Categorizing electronic messages based on trust between electronic messaging entities

• US 20040255122A1
• Filed: 06/12/2003
• Published: 12/16/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: McCall, Keith A., Ingerman, Aleksandr, Millett, Thomas Welles
• Granted Patent: US 7,263,607 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/176
• 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 63/0254 Stateful filtering

Abstract

The principles of the present invention provide for categorizing electronic messages based on trust between electronic messaging entities. Messaging servers maintain trust lists indicating levels of trust between electronic messaging entities. Trust lists can be generated from existing trust information, such as, for example, address book entries. Messaging servers also maintain activity stores that indicate messaging activity between messaging entities. Based on information in a trust list and, when appropriate, information in an activity store, a messaging server can categorize an accessed electronic message, such as, for example, as unwanted and/or unsolicited. Messaging servers can securely exchange trust list information to increase the possibility of identifying a level of trust between messaging entities, even between messaging entities that have not previously exchanged electronic messages. Exchanged trust list information increases the possibility that a messaging server will be able to appropriately categorize an accessed electronic message.

Claims

1. In an messaging server that is network connectable to one or more other messaging servers and a plurality of messaging clients, the messaging server including an information manager for collecting electronic message statistical data associated with electronic messages and storing the electronic message statistical data in an activity store, the messaging server also including a trust list indicating levels of trust between messaging entities, a method for categorizing an electronic message based on trust between a sending entity and a recipient entity, the method comprising:

an act of accessing an electronic message, the electronic message including electronic message data that was sent from the sending entity to the recipient entity;

an act of identifying a sending messaging address from the accessed electronic message, the sending messaging address corresponding to the sending entity;

an act of calculating a reliability index for the sending messaging address based at least in part on trust list information in the trust list, the trust list information indicating a level of trust between the sending entity and the recipient entity; and

an act of categorizing the accessed electronic message based at least in part on the calculated reliability index.

2. The method as recited claim 1, wherein the act of accessing an electronic message comprises an act of accessing an electronic message that was received from another messaging server.

3. The method as recited claim 1, wherein the act of accessing an electronic message comprises an act of accessing an electronic message is to be sent to another messaging server.

4. The method as recited claim 1, wherein the act of an act of accessing an electronic message comprises an act of accessing an electronic mail message.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of identifying a sending messaging address from the accessed electronic message comprises an act of identifying an electronic mail address from an SMTP header.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of calculating a reliability index for the sending messaging address comprises an act calculating a reliability index based on the degree of separation between a recipient messaging address that corresponds to the recipient entity and the sending messaging address.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of calculating a reliability index for the sending messaging address comprises an act calculating a reliability index based on whether or not the sending messaging address is included in an address list associated with the recipient entity.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of calculating a reliability index for the sending messaging address comprises an act calculating a reliability index based on electronic message statistical data stored in the activity store.

9. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein the act of calculating a reliability index based on electronic message statistical data stored in the activity store comprises an act of calculating a reliability index based on the number of electronic messages the sending entity has previously sent to the recipient entity.

10. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein the act of calculating a reliability index based on electronic message statistical data stored in the activity store comprises an act of calculating a reliability index based on the number of electronic messages the recipient entity has previously sent to the sending entity.

11. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of calculating a reliability index for the sending messaging address comprises an act calculating a reliability index based on trust information received from one of the one or more other messaging servers.

12. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of calculating a reliability index for the sending messaging address comprises an act calculating a reliability index for the sending messaging address even though no previous electronic message from the sending entity has been received at the messaging server.

13. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of categorizing the accessed electronic message based at least in part on the calculated reliability index comprises an act of transferring the reliability index and a portion of trust information to an electronic message categorization plug-in.

14. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of categorizing the accessed electronic message based at least in part on the calculated reliability index comprises an act of receiving an indication from an electronic message categorization plug-in that the accessed electronic message is SPAM.

