METHOD, APPARATUS AND SYSTEM FOR DETECTING UNWANTED DIGITAL CONTENT DELIVERED TO A MAIL BOX
First Claim
1. A server system comprising:
- a content filter comprising a first list of signatures that identifies email messages that are known to include unwanted content, wherein the content filter performs a first scan on an incoming email message to determine whether a signature associated with the incoming email message is included on the first list of signatures, the first list of signatures being updated to comprise a second list of signatures that identifies email messages that are known to include unwanted content; and
a mail store comprising a mail box for storing the incoming email message after the first scan is performed;
wherein in the event that the first scan determines that a signature associated with the incoming email message is not included in the first list of signatures, the content filter performs a second scan on the incoming email message in the mail box to determine whether a signature associated with the incoming email message is included on the second list of signatures.
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Abstract
Email messages stored on a mail server are filtered to identify the email messages that contain unwanted content. The mail server receives incoming email messages over a network. A content filter performs an initial scan to identify the incoming email messages that contain unwanted content by determining whether signatures associated with the email messages are included on a list of signatures that identify email messages that are known to include unwanted content. The email messages that are not identified as containing unwanted content are forwarded to appropriate mail boxes on the mail server. Multiple scanning threads perform a subsequent scan of the email messages in the mail boxes to identify those email messages containing unwanted content that were not identified by the initial scan. The subsequent scan determines whether signatures associated with the email messages in the mail boxes are included in an updated list of the signatures.
14 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A server system comprising:
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a content filter comprising a first list of signatures that identifies email messages that are known to include unwanted content, wherein the content filter performs a first scan on an incoming email message to determine whether a signature associated with the incoming email message is included on the first list of signatures, the first list of signatures being updated to comprise a second list of signatures that identifies email messages that are known to include unwanted content; and a mail store comprising a mail box for storing the incoming email message after the first scan is performed; wherein in the event that the first scan determines that a signature associated with the incoming email message is not included in the first list of signatures, the content filter performs a second scan on the incoming email message in the mail box to determine whether a signature associated with the incoming email message is included on the second list of signatures. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method for detecting unwanted digital content, the method comprising:
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receiving digital content at a mail server system; performing a first scan of the digital content, wherein the first scan determines whether a signature associated with the digital content is included in a first list of signatures corresponding to unwanted digital content; determining in the first scan that the signature associated with the digital content is not included in the first list of signatures; responsive to the determination that the signature associated with the digital content is not included in the first list of signatures, forwarding the digital content to a mailbox associated with a user; and performing a second scan of the digital content in the mailbox, wherein the second scan determines whether the signature associated with the digital content is included in a second list of signatures corresponding to unwanted digital content. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A server system comprising:
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a communication interface; at least one processor; and a computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the server system to; receive digital content via the communication interface; perform a first scan of the digital content, wherein the first scan determines whether a signature associated with the digital content is included in a first list of signatures corresponding to unwanted digital content; determine in the first scan that the signature associated with the digital content is not included in the first list of signatures; responsive to the determination that the signature associated with the digital content is not included in the first list of signatures, forward the digital content to a mailbox associated with a user; and perform a second scan of the digital content in the mailbox, wherein the second scan determines whether the signature associated with the digital content is included in a second list of signatures corresponding to unwanted digital content. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A server system comprising:
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a communication interface configured to receive email messages; a mail store configured to store a plurality of mail boxes; at least one processor; and a computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the server system to; perform a first scan of an email message received over the communication interface to determine whether the email message includes unwanted content, wherein the first scan is performed by executing an algorithm to determine whether a signature associated with the email message is included in a first list of signatures that identify email messages known to include unwanted content; forward the email message to an appropriate one of the mail boxes after the first scan is performed; and in the event that the first scan determines that the first scan determines that the email message does not include unwanted content, perform a second scan of the email message in the appropriate one of the mail boxes, after the email message is forwarded, to determine whether the email message includes unwanted content. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification