Email wrong transmission preventing apparatus and method

• US 8,095,608 B2
• Filed: 03/09/2010
• Issued: 01/10/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/10/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited, Fujitsu Social Science Laboratory Limited (Fujitsu Limited)
• Inventors: Fukasawa, Ryota, Higashizono, Aya, Hashisaka, Natsu, Okamoto, Masayoshi, Kurashige, Kiyoshi, Tsuda, Hiroshi, Katayama, Yoshinori, Kozakura, Fumihiko
• Primary Examiner(s): Caldwell, Andrew
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pollack, Melvin H
• Application Number:
  US12/659,459
• Publication Number:
  US 20100235452A1
• Time in Patent Office: 672 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/23 Reliability checks, e.g. acknowledgments or fault reporting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/48 Message addressing, e.g. address format or anonymous messages, aliases

Abstract

An email wrong transmission preventing apparatus calculates memory ratios of addresses of emails in a transmission log by a model expression in which the memory ratios decline over time, compiles the memory ratios of the emails for each destination to set weights, and records the weights in a user weight list. When receiving a planned outgoing email, the apparatus compares the weight of the destination of the planned outgoing email obtained by referring to the user weight list with a predetermined threshold and determines that the destination is “reliable” only if the weight is over the threshold. If even one of the destinations of the planned outgoing email is not “reliable”, the apparatus causes a sender terminal to display an address check screen to prompt address checking. When “checked” is inputted, the apparatus transfers the planned outgoing email to an email transmission server.

Claims

1. An email wrong transmission preventing apparatus that prevents wrong transmission of email, the apparatus comprising:

a computer that includes a computer processor configured to execute;

storing transmission logs in a computer readable storage medium, each transmission log including a sender, a destination, and a transmission date/time of a planned outgoing email transferred to a transmission server;

acquiring a planned outgoing email transmitted from a client and storing the planned outgoing email;

acquiring the transmission logs , calculating a memory ratio of each address of emails in the acquired transmission logs using a numeric expression indicating a model in which values decline in accordance with a number of elapsed days, and creating a user weight list recording a weight of each destination, which is obtained by compiling the calculated memory ratios of the emails transmitted from day of the transmission date of the planned outgoing email to last day of a predetermined period;

specifying a weight of a destination of the planned outgoing email from the weight list, comparing the specified weight of the destination with a predetermined threshold, and determining that the destination is not reliable when the specified weight is equal to or smaller than the threshold;

outputting information related to a destination address check of the planned outgoing email and receiving an input of “

checked”

for the destination address when determined that the destination address of the planned outgoing email is not reliable;

transferring the planned outgoing email to the transmission server after receiving the input of “

checked”

; and

storing a transmission log of the transferred planned outgoing email.

2. The email wrong transmission preventing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the computer processor further:

stores process control information including the predetermined period to acquire the transmission logs, and

acquires transmission logs including a transmission date/time that falls under the predetermined period.

3. The email wrong transmission preventing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the computer processor further:

stores risk setting information that is setting information of a process for calculating a risk related to information leakage, based on combinations of pieces of information included in an address, a text, an attached file, and a header of an email, and

calculates the risk of the planned outgoing email based on the risk setting information, uses the calculated risk to change the threshold, and compares the weight of the destination of the planned outgoing email with the changed threshold.

4. The email wrong transmission preventing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the computer processor further:

periodically acquires information of an external management server and that sets or updates the process control information based on the acquired information.

5. An email wrong transmission prevention method executed by a computer, the method comprising:

accessing a the transmission log storage unit, which stores transmission logs, each transmission log including a sender, a destination, and a transmission date/time of an outgoing email transferred to a transmission server and acquiring the transmission logs of emails transmitted in a predetermined period;

calculating a memory ratio of each address of emails in the acquired transmission logs using a numeric expression indicating a model in which values decline in accordance with a number of elapsed days, creating a user weight list recording a weight of each destination , which is obtained by compiling the calculated memory ratios of the emails transmitted from day of the transmission date of the planned outgoing email to last day of a predetermined period, and storing the user weight list in a user weight list storage unit;

acquiring a planned outgoing email transmitted from a client and holding the planned outgoing email in the email storage unit;

referring to the acquired user weight list, specifying the weight of the destination of the planned outgoing email, comparing the specified weight of the destination with a predetermined threshold, and determining that the destination is not reliable when the specified weight is equal to or smaller than the threshold;

outputting information related to a destination address check of the planned outgoing email and receiving an input of “

checked”

for the destination address when the destination address is determined to be not reliable;

transferring the planned outgoing email to the transmission server after the input of “

checked”

is received in receiving the destination address check; and

storing a transmission log of the transferred planned outgoing email in the transmission log storage unit.

6. A computer readable recording medium recorded an email wrong transmission prevention program for executing a process of email wrong transmission prevention, the program causing a computer to execute:

storing transmission logs, each transmission log including a sender, a destination, and a transmission date/time of a planned outgoing email transferred to a transmission server;

acquiring a planned outgoing email transmitted from a client and storing the planned outgoing email;

acquiring the transmission logs, calculating a memory ratio of each address of emails in the acquired transmission logs using a numeric expression indicating a model in which values decline in accordance with a number of elapsed days, and creating a user weight list recording a weight of each destination, which is obtained by compiling the calculated memory ratios of the emails transmitted from day of the transmission date of the planned outgoing email to last day of a predetermined period;

specifying a weight of a destination of the planned outgoing email from the weight list, comparing the specified weight of the destination with a predetermined threshold, and determining that the destination is not reliable when the specified weight is equal to or smaller than the threshold;

outputting information related to a destination address check of the planned outgoing email and that receives an input of “

checked”

for the destination address when the address determination unit determines that the destination address of the planned outgoing email is not reliable;

transferring the planned outgoing email to the transmission server after receiving the input of “

checked”

; and

storing a transmission log of the transferred planned outgoing email.