15. In an requesting messaging server that is network connectable to one or more other messaging servers, the requesting messaging server including an information manager for collecting electronic message statistical data associated with electronic messages and storing the electronic message statistical data in an activity store, the electronic messaging server also including a trust list indicating levels of trust between messaging entities, a method for securely receiving trust information from a providing messaging server from among the one or more other messaging servers, the method comprising:

an act of accessing a received messaging address, the received messaging address corresponding to a messaging entity that accesses electronic messages at one of the one or more other messaging servers;

an act of generating a received address hash value from the received messaging address;

an act of sending a request for remote messaging addresses associated with the received messaging address to the providing messaging server, the request including at least the received address hash value and a public key;

an act of receiving at least one encrypted remote address hash value, the at least one encrypted remote address hash value being encrypted with the public key, the at least one encrypted remote address hash value representing a corresponding at least one remote messaging address associated with the received messaging address;

an act of decrypting the at least one encrypted remote address hash value with a corresponding private key to reveal a corresponding at least one decrypted remote address hash value; and

an act of assimilating the at least one decrypted remote address hash value in the trusted list.

16. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the act of accessing a received messaging address comprises an act of accessing the received messaging address from a received electronic message.

17. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the act of generating a received address hash value from the received messaging address comprises an act of generating a hash value in accordance with the SHA-1 hashing algorithm.

18. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the act of sending a request for remote messaging addresses associated with the received messaging address to the providing messaging server comprises an act of sending a request that includes the received address hash value and a public key from a public/private key pair.

19. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the act of sending a request for remote messaging addresses associated with the received messaging address to the providing messaging server comprises an act of sending a request to a messaging address at the providing messaging server that is configured to receive requests for trust list information.

20. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the act of sending a request for remote messaging addresses associated with the received messaging address to the providing messaging server comprises an act of sending a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol message to the providing messaging server.

21. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the act of receiving at least one encrypted remote address hash value comprises an act of receiving an encrypted remote address hash value representing a messaging address of a messaging entity that has not previously sent an electronic message to the requesting messaging server.

22. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the act of receiving at least one encrypted remote address hash value comprises an act of receiving a trust list entry data structure that represents the degree of separation between the received messaging address and a remote messaging address.

23. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the act of receiving at least one encrypted remote address hash value comprises an act of receiving at least one encrypted remote address hash value associated with the received messaging address along with at least one encrypted remote address hash value not associated with the received messaging address so as to obfuscate the relationships between messaging entities.

24. The method as recited in claim 15, further comprising:

an act of generating a public/private key pair, the public/private key pair including a public key and a corresponding private key;

25. In an requesting messaging server that is network connectable to one or more other messaging servers, the requesting messaging server including an information manager for collecting electronic message statistical data associated with electronic messages and storing the electronic message statistical data in an activity store, the electronic messaging server also including a trust list indicating levels of trust between messaging entities, a method for securely receiving trust information from a providing messaging server from among the one or more other messaging servers, the method comprising:

an act of accessing a received messaging address, the received messaging address corresponding to an entity that accesses electronic messages at one of the one or more other messaging servers;

an act of generating a received address hash value from the received messaging address;

a step for securely exchanging messaging addresses with the providing messaging server so as to reduce the likelihood of revealing relationships between messaging entities were the messaging addresses to be intercepted;

an act of decrypting at least one encrypted remote address hash value with a corresponding private key to reveal a corresponding at least one decrypted remote address hash value; and

an act of assimilating the at least one decrypted remote address hash value in the trusted list.

