Intelligent communication screening to restrict spam

• US 8,898,786 B1
• Filed: 01/30/2014
• Issued: 11/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dun & Bradstreet Corp., DUN & Bradstreet Incorporated (Dun & Bradstreet Corp.), Hoover's Incorporated (Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Credibility Corp. (Dun & Bradstreet Corp.)
• Inventors: Stibel, Jeffrey M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Zecher, Dede
• Application Number:
  US14/168,886
• Time in Patent Office: 299 Days
• Field of Search: 726/23
• US Class Current: 726/23
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/285 Clustering or classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/55 Detecting local intrusion or implementing counter-measures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/577 Assessing vulnerabilities and evaluating computer system security
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/212 using filtering or selective blocking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/00 Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communication H04L9/00; network architectures or network communication protocols for wireless network security H04W12/00; security arrangements for protecting computers or computer systems against unauthorised activity G06F21/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1408 by monitoring network traffic monitoring network traffic per se H04L43/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1416 Event detection, e.g. attack signature detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1425 Traffic logging, e.g. anomaly detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1441 Countermeasures against malicious traffic countermeasures against attacks on cryptographic mechanisms H04L9/002
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/145 the attack involving the propagation of malware through the network, e.g. viruses, trojans or worms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles

Abstract

A system is provided to restrict the ability of a spammer to freely contact an entity over a communication channel. To do so, the system reconfigures a communication channel used to contact the target entity such that the system can intercept a communication from a source contacting entity en route to the target entity. The system extracts an identifier (e.g., contacting entity'"'"'s telephone number) from the communication and uses the identifier to query a database storing information about the contacting entity. The information reveals the contacting entity'"'"'s industry, occupation, credibility, etc. From this information, the system automatically identifies the contacting entity as a spammer, potential spammer, or non-spammer. The system performs a default screening of the communication based on the classification. Alternatively, the target contacted entity can specify a configuration for different actions the system takes to screen the communication based on the source contacting entity classification.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method performed by a communication screening system comprising at least one server with a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the computer-implemented method comprising:

intercepting at the communication screening system, a communication that is intended for delivery to an intended contacted entity;

extracting from the communication, an identifier identifying a contacting entity that originates the communication;

querying an entity database using the identifier, the entity database comprising a plurality of entity profiles, each entity profile of the plurality of entity profiles storing verified identifying and contact information for a different entity;

receiving, responsive to said querying, an entity profile comprising verified identifying and contact information for the contacting entity, wherein information for said entity profile is not provided by the contacted entity and includes at least one of an industry in which the contacting entity operates, a verified street address, a verified telephone number, and a verified online presence of the contacting entity; and

screening the communication based on the information from the entity profile, wherein screening the communication comprises performing a first action for the communication in response to determining from the entity profile information that the contacting entity is not a spammer and performing a second action for the communication in response to determining from the entity profile information that the contacting entity is a spammer.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising classifying the contacting entity as at least one of a spammer and non-spammer based on the information from the profile.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein classifying the contacting entity comprises classifying the contacting entity as a spammer based on information from the entity profile indicating that the contacting entity operates in a first set of industries or occupations and classifying the contacting entity as a non-spammer based on information from the entity profile indicating that the contacting entity operates in a second set of industries or occupations that are different than the first set of industries or occupations.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein classifying the contacting entity comprises classifying the contacting entity as a spammer based on information from the entity profile that indicates credibility of the contacting entity being less than a specified threshold and classifying the contacting entity as a non-spammer based on information from the entity profile that indicates the credibility of the contacting entity being greater than the specified threshold.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein performing the first action comprises forwarding the communication to the intended contacted entity, and wherein performing the second action comprises at least one of (i) preventing delivery of the communication to the intended contacted entity and (ii) directing the communication to a mailbox of the intended contacted entity.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein performing the first action comprises inserting a first whisper with the communication to identify that the contacting entity is not a spammer, wherein performing the second action comprises inserting a second whisper with the communication to identify that the contacting entity is a spammer, and wherein each of the first and second whispers comprise an audible prompt that is played when the communication is established with the contacted entity.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the identifier is a first identifier, the computer-implemented method further comprising extracting a second identifier identifying the intended contacted entity from the communication.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7 further comprising retrieving using the second identifier, a configuration defined by the contacting entity that is stored to the non-transitory computer-readable medium, the configuration identifying (i) the first action to be performed by the system when the contacting entity is determined to not be a spammer and (ii) the second action to be performed by the system when the contacting entity is determined to be a spammer.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the communication is a telephone call placed by the contacting entity to the contacted entity, and wherein the identifier is the telephone number of the contacting entity.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein screening the communication further comprises performing a third action for the communication in response to determining from the entity profile information that the contacting entity is a potential spammer.

11. A computer-implemented method performed by a communication screening system comprising at least one server with a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the computer-implemented method comprising:

intercepting a communication at the communication screening system before delivery of the communication to an intended contacted entity;

extracting from the communication, an identifier identifying a contacting entity that originates the communication;

obtaining credibility of the contacting entity using the identifier, said credibility quantifying sentiment expressed from any of a plurality of reviews and a plurality of ratings relating to experiences that others have had with the contacting entity;

screening the communication according to the credibility of the contacting entity, wherein screening the communication comprises performing a first action for the communication when the credibility of the contacting entity is below a specified threshold and performing a second action for the communication when the credibility of the contacting entity is greater than the specified threshold, wherein the first action is different than the second action.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the credibility is quantified as a credibility score.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 further comprising registering the intended contacted entity for communication screening prior to said intercepting, wherein registering the intended contacted entity comprises specifying a configuration for the intended contacted entity, the configuration defining the first action and the second action to perform based on the credibility of the contacting entity.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the identifier is a first identifier, the computer-implemented method further comprising extracting a second identifier identifying the intended contacted entity that is the recipient for the communication.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14 further comprising obtaining the configuration for the intended contacted entity using the second identifier prior to said screening, and wherein screening the communication further comprises using the configuration to identify the first action to be performed by the screening system when the credibility of the contacting entity is below the specified threshold and to identify the second action to be performed by the screening system when the credibility of the contacting entity is greater than the specified threshold.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein performing the first action comprises forwarding the communication directly to the intended contacted entity, and wherein performing the second action comprises at least one of forwarding the communication to a voicemail of the intended contacted entity and terminating the communication.

17. A computer-implemented method performed by a communication screening system comprising at least one server with a processor and a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the computer-implemented method comprising:

storing a plurality of configurations defined by a plurality of entities to the non-transitory computer-readable medium, wherein a particular configuration defined by a first entity of the plurality of entities specifies a first action for the screening system to perform when a spammer attempts to contact the first entity and a second action for the screening system to perform when a non-spammer attempts to content the first entity, and wherein the particular configuration does not specify an enumerated listing of spammers or non-spammers;

intercepting a communication from a second entity to the first entity, wherein the communication comprises a source identifier used for contacting the second entity and a target identifier used for contacting the first entity;

obtaining, using the source identifier, information identifying the second entity to at least one of a first classification and a second classification;

retrieving the particular configuration for the first entity using the target identifier; and

screening the communication by performing the first action specified in the particular configuration when the contacting entity is identified to the first classification and performing the second action specified in the particular configuration when the contacting entity is identified to the second classification.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17 further comprising querying a database using the source identifier, the database comprising a plurality of profiles, each profile of the plurality of profiles storing information about a different entity.