System for eliminating unauthorized electronic mail

Abstract

A system for eliminating unauthorized email sent to a user on a network analyzes the sender address of incoming email and determines whether it is to be rejected by returning a standard “no such user” error code or accepted depending upon executing processing rules and analyzing managed lists of authorized senders. This provides an advantage over existing anti-spam filtering systems by intercepting unauthorized email before it reaches an existing email server or client. The system rejects all email unless authorized by using a standard “no such user” error code, and by redirecting the unauthorized email back to the sender or to a sender evaluation site. An ASL module captures authorized sender addresses from the user's outgoing email and other sources in order to update “authorized senders” lists. The system may employ a WBM procedure that notifies senders of rejected email to go to a separate website and register as valid senders after passing an interaction test that precludes automatic registration by a mechanical program. A destination proxy email address procedure allows subscribers to use temporary proxy addresses for receiving email expected from unknown sources and instantiates senders as authorized upon receiving the expected email to the proxy addresses. The unauthorized-email rejection component can be readily configured as a hardware or software appliance used in tandem with a conventional email server, email gateway, or firewall to an intranet, or as a software extension to an existing firewall system.

Description

[0001]This continuation-in-part U.S. patent application claims the priority of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 648,894, filed on Aug. 25, 2000, entitled “System for Eliminating Unauthorized Electronic Mail”, which claimed the priority of U.S. Provisional Application 60 / 150,025, filed on Sep. 1, 1999, entitled “Unwanted Email Filtering System”, and U.S. Provisional Application 60 / 180,937, filed on Feb. 8, 2000, entitled “Unwanted Email Filtering System”, all by the same inventor.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]This invention relates to a system for eliminating unwanted email, and particularly to one in which all email must be recognized as sent by an authorized sender in order to be accepted.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]Unwanted or unauthorized email is a significant bane for users on worldwide networks, such as the current public Internet. Once a person's email address becomes known in a network system, it can easily be replicated in computerized lists and passed on electronical...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This system provides 100% effective spam control by pre-processing emails according to pre-set rules, rejecting unauthorized senders and preventing spam from reaching the user's inbox, even when spammers change their addresses or disguise themselves.

Problems solved by technology

Unwanted or unauthorized email is a significant bane for users on worldwide networks, such as the current public Internet.

A user's electronic mailbox can become inundated with such unauthorized email.

The user may also waste a significant amount of time opening and reviewing such unwanted email.

Unauthorized email may also be sent by unscrupulous persons who may enclose a virus or noxious software agent in the email which can infect the user's computer system, or which can be used as an unauthorized point of entry into a local network system that handles the user's email.

This approach is only as good as the identifying list and cannot guarantee that the user will not receive spam.

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