26. In providing messaging server that is network connectable to one or more other messaging servers, the providing messaging server including an information manager for collecting electronic message statistical data associated with electronic messages and storing the electronic message statistical data in an activity store, the providing messaging server also including a trust list indicating levels of trust between messaging entities, a method for securely sending trust information to a receiving messaging server from among the one or more other messaging servers, the method comprising:

an act of receiving an indication that the providing messaging server is to search for locally stored messaging addresses associated with at least one received messaging address;

an act of identifying at least one locally stored messaging address associated with a received messaging address that was selected from among the at least one received messaging addresses;

an act of encrypting at least one local address hash value corresponding to the identified at least one locally stored messaging address with a public key, the public key being received from the receiving messaging server; and

an act of sending the at least one encrypted local address hash value to the receiving messaging server, the at least one encrypted local address hash value indicating to the receiving messaging server that the identified at least one local messaging address is associated with the received messaging address.

27. The method as recited in claim 26, the act of receiving an indication that the providing messaging server is to search for locally stored messaging addresses associated with at least one received messaging address comprises an act of receiving a request for locally stored messaging addresses associated with a received messaging address, the request being sent from the remote electronic messaging server, the request including at least a received address hash value and a public key.

28. The method as recited in claim 26, the act of receiving an indication that the providing messaging server is to search for locally stored messaging addresses associated with at least one received messaging address comprises an act of determining that a pre-determined interval has occurred.

29. The method as recited claim 26, wherein the act of identifying at least one locally stored messaging address associated with a received messaging address that was selected from among the at least one received messaging addresses comprises comparing a received address hash value to local address hash values contained in the trusted list.

30. The method as recited in claim 26, wherein the act of sending the at least one encrypted local address hash value to the receiving messaging server comprises an act of pushing the at least one encrypted local address hash value to the receiving messaging server based on a prior trust information exchange agreement between the providing messaging server and the receiving messaging server.

31. The method as recited in claim 26, wherein the act of sending the at least one encrypted local address hash value to the receiving messaging server comprises an act of sending the at least one encrypted local address hash value to a messaging address at the receiving messaging server that is configured to receive trust list information.

32. The method as recited in claim 26, wherein the act of sending the at least one encrypted local address hash value to the receiving messaging server comprises an act of sending a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol message to the receiving messaging server.

33. A computer program product for use in an messaging server that is network connectable to one or more other messaging servers and a plurality of messaging clients, the messaging server including an information manager for collecting electronic message statistical data associated with electronic messages and storing the electronic message statistical data in an activity store, the messaging server also including a trust list indicating levels of trust between messaging entities, the computer program product for implementing a method for categorizing an electronic message based on trust between a sending entity and a recipient entity, the computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable media having stored thereon computer executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the messaging server to perform the following:

access an electronic message, the electronic message including electronic message data that was sent from the sending entity to the recipient entity;

identify a sending messaging address from the accessed electronic message, the sending messaging address corresponding to the sending entity;

calculate a reliability index for the sending messaging address based at least in part on trust list information in the trusted list, the trust list information indicating a level of trust between the sending entity and the recipient entity; and

categorize the accessed electronic message based at least in part on the calculated reliability index.

34. The computer program product as recited in claim 33, wherein the one or more computer-readable media are physical media.

35. The computer program product as recited in claim 33, wherein the one or more computer-readable media include system memory.

36. A computer program product for use in an requesting messaging server that is network connectable to one or more other messaging servers, the requesting messaging server including an information manager for collecting electronic message statistical data associated with electronic messages and storing the electronic message statistical data in an activity store, the electronic messaging server also including a trust list indicating levels of trust between messaging entities, the computer program product for implementing a method for securely receiving trust information from a providing messaging server from among the one or more other messaging servers, the computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable media having stored thereon computer executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the requesting messaging server to perform the following:

access a received messaging address, the received messaging address corresponding to an entity that accesses electronic messages at one of the one or more other messaging servers;

generate a received address hash value from the received messaging address;

send a request for remote messaging addresses associated with the received messaging address to the providing messaging server, the request including at least the received address hash value and a public key;

receive at least one encrypted remote address hash value, the at least one encrypted remote address hash value being encrypted with the public key, the at least one encrypted remote address hash value representing a corresponding at least one messaging address associated with the received messaging address;

decrypt the at least one encrypted remote address hash value with a corresponding private key to reveal a corresponding at least one decrypted remote address hash value; and

store the at least one decrypted remote address hash value in the trusted list

37. The computer program product as recited in claim 36, wherein the one or more computer-readable media are physical media.

