MESSAGE CHALLENGE RESPONSE

• US 20140207892A1
• Filed: 03/26/2014
• Published: 07/24/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/16/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Quest Software, Inc.
• Original Assignee: SonicWALL, Inc. (SonicWall Holdings Ltd.)
• Inventors: Oliver, Jonathan J., Wilson, Brian K., Uyeda, Damon K., Eikenberry, Scott D., Koblas, David A., Nufire, Tim
• Granted Patent: US 9,021,039 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1441 Countermeasures against malicious traffic countermeasures against attacks on cryptographic mechanisms H04L9/002

Abstract

A system and method are disclosed for registering a email sender for the purpose of sending an email message to an email receiver including receiving a challenge message wherein the challenge message includes a machine answerable question; processing the challenge message to determine that it is a challenge message sent for the purpose of authorizing delivery of the email message; analyzing the question to determine a valid response to the challenge message; and sending the valid response that includes the answer wherein a nontrivial amount of resources are required to send the valid response.

Claims

1. A method of registering an electronic-mail (e-mail) sender for the purpose of sending e-mail messages to an e-mail recipient, the method comprising:

receiving an e-mail sent by the e-mail sender to the e-mail recipient;

executing instructions stored in memory, wherein execution of the instructions by a processor of an independent third-party auditor;

generates a challenge message in response to an e-mail message received by the e-mail recipient, wherein;

the challenge message includes a machine answerable question, a nontrivial amount of resources are required to determine a valid response to the machine answerable question, and

the non-trivial amount of resources is adjustable by the independent third-party auditor;

sending the challenge message to the e-mail sender;

receiving a response to the challenge message sent by the e-mail sender, wherein the validity of the response is evaluated by the independent third-party auditor; and

sending a report from the independent third-party auditor to the e-mail recipient, the report indicating the validity of the response, wherein the e-mail recipient registers the e-mail sender based on the report.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the nontrivial amount of resources is adjustable to be greater than a minimum amount of resources necessary to generate a properly formatted response to the machine answerable question.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the nontrivial amount of resources includes dedication of processor cycles.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the nontrivial amount of resources includes dedication of system memory.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the nontrivial amount of resources includes micropayments, and wherein the e-mail sender authorizes the independent third-party auditor to collect a micropayment in the response to the challenge message.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the micropayment is deducted from an escrow account of the e-mail sender.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the nontrivial amount of resources includes licensing rights.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the report indicates the response is not valid, and wherein the e-mail recipient does not register the e-mail sender based on the report.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the challenge message further includes a human answerable question.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the challenge message further includes a human answerable question.

10. A system of registering an electronic-mail (e-mail) sender for the purpose of sending e-mail messages to an e-mail recipient, the system comprising:

a network interface for receiving an e-mail sent by the e-mail sender to the e-mail recipient;

an independent third-party auditor server for;

executing instructions stored in memory, wherein execution of the instructions by a processor of an independent third-party auditor;

generates a challenge message in response to an e-mail message received by the e-mail recipient, wherein;

the challenge message includes a machine answerable question, a nontrivial amount of resources are required to determine a valid response to the machine answerable question, and

the non-trivial amount of resources is adjustable by the independent third-party auditor;

sending the challenge message to the e-mail sender;

receiving a response to the challenge message sent by the e-mail sender, wherein the validity of the response is evaluated by the independent third-party auditor; and

sending a report from the independent third-party auditor to the e-mail recipient, the report indicating the validity of the response, wherein the e-mail recipient registers the e-mail sender based on the report.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the nontrivial amount of resources is adjustable to be greater than a minimum amount of resources necessary to generate a properly formatted response to the machine answerable question.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the nontrivial amount of resources includes dedication of processor cycles.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the nontrivial amount of resources includes dedication of system memory.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the nontrivial amount of resources includes micropayments, and wherein the e-mail sender authorizes the independent third-party auditor to collect a micropayment in the response to the challenge message.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the micropayment is deducted from an escrow account of the e-mail sender.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the nontrivial amount of resources includes licensing rights.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the report indicates the response is not valid, and wherein the e-mail recipient does not register the e-mail sender based on the report.

19. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having embodied thereon a program, wherein the program is executable by a processor to perform a method of registering an electronic-mail (e-mail) sender for the purpose of sending e-mail messages to an e-mail recipient, the method comprising:

receiving an e-mail sent by the e-mail sender to the e-mail recipient;

generating a challenge message, using an independent third-party auditor, in response to an e-mail message received by the e-mail recipient, wherein;

the challenge message includes a machine answerable question,

a nontrivial amount of resources are required to determine a valid response to the machine answerable question, and

the non-trivial amount of resources is adjustable by the independent third-party auditor;

sending the challenge message to the e-mail sender;

receiving a response to the challenge message sent by the e-mail sender, wherein the validity of the response is evaluated by the independent third-party auditor; and

sending a report from the independent third-party auditor to the e-mail recipient, the report indicating the validity of the response, wherein the e-mail recipient registers the e-mail sender based on the report.