECTRONIC MAIL
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for eliminating unauthorized email sent to a user on a network analyzes the sender address of incoming email and determines whether it is to be rejected by returning a standard “no such user” error code or accepted depending upon executing processing rules and analyzing managed lists of authorized senders. This provides an advantage over existing anti-spam filtering systems by intercepting unauthorized email before it reaches an existing email server or client. The system rejects all email unless authorized by using a standard “no such user” error code, and by redirecting the unauthorized email back to the sender or to a sender evaluation site. An ASL module captures authorized sender addresses from the user'"'"'s outgoing email and other sources in order to update “authorized senders” lists. The system may employ a WBM procedure that notifies senders of rejected email to go to a separate website and register as valid senders after passing an interaction test that precludes automatic registration by a mechanical program. A destination proxy email address procedure allows subscribers to use temporary proxy addresses for receiving email expected from unknown sources and instantiates senders as authorized upon receiving the expected email to the proxy addresses. The unauthorized-email rejection component can be readily configured as a hardware or software appliance used in tandem with a conventional email server, email gateway, or firewall to an intranet, or as a software extension to an existing firewall system.
36 Citations
55 Claims
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1-35. -35. (canceled)
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36. A system, comprising:
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one or more hardware processors and one or more computer memories together providing; an email proxy pre-processing module that is configured to allow designation of a proxy email address that is associated with a primary email address but distinct from the primary email address to receive email from email addresses not on an authorized senders list, wherein the authorized senders list maintains email addresses authorized to have emails sent to the primary email address received by the primary email address, wherein, upon receiving incoming email addressed to the proxy email address from an email address not on the authorized senders list, the email proxy pre-processing module is further configured to accept the email and to add the email address from which the incoming email was received to the authorized senders list. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A method, comprising:
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designating a proxy address that is associated with a primary address but distinct from the primary address to receive electronic messages from other addresses not on an authorized senders list, wherein the authorized senders list maintains addresses authorized to have electronic messages sent to the primary address received by the primary address, upon receiving an incoming electronic message addressed to the proxy address from an address not on the authorized senders list, accepting the incoming electronic message; and adding the address from which the incoming electronic message was received to the authorized senders list. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51)
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52. A computer-readable storage device having instructions stored thereon, the instructions comprising:
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instructions to designate a proxy email address that is associated with a primary email address but distinct from the primary email address to receive email from email addresses not on an authorized senders list, wherein the authorized senders list maintains email addresses authorized to have email sent to the primary email address received by the primary email address, instructions to, upon receiving incoming email addressed to the proxy email address from an email address not on the authorized senders list, accept the incoming email; and add the email address from which the incoming email was received to the authorized senders list. - View Dependent Claims (53)
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54. One or more computer memories collectively storing a proxy email address data structure, the data structure comprising a plurality of entries, each entry comprising:
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information indicating a primary email address; information indicating a proxy email address associated with the indicated primary email address that is distinct from the indicated primary email address; information indicating a maximum number of sending email addresses that may be instantiated for the indicated proxy email address, wherein the maximum number of sending email addresses is at least two; and information indicating the total number of sending email addresses that have been instantiated for the indicated proxy email address, wherein the contents of the data structure may be used to forward a message addressed to the proxy email address indicated by a distinguished entry received from an uninstantiated sending email address to the primary email address indicated by the distinguished entry only if the maximum number of sending email addresses that may be instantiated indicated by the distinguished entry exceeds the total number of instantiated sending email addresses indicated by the distinguished entry. - View Dependent Claims (55)
wherein that the contents of the data structure may be used to forward a message addressed to the proxy email address indicated by a distinguished entry received from a presently-unknown sending email address to the primary email address indicated by the distinguished entry only if both (a) the maximum number of sending email addresses that may be instantiated indicated by the distinguished entry exceeds the total number of instantiated sending email addresses indicated by the distinguished entry, and (b) the current date is earlier than a date obtained by adding the relative expiration period length indicated by the distinguished entry to the most recent date on which a sending email address was instantiated indicated by the distinguished entry.
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Specification