E-mail stamping with from-header validation

• US 7,917,756 B2
• Filed: 06/01/2006
• Issued: 03/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Barracuda Networks Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Goodmail Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Dreymann, Daniel T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Revak; Christopher A
• Assistant Examiner(s): Almamun; Abdullah
• Application Number:
  US11/421,748
• Publication Number:
  US 20060277597A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,762 Days
• Field of Search: 713/170, 713/176, 713/16, 713/161, 713/172, 709/206, 726/2, 726/4, 726/5
• US Class Current: 713/170
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/56 Financial cryptography, e.g. electronic payment or e-cash
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/212 using filtering or selective blocking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0823 using certificates cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/126 the source of the received data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3213 using tickets or tokens, e.g. Kerberos network architectures or network communication protocols for entities authentication using tickets in a packet data network H04L63/0807
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3297 involving time stamps, e.g. generation of time stamps

Abstract

Effective aspects of stamping outbound e-mail are combined with a registration system for e-mail senders. A mail sender participates by registering From: line information with a trusted third-party repository known as a stamp authority. When the sender sends an e-mail message, a hash of the From: line is compared against the From: line information for the sender stored in the repository. If the result is a match, the e-mail is allowed to be sent, subject to any other restrictions imposed by the stamping process. If there is not a match, then the e-mail is prevented from being stamped.

Claims

1. A method for validating a sender of an e-mail message, the method executed by at least one processor of at least one computer and comprising:

receiving an e-mail from the sender, the e-mail including a header, the header having a first field, the contents of the first field indicating the sender'"'"'s identity;

determining, by a stamp authority, that the sender is authorized to use the identity indicated by the contents of the first field;

inserting, by the stamp authority, a second field in the header, the contents of the second field indicating that the sender is authorized to use the identity indicated by the contents of the first field; and

inserting, by the stamp authority, a digital signature field in the header, the field including a digital signature associated with the stamp authority.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

returning the e-mail to the sender.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending the e-mail to a recipient indicated in the header.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the contents of the second field are cryptographically encoded.

5. A computer-implemented method for validating a sender of an e-mail message, the method comprising:

registering identification information about an e-mail sender with an authority, the identification information including a display name and e-mail address;

sending a header associated with an e-mail message from a computer associated with the e-mail sender to a computer associated with the authority, the header including origination information, the origination information including the registered display name and e-mail address;

receiving from the authority a modified header, the modified header associated with the e-mail message and additionally including a token indicating that the origination information is registered with the authority; and

sending the e-mail message and the associated modified header to a recipient.

6. A computer program product for validating a sender of an e-mail message, the computer program product stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and including instructions configured to cause a processor to carry out the steps of:

registering identification information about an e-mail sender with an authority, the identification information including a display name and e-mail address;

sending a header associated with an e-mail message from the e-mail sender to the authority, the header including origination information, the origination information including the registered display name and e-mail address;

receiving from the authority a modified header, the modified header associated with the e-mail message and additionally including a token indicating that the origination information is registered with the authority; and

sending the e-mail message and the associated modified header to a recipient.

7. A system for validating a sender of an e-mail message, comprising:

a stamp authority, further comprising;

a registration database for storing identification information about an e-mail sender;

a stamp generator for receiving from the e-mail sender a header associated with an e-mail message, the header including origination information, the origination information indicating that the associated the e-mail message is from the e-mail sender; and

wherein the stamp generator is further adapted to determine that the identification information about the e-mail sender stored in the registration database matches the origination information in the header, and to create a modified header, the modified header associated with the e-mail message and additionally including a token indicating that the origination information is accurate.

8. A method for validating a sender of an e-mail message, the method comprising:

receiving, by a computer associated with a stamp authority, a portion of an e-mail message from a computer associated with the sender, the received portion including a header field containing an indication of the identity of the sender;

determining by reference to a database of registered sender identities whether the sender is authorized to use the indicated identity;

responsive to a determination that the sender is authorized to use the indicated identity, generating a stamp for the e-mail message; and

returning, by the stamp authority, the stamp to the e-mail sender.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the indication of the identity of the sender includes a display name and an e-mail address.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein the header field is a From:

header.

11. A method for certifying an identity of an e-mail sender, the method executed by at least one processor of at least one computer and comprising:

receiving, by a computer at a stamp authority at least a portion of an e-mail message from a computer associated with a sender, the e-mail message including a From;

header, the From;

header including a display name and e-mail address;

determining, by the stamp authority, whether the sender is authorized to use the display name and e-mail address in the From;

header; and

responsive to an indication that the sender is authorized to use the display name and e-mail address in the From;

header, inserting in the e-mail message, by the stamp authority, a header indicating that the sender is authorized to use the display name and e-mail address.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising returning the e-mail message to the sender.

13. The method of claim 11 further comprising sending the e-mail message to a recipient identified in the e-mail message.

14. A method for certifying an identity of an e-mail sender, the method comprising:

registering, by a computer associated with a stamp authority, authorized From;

line information from each of a plurality of e-mail senders, the From;

line information including a display name and an e-mail address;

receiving a request from one of the plurality of e-mail senders to certify that the sender has registered From;

line information included with the request; and

responsive to a determination by the stamp authority that the sender has registered the From;

line information included with the request, providing a certification to the requesting sender that the From;

line information including the display name and e-mail address have been registered by the sender.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the certification includes an e-mail header.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the certification includes a digital signature of the stamp authority.