Authenticating electronic communications
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of authenticating an electronic mail item, comprising:
- parsing a header of the electronic mail item to obtain an IP address of a sender of the electronic mail item from a transmission data mail header of the header and to obtain a purported sender domain name from a visible mail header of the header;
interrogating a business entity database with the purported sender domain name to obtain an associated IP address of the sender associated with the purported sender domain name;
comparing the IP address and the associated IP address of the sender to determine whether the IP address and the associated IP address match or not;
generating an authenticity indicator in response to the comparison to indicate of likelihood that the electronic mail item is spoofed; and
presenting the authenticity indicator to a recipient of the electronic mail item.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method includes generating an authenticity indicator for an electronic communication based on a comparison of domain name data and purported sender data associated with the electronic communication, the authenticity indicator indicating a likelihood that the electronic communication was sent from a purported sender of the electronic communication. The authenticity indicator is presented to the recipient of the electronic communication.
31 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A method of authenticating an electronic mail item, comprising:
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parsing a header of the electronic mail item to obtain an IP address of a sender of the electronic mail item from a transmission data mail header of the header and to obtain a purported sender domain name from a visible mail header of the header; interrogating a business entity database with the purported sender domain name to obtain an associated IP address of the sender associated with the purported sender domain name; comparing the IP address and the associated IP address of the sender to determine whether the IP address and the associated IP address match or not; generating an authenticity indicator in response to the comparison to indicate of likelihood that the electronic mail item is spoofed; and presenting the authenticity indicator to a recipient of the electronic mail item. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A machine-readable medium embodying a sequence of instructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine execute a method of authenticating electronic mail, the method including:
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parsing a header of the electronic mail item to obtain an IP address of a sender of the electronic mail item from a transmission data mail header of the header and to obtain a purported domain name of the sender from a visible mail header of the header; interrogating a business entity database with the purported domain name to obtain an associated IP address of the sender associated with the purported domain name; comparing the IP address and the associated IP address of the sender to determine whether they match or not; generating an authenticity indicator in response to the comparison to indicate of likelihood that the electronic mail item is spoofed; and presenting the authenticity indicator to a recipient of the electronic mail item. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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9. A mail server for authenticating an electronic mail item communicated between the mail server and at least one client device, comprising:
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a communication interface for communicating with the at least one client device; a processor; and memory which includes a set of instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to parse a header of the electronic mail item to obtain an IP address of a sender of the electronic mail item from a transmission data mail header of the header and to obtain a purported sender domain name from a visible mail header of the header; interrogate a business entity database with the purported sender domain name to obtain an associated IP address of the sender associated with the purported domain name; compare the IP address and the associated IP address of the sender to determine whether they match or not; generate an authenticity indicator in response to the comparison to indicate of likelihood that the electronic mail item is spoofed; and presenting the authenticity indicator to a recipient of the electronic mail item. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of authenticating an electronic mail item, the method including:
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parsing a header of the electronic mail to obtain an IP address of a sender of the electronic mail item and to obtain a purported domain name of the sender of the electronic mail; interrogating a business entity database with the header IP address to obtain an associated domain name; comparing the associated domain name and the purported domain name of the sender to determine whether they match or not; generating the authenticity indicator in response to the comparison to indicate of likelihood that the electronic mail item is spoofed; and presenting the authenticity indicator to a recipient of the electronic mail item. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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Specification