38. The computer program product as recited in claim 36, wherein the one or more computer-readable media include system memory.

39. A computer program product for use in providing messaging server that is network connectable to one or more other messaging servers, the providing messaging server including an information manager for collecting electronic message statistical data associated with electronic messages and storing the electronic message statistical data in an activity store, the providing messaging server also including a trust list indicating levels of trust between messaging entities, the computer program product for implementing a method for securely sending trust information to a receiving messaging server from among the one or more other messaging servers, the computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable media having stored thereon computer executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the providing messaging server to perform the following:

receive an indication that the providing messaging server should search for locally stored messaging addresses associated with at least one received messaging address;

identify at least one locally stored messaging address associated with a received messaging address that was selected from among the at least one received messaging addresses;

encrypt at least one local address hash value corresponding to the identified at least one locally stored messaging address with a public key, the public key being received from the receiving messaging server; and

send the at least one encrypted local address hash value to the receiving messaging server, the at least one encrypted local address hash value indicating to the receiving messaging server that the identified at least one local messaging address is associated with the received messaging address.

40. The computer program product as recited in claim 39, wherein the one or more computer-readable media are physical media.

41. The computer program product as recited in claim 39, wherein the one or more computer-readable media include system memory.

42. A local messaging server with one or more computer-readable media having stored thereon a trust list entry data structure for representing the degree of separation between a remote messaging entity and a local messaging entity, the trust list entry data structure comprising the following:

a remote address hash field representing a remote address hash value that identifies a remote messaging address of an remote messaging entity that can send electronic messages to the local messaging server;

a local address hash field representing a local address hash value that identifies a local messaging address of an entity that accesses electronic messages at the local messaging server, including electronic messages sent from remote messaging address identified in the remote address hash field; and

a separation field representing the degrees of separation between the local messaging address identified in the local address hash field and the remote messaging address identified in the remote address hash field.

43. The local messaging server with one or more computer-readable media having stored thereon a trust list entry data structure for representing the degree of separation between a remote messaging entity and a local messaging entity as recited in claim 42, the trust list entry data structure further comprised of:

a time stamp field representing when the trust list entry data structure was stored in a trust list.

44. In providing messaging server that is network connectable to one or more other messaging servers, the providing messaging server including an information manager for collecting electronic message statistical data associated with electronic messages and storing the electronic message statistical data in an activity store, the providing messaging server also including a trust list indicating levels of trust between messaging entities, a method for responding to a trust list request, the method comprising:

an act of configuring the providing messaging server to not reply to trust list requests from one or more particular messaging servers in the one or more other messaging servers;

an act of receiving a trust list request from a requesting messaging server;

an act of determining that the requesting messaging server is one of the one or more particular messaging servers; and

an act of terminating the trust list request such that the trust list request is not processed.

45. The method as recited in claim 44, wherein the act of configuring the providing messaging server to not reply to trust list requests from one or more particular messaging servers comprises an act of configuring the providing messaging server to not reply to requesting messaging servers in a specified domain.

46. The method as recited in claim 44, wherein the act of configuring the providing messaging server to not reply to trust list requests from one or more particular messaging servers comprises an act of configuring the providing messaging server to not reply to requesting messaging servers in a specified range of Internet Protocol addresses.

47. The method as recited in claim 44, wherein the act of determining that the requesting messaging server is one of the one or more particular messaging servers comprises an act of determining that the requesting messaging server is in a specified domain.

48. The method as recited in claim 44, wherein the act of determining that the requesting messaging server is one of the one or more particular messaging servers comprises an act of determining that the requesting messaging server is in a specified range of Internet Protocol addresses.