Junk electronic mail detector and eliminator
First Claim
1. A method for determining the status of an electronic mail message, sent by an e-mail originator to an e-mail recipient, as SPAM or as a valid message, in a network including an e-mail originator computer, an e-mail recipient computer, an authentication server and an authentication database, comprising the steps of:
- maintaining in the authentication database, authentication information comprising a unique identification code and an authorization id number associated with the e-mail originator;
creating, at the e-mail originator computer, the electronic mail message;
sending, from the e-mail originator computer to the authentication server, a first authentication request without sending the electronic mail message, said first authentication request comprising information related to the e-mail originator;
accessing, at the authentication server, the authentication database to check for an authorization id number associated with the e-mail originator using the information related to the email originator from the first authentication request and sending the authorization id number to the authentication server;
sending, from the authentication server, if the check identifies the e-mail originator as valid, an indication that the e-mail originator is valid, to the e-mail originator computer; and
sending, from the e-mail originator computer, in response to receiving the indication that the e-mail originator is valid, the electronic mail message to the e-mail recipient computer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for parsing and analyzing incoming electronic mail messages to determine a confidence factor indicative of whether or not the messages are junk e-mail. The method and system utilize message services which attempt to contact the purported sender in order to verify that the identified host computer actually exists and accepts outgoing mail services for the specified user. The routing history is also examined to ensure that identified intermediate sites are also valid. Likewise, seed addresses can alert an e-mail provider to potential mass mailings by reporting when mail is received for ghost or non-existent accounts.
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Citations
4 Claims
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1. A method for determining the status of an electronic mail message, sent by an e-mail originator to an e-mail recipient, as SPAM or as a valid message, in a network including an e-mail originator computer, an e-mail recipient computer, an authentication server and an authentication database, comprising the steps of:
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maintaining in the authentication database, authentication information comprising a unique identification code and an authorization id number associated with the e-mail originator; creating, at the e-mail originator computer, the electronic mail message; sending, from the e-mail originator computer to the authentication server, a first authentication request without sending the electronic mail message, said first authentication request comprising information related to the e-mail originator; accessing, at the authentication server, the authentication database to check for an authorization id number associated with the e-mail originator using the information related to the email originator from the first authentication request and sending the authorization id number to the authentication server; sending, from the authentication server, if the check identifies the e-mail originator as valid, an indication that the e-mail originator is valid, to the e-mail originator computer; and sending, from the e-mail originator computer, in response to receiving the indication that the e-mail originator is valid, the electronic mail message to the e-mail recipient computer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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Specification