Intermediary Node Link Hashing for Phishing Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems fail to effectively detect and process malicious email messages, particularly those designed to deceive users into revealing sensitive information through spoofed or cloned emails that appear legitimate, which can lead to phishing attacks.
Innovation Solution
A cloud-based intermediary node system that analyzes email links for potential malicious resources, replaces them with safe alternatives, and provides transparency to recipients by modifying the email to show the true domain name, while also quarantining or blocking malicious emails and maintaining safelists and blocklists.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If email links are left unmodified for direct access, then user convenience is maintained, but users are exposed to phishing attacks and malicious resources
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary node that sits between the email client and the actual resource. When a user clicks a link, the intermediary node intercepts the request, validates the destination, and either allows or blocks access. This mediator approach maintains user convenience while adding security validation, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and reliability.
2Reliability
If all email links are blocked by default, then user protection from malicious content is maximized, but legitimate email communication is disrupted
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary validation of email links before they are delivered to or accessed by users. By pre-processing links and maintaining blocklists of known malicious domains, the system can allow legitimate emails to pass through unchanged while blocking malicious ones, thus protecting users without disrupting legitimate communication workflows.
3Measurement precision
If email messages are analyzed in detail for malicious content, then detection accuracy is improved, but processing time and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a multi-layered detection approach where not all emails undergo the same level of analysis. Surface-level checks (spam filters, known malicious domain blocklists) are applied to all emails quickly, while more intensive analysis (sandboxing, behavioral analysis) is reserved for suspicious messages. This partial action approach maintains high detection accuracy for malicious content while minimizing processing time for legitimate emails.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems for malicious message detection and processing are provided. An example method includes detecting, via an intermediary node, a link included in a message, the link being associated with an unknown resource or a known malicious resource. The intermediary node may have a processor and a memory for storing executable instructions to perform the method. The example method further includes hashing a unique identifier for each recipient of the message; coupling each of the hashed unique identifiers with the link to create an unique updated link for each recipient; and for each recipient, replacing the link in the message with their corresponding unique updated link. The method may include causing forwarding of the updated message with the corresponding unique updated link to each recipient. If the resource is a malicious resource, the unique update link may be to a block webpage associated with a trusted resource.