E-MAIL AUTHENTICATION
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for determining whether an e-mail originates from a sender authorized by an address provider to send the e-mail to an intended recipient'"'"'s e-mail address. The e-mail identifies an address provider from which the intended recipient'"'"'s e-mail address was obtained. The e-mail is delivered to the intended recipient only upon verification that the sender is authorized by the address provider to obtain the intended recipient'"'"'s e-mail address. The system and method may also provide for determining whether an e-mail originates from a forged source. A server receives data relating to an e-mail, including a purported sender and a verification host. The server queries the verification host with information pertaining to the e-mail and requests confirmation that the e-mail originates from the purported sender. The e-mail is determined to originate from a forged source unless the verification host responds that the e-mail originates from the purported sender.
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Citations
63 Claims
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1-43. -43. (canceled)
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44. A method for processing an incoming e-mail, the method comprising:
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receiving, by at least one computer, an e-mail directed to an intended recipient'"'"'s e-mail address; identifying, by the at least one computer, a sender of the e-mail based on a first identifier included in the e-mail; identifying, by the at least one computer, an address provider from which the sender obtained the intended recipient'"'"'s e-mail address, based on a second identifier included in the e-mail, the address provider being distinct from the sender and from the intended recipient; determining, by querying an authentication resource using the at least one computer, whether the sender is authorized by the address provider to use the intended recipient'"'"'s e-mail address for sending e-mail to the intended recipient; selecting, by the at least one computer, one of permitting delivery of the e-mail to the intended recipient or preventing normal delivery of the e-mail to the intended recipient, based on the determining. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
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54. An apparatus for processing an incoming e-mail, comprising a processor coupled to a memory, the memory holding program instructions, that when executed by the processor, cause the apparatus to perform the operations of:
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receiving an e-mail directed to an intended recipient'"'"'s e-mail address; identifying a sender of the e-mail based on a first identifier included in the e-mail; identifying an address provider from which the sender obtained the intended recipient'"'"'s e-mail address, based on a second identifier included in the e-mail, the address provider being distinct from the sender and from the intended recipient; determining, by querying an authentication resource, whether the sender is authorized by the address provider to use the intended recipient'"'"'s e-mail address for sending e-mail to the intended recipient; selecting one of delivering the e-mail to the intended recipient or preventing normal delivery of the e-mail to the intended recipient, based on the determining. - View Dependent Claims (55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63)
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Specification