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Active e-mail filter with challenge-response

  • US 9,503,406 B2
  • Filed: 03/03/2015
  • Issued: 11/22/2016
  • Est. Priority Date: 07/16/2002
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. A method for filtering electronic mail (e-mail) at a central e-mail server comprising:

  • receiving an e-mail having a sender and a recipient;

    categorizing, via the central e-mail server, a current level of security associated with the central e-mail server, wherein the current level of security corresponds to a type of filtering of e-mails to be performed by the central e-mail server on the received email;

    generating instructions, via the central e-mail server, for a challenge message to be sent to the sender in response to the received e-mail, the challenge message is an active image-based challenge associated with the current level of security, in which a challenge question is part of a moving or changing image, wherein the challenge question is presented as scrolling text that is part of the moving or changing image and requires a correct e-mail response to be selected from a provided set comprising a plurality of possible e-mail responses;

    waiting, for a pre-determined period of time via the central e-mail server, for a response message from the sender in response to the challenge message, wherein the response message addresses the challenge message sent by the central e-mail server;

    receiving, via the central e-mail server, a response message from the sender;

    evaluating, via the central e-mail server, the response message to classify the received e-mail and sender; and

    transmitting, the received e-mail to the recipient via the central e-mail server, including information about the received e-mail and the sender facilitating user filtering of e-mails, wherein the recipient can store the filtered e-mail and provide a label for the sender based on the information about the filtered e-mail and the sender transmitted from the central e-mail server.

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