Method and system for filtering communication

• US 8,943,308 B2
• Filed: 06/16/2008
• Issued: 01/27/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mailgate, LLC
• Original Assignee: Axway Incorporated (Axway Software SA)
• Inventors: Odnert, Daryl, Dolinsky, Dmitry, Bandini, Jean-Christophe
• Primary Examiner(s): Shiferaw, Eleni
• Assistant Examiner(s): CALLAHAN, PAUL E
• Application Number:
  US12/140,149
• Publication Number:
  US 20080250503A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,416 Days
• Field of Search: 713/154, 726/12, 726/13, 726/14, 726/24
• US Class Current: 713/154
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/22 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/285 Clustering or classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/955 using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/212 using filtering or selective blocking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/214 using selective forwarding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/224 providing notification on incoming messages, e.g. pushed notifications of received messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/14 for detecting or protecting against malicious traffic

Abstract

An e-mail relay provides message filtering services to an e-mail network. The e-mail relay monitors incoming communication and intercepts e-mail messages. The e-mail relay compares attributes of the messages to data derived from SPAM messages, which are stored in a SPAM database. The e-mail relay restricts the delivery of messages based on the comparison such as by restricting the delivery of messages having attributes close to those of SPAM messages from the SPAM database. The SPAM database is constructed by responding to user or administrator indications as to whether received messages are SPAM messages.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

an e-mail relay implemented at least partially in a hardware processor, wherein the e-mail relay provides both (i) filtering of unwanted e-mail based on contents of a database and (ii) collection of attributes and derived information for e-mails received by the e-mail relay for addition to the database and for use in filtering of subsequently received e-mails,

the e-mail relay configured to, using the hardware processor, categorize individual ones of the received e-mails into at least three categories, including clean, unwanted and borderline, wherein for at least some of the e-mails categorized as unwanted, either or both of attributes and derived information for the unwanted e-mail are added to the database, and wherein for at least some of the e-mails categorized as borderline, the e-mail relay quarantines the borderline e-mail and supplies an intended recipient thereof with an alternate message that includes a URL by which the intended recipient may initiate a retrieval session and specify that the quarantined e-mail is unwanted,

the e-mail relay further configured to, responsive to specification by the intended recipient that the quarantined e-mail is unwanted, prompt the intended recipient to classify the unwanted e-mail according to at least one pre-established category.

2. The apparatus of claim 1,

wherein responsive to specification by the intended recipient that the quarantined electronic message is unwanted, the e-mail relay performs a corresponding update of the database for use in the filtering of subsequently received e-mails.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising:

the database.

4. The apparatus of claim 1,

wherein the e-mails categorized as unwanted are spam.

5. The apparatus of claim 1,

wherein the addition to the database includes the classification by the intended recipient.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

an HTTP server to receive the included URL from the intended recipient and, responsive to receipt thereof, to prompt the intended recipient to supply the classification of the quarantined e-mail.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

wherein the attributes added to the database include the classification by the intended recipient.

8. The apparatus of claim 1,

wherein the URL included in the alternate message supplied to the intended recipient uniquely identifies the quarantined e-mail when submitted by the intended recipient to an HTTP server.

9. The apparatus of claim 8,

wherein the relay includes the HTTP server, and

wherein the implemented HTTP server receives the URL submission from the intended recipient.

10. A method of reducing a flow of unwanted electronic messages, the method comprising:

receiving electronic messages at a relay and determining that at least some of the received electronic messages are unwanted based on contents of a database that codes attributes and derived information characteristic of messages that have been determined to be unwanted, wherein the determining characterizes at least some of the electronic messages as neither clean, nor unwanted, but rather borderline;

updating contents of the database for use in the determining for subsequently received ones of the electronic messages, wherein the updating is based, at least in part, on attributes and derived information for electronic messages received by the relay itself;

directing those electronic messages characterized as borderline to a quarantine; and

supplying an intended recipient of a quarantined electronic message with an alternate message that includes a URL that allows the intended recipient to initiate a retrieval session and to specify that the quarantined electronic message is unwanted, wherein responsive to specification by the intended recipient that the quarantined electronic message is unwanted, the relay prompts the intended recipient to classify the unwanted electronic message according to at least one pre-established category.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

responsive to specification by the intended recipient that the quarantined electronic message is unwanted, performing a corresponding update of the database for use in the determining for subsequently received ones of the electronic messages.

12. The method of claim 11,

wherein the received electronic messages determined to be unwanted are spam.

13. The method of claim 10,

wherein the update to the database includes the classification by the intended recipient.

14. The method of claim 10,

wherein the relay implements an HTTP service to receive the included URL from the intended recipient and, responsive to receipt thereof, to prompt the intended recipient to supply the classification of the quarantined electronic message.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

updating the database further based on the classification by the intended recipient.

16. The method of claim 10,

wherein the URL included in the alternate message supplied to the intended recipient uniquely identifies the quarantined electronic message when submitted by the intended recipient to an HTTP service.

17. The method of claim 16,

wherein the relay implements the HTTP service, and

wherein the implemented HTTP service receives the URL submission from the intended recipient.

18. A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising a plurality of machine-readable instructions that when executed by one or more processors is adapted to cause the one or more processors to perform a method comprising:

receiving electronic messages at a relay and determining that at least some of the received electronic messages are unwanted based on contents of a database that codes attributes and derived information characteristic of messages that have been determined to be unwanted, wherein the determining characterizes at least some of the electronic messages as neither clean, nor unwanted, but rather borderline;

updating contents of the database for use in the determining for subsequently received ones of the electronic messages, wherein the updating is based, at least in part, on attributes and derived information for electronic messages received by the relay itself;

directing those electronic messages characterized as borderline to a quarantine; and

supplying an intended recipient of a quarantined electronic message with an alternate message that includes a URL that allows the intended recipient to initiate a retrieval session and to specify that the quarantined electronic message is unwanted, wherein responsive to specification by the intended recipient that the quarantined electronic message is unwanted, the relay prompts the intended recipient to classify the unwanted electronic message according to at least one pre-established category.