METHODS, SYSTEMS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS FOR MITIGATING EMAIL ADDRESS HARVEST ATTACKS BY POSITIVELY ACKNOWLEDGING EMAIL TO INVALID EMAIL ADDRESSES
First Claim
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1. A method of detecting and responding to an email address harvest attack at an Internet Service Provider (ISP) email system, comprising:
- counting a number of failed email address look-ups during a single Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) session associated with an originating Internet Protocol (IP) address; and
responding to the originating IP address with a positive acknowledgement that an otherwise invalid email address exists when the count of the number of failed email address look-ups exceeds a threshold.
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Abstract
A method of detecting and responding to an email address harvest attack at an Internet Service Provider (ISP) email system includes counting a number of failed email address look-ups during a single Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) session associated with an originating Internet Protocol (IP) address and responding to the originating IP address with a positive acknowledgement that an otherwise invalid email address exists when the count of the number of failed email address look-ups exceeds a threshold.
36 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of detecting and responding to an email address harvest attack at an Internet Service Provider (ISP) email system, comprising:
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counting a number of failed email address look-ups during a single Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) session associated with an originating Internet Protocol (IP) address; and responding to the originating IP address with a positive acknowledgement that an otherwise invalid email address exists when the count of the number of failed email address look-ups exceeds a threshold. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An Internet Service Provider (ISP) email system for detecting and responding to an email address harvest attack, comprising:
a data processing system configured to count a number of failed email address look-ups during a single Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) session associated with an originating Internet Protocol (IP) address and to respond to the originating IP address with a positive acknowledgement that an otherwise invalid email address exists when the count of the number of failed email address look-ups exceeds a threshold. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A computer program product for detecting and responding to an email address harvest attack, comprising:
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a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable program code comprising; computer readable program code configured to count a number of failed email address look-ups during a single Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) session associated with an originating Internet Protocol (IP) address; and computer readable program code configured to respond to the originating IP address with a positive acknowledgement that an otherwise invalid email address exists when the count of the number of failed email address look-ups exceeds a threshold. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification