Zone classification of electronic mail messages

• US 9,838,349 B2
• Filed: 03/08/2010
• Issued: 12/05/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/08/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Parthasarathy, Krishna Kumar, Panasyuk, Anatoliy
• Primary Examiner(s): TODD, GREGORY G
• Application Number:
  US12/719,801
• Publication Number:
  US 20110219081A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,829 Days
• Field of Search: 709206, 709207, 709203, 709204
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/18 Commands or executable codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/212 using filtering or selective blocking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/42 Mailbox-related aspects, e.g. synchronisation of mailboxes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/48 Message addressing, e.g. address format or anonymous messages, aliases
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0236 Filtering by address, protocol, port number or service, e.g. IP-address or URL

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention relate to techniques for classifying received e-mails and e-mails to be sent. In some embodiments, a set of e-mail zones may be defined and e-mails may be classified into one of the plurality of zones. An indication of the zone into which an e-mail has been classified may be displayed in a visual display of the e-mail.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

displaying an electronic mail (e-mail) message by an e-mail client application program executing on a computer, the displayed e-mail message to be sent from an e-mail address domain that is internal to an organization to a plurality of recipient e-mail addresses including;

a first recipient e-mail address which is external to the organization,

a second recipient e-mail address which is internal to the organization, and

a third recipient e-mail address which is external to the organization;

sending, by the e-mail client application program, the plurality of recipient e-mail addresses to an e-mail server of the organization, wherein the e-mail server of the organization is configured to determine;

the first recipient e-mail address which is external to the organization includes an e-mail address domain that has been listed by the organization as a trusted partner domain,

the second recipient e-mail address which is internal to the organization includes an e-mail address domain that is internal to the organization, and

the third recipient e-mail address which is external to the organization includes an e-mail address domain that has not been listed by the organization as a trusted partner domain and that has not been listed by the organization as a restricted domain;

receiving, by the e-mail client application program from the e-mail server of the organization, different e-mail zone classifications including;

a trusted partner zone for the first recipient e-mail address which is external to the organization,

an intra-organization zone for the second recipient e-mail address which is internal to the organization, and

a general internet zone for the third recipient e-mail address which is external to the organization;

adding, by the e-mail client application program, zone information indicating the different e-mail zone classifications into a header of the displayed e-mail message;

visually displaying, by the e-mail client application program, an indication of each different e-mail zone classification in the displayed e-mail message;

processing, by the e-mail client application program, the displayed e-mail message as multiple separate e-mail messages that are classified based on the zone information, the multiple separate e-mail messages including;

a first e-mail message which is addressed only to the first recipient e-mail address and which is classified into the trusted partner zone,

a second e-mail message which is addressed only to the second recipient e-mail address and which is classified into the inter-organization zone, and

a third e-mail message which is addressed only to the third recipient e-mail address and which is classified into the general internet zone;

accessing, by a policy engine of the e-mail client application program, policy information stored in memory of the computer;

determining, by the policy engine, policy actions specified by the policy information that are to be performed on the third e-mail message based on classification of the third e-mail message into the general internet zone, wherein the policy actions include at least scanning contents of the third e-mail message for confidential information and blocking the third e-mail message from being sent when confidential information is contained in the third e-mail message;

sending, by the e-mail client application program to the e-mail server of the organization, the first e-mail message without the policy actions being performed on the first e-mail message;

sending, by the e-mail client application program to the e-mail server of the organization, the second e-mail message without the policy actions being performed on the second e-mail message; and

performing, by the policy engine, the policy actions on the third e-mail message.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication comprises an icon for each different e-mail zone classification.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication comprises a text label for each different e-mail zone classification.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending, by the e-mail client application program to the e-mail server of the organization, the third e-mail message when the scanning indicates that no confidential information is contained in the third e-mail message.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the displayed e-mail message comprises an attachment, and

the policy actions include prompting a user of the e-mail client application program to verify that the attachment is to be sent to the third recipient e-mail address.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the policy actions include encrypting the third e-mail message when the scanning indicates that no confidential information is contained in the third e-mail message.

7. A computer-readable storage device storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform a method comprising:

displaying an electronic mail (e-mail) message by an e-mail client application, the displayed e-mail message to be sent from an e-mail address domain that is internal to an organization to a plurality of recipient e-mail addresses including;

a first recipient e-mail address which is external to the organization,

a second recipient e-mail address which is internal to the organization, and

a third recipient e-mail address which is external to the organization;

sending, by the e-mail client application program, the plurality of recipient e-mail addresses to an e-mail server of the organization, wherein the e-mail server of the organization is configured to determine;

the first recipient e-mail address which is external to the organization includes an e-mail address domain that has been listed by the organization as a trusted partner domain,

the second recipient e-mail address which is internal to the organization includes an e-mail address domain that is internal to the organization, and

the third recipient e-mail address which is external to the organization includes an e-mail address domain that has not been listed by the organization as a trusted partner domain and that has not been listed by the organization as a restricted domain;

receiving, by the e-mail client application program from the e-mail server of the organization, different e-mail zone classifications including;

a trusted partner zone for the first recipient e-mail address which is external to the organization,

an intra-organization zone for the second recipient e-mail address which is internal to the organization, and

a general internet zone for the third recipient e-mail address which is external to the organization;

adding, by the e-mail client application program, zone information indicating the different e-mail zone classifications into a header of the displayed e-mail message;

visually displaying, by the e-mail client application program, an indication of each different e-mail zone classification in the displayed e-mail message;

processing, by the e-mail client application program, the displayed e-mail message as multiple separate e-mail messages that are classified based on the zone information, the multiple separate e-mail messages including;

a first e-mail message which is addressed only to the first recipient e-mail address and which is classified into the trusted partner zone,

a second e-mail message which is addressed only to the second recipient e-mail address and which is classified into the inter-organization zone, and

a third e-mail message which is addressed only to the third recipient e-mail address and which is classified into the general internet zone;

accessing, by a policy engine of the e-mail client application program, policy information stored in memory of the computing device;

determining, by the policy engine, policy actions specified by the policy information that are to be performed on the third e-mail message based on classification of the third e-mail message into the general internet zone, wherein the policy actions include at least scanning contents of the third e-mail message for confidential information and blocking the third e-mail message from being sent when confidential information is contained in the third e-mail message;

sending, by the e-mail client application program to the e-mail server of the organization, the first e-mail message without the policy actions being performed on the first e-mail message;

sending, by the e-mail client application program to the e-mail server of the organization, the second e-mail message without the policy actions being performed on the second e-mail message; and

performing, by the policy engine, the policy actions on the third e-mail message.

8. The computer-readable storage device of claim 7, further comprising:

sending, by the e-mail client application program to the e-mail server of the organization, the third e-mail message when the scanning indicates that no confidential information is contained in the third e-mail message.

9. The computer-readable storage device of claim 7, wherein:

the displayed e-mail message comprises an attachment, and

the policy actions include prompting a user of the e-mail client application program to verify that the attachment is to be sent to the third recipient e-mail address.

10. The computer-readable storage device of claim 7, wherein the policy information is configurable by a user of the computing device.

11. The computer-readable storage device of claim 7, wherein the indication comprises an icon for each different e-mail zone classification.

12. The computer-readable storage device of claim 7, wherein the indication comprises a text label for each different e-mail zone classification.

13. The computer-readable storage device of claim 7, wherein:

the policy actions include encrypting the third e-mail message when the scanning indicates that no confidential information is contained in the third e-mail message.

14. A computer system comprising:

a processor configured to execute processor-executable instructions; and

memory storing processor-executable instructions for causing an electronic mail (e-mail) client application program to;

display an e-mail message to be sent from an e-mail address domain that is internal to an organization to a plurality of recipient e-mail addresses including;

a first recipient e-mail address which is external to the organization,

a second recipient e-mail address which is internal to the organization, and

a third recipient e-mail address which is external to the organization;

send the plurality of recipient e-mail addresses to an e-mail server of the organization, wherein the e-mail server of the organization is configured to determine;

the first recipient e-mail address which is external to the organization includes an e-mail address domain that has been listed by the organization as a trusted partner domain,

the second recipient e-mail address which is internal to the organization includes an e-mail address domain that is internal to the organization, and

the third recipient e-mail address which is external to the organization includes an e-mail address domain that has not been listed by the organization as a trusted partner domain and that has not been listed by the organization as a restricted domain;

receive, from the e-mail server of the organization, different e-mail zone classifications including;

a trusted partner zone for the first recipient e-mail address which is external to the organization,

an intra-organization zone for the second recipient e-mail address which is internal to the organization, and

a general internet zone for the third recipient e-mail address which is external to the organization;

add, by the e-mail client application program, zone information indicating the different e-mail zone classifications into a header of the displayed e-mail message;

visually display an indication of each different e-mail zone classification in the displayed e-mail message;

process the displayed e-mail message as multiple separate e-mail messages that are classified based on the zone information, the multiple separate e-mail messages including;

a first e-mail message which is addressed only to the first recipient e-mail address and which is is classified into the trusted partner zone,

a second e-mail message which is address only to the second recipient e-mail address and which is classified into the inter-organization zone, and

a third e-mail message which is addressed only to the third recipient e-mail address and which is classified into the general internet zone;

access, via a policy engine of the e-mail client application program, policy information stored in the memory;

determine, via the policy engine, policy actions specified by the policy information that are to be performed on the third e-mail message based on classification of the third e-mail message into the general internet zone, wherein the policy actions include at least scanning contents of the first e-mail message for confidential information and blocking the third e-mail message from being sent when confidential information is contained in the third e-mail message;

send, via the e-mail client application program to the e-mail server of the organization, the first e-mail message without the policy actions being performed on the first e-mail message;

send, to the e-mail server of the organization, the second e-mail message without the policy actions being performed on the second e-mail message; and

perform, via the policy engine, the policy actions on the third e-mail message.

15. The computer system of claim 14, wherein:

the policy actions include encrypting the third e-mail message when the scanning indicates that no confidential information is contained in the third e-mail message.

16. The computer system of claim 14, wherein the indication comprises an icon for each different e-mail zone classification.

17. The computer system of claim 14, wherein:

the displayed e-mail message comprises an attachment, and

the policy actions include prompting a user of the e-mail client application program to verify that the attachment is to be sent to the third recipient e-mail address.

18. The computer system of claim 14, wherein the indication comprises a text label for each different e-mail zone classification.

19. The computer system of claim 14, wherein the memory further stores processor-executable instructions for causing the e-mail client application program to:

send, to the e-mail server of the organization, the third e-mail message when the scanning indicates that no confidential information is contained in the third e-mail message.

20. The computer system of claim 17, wherein:

the policy actions include blocking the third e-mail message from being sent when the attachment exceeds a threshold size limit.