Junk electronic mail detector and eliminator

Abstract

A method and system for parsing and analyzing incoming electronic mail messages to determine a confidence factor indicative of whether or not the messages are junk e-mail. The method and system utilize message services which attempt to contact the purported sender in order to verify that the identified host computer actually exists and accepts outgoing mail services for the specified user. The routing history is also examined to ensure that identified intermediate sites are also valid. Likewise, seed addresses can alert an e-mail provider to potential mass mailings by reporting when mail is received for ghost or non-existent accounts.

I claim what is new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:  
     
         1 . A computer program product, comprising: 
 a computer storage medium and a computer program code mechanism embedded in the computer storage medium for causing a computer to process electronic mail messages, the computer program code mechanism comprising:    a first computer code device configured to receive an incoming electronic mail message;    a second computer code device configured to determine a candidate machine and a candidate user id of a purported sender of the incoming electronic mail message;    a third computer code device configured to send a verification request to the candidate user id at the candidate machine;    a fourth computer code device configured to receive a verification response to the verification request; and    a fifth computer code device configured to block delivery of the incoming electronic mail message based on the verification response when the response indicates that the candidate machine does not exist.    
     
     
         2 . The computer program product as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 a sixth computer code device configured to send an authentication message to an authenticator to determine if the incoming electronic mail message purportedly from the candidate user id and candidate machine should be blocked,    a seventh computer code device configured to receive an authentication response from the authenticator indicating whether the incoming electronic mail message should be blocked; and    an eighth computer code device configured to block delivery of the incoming electronic mail message based on the authentication response.    
     
     
         3 . The computer program product as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the second computer code device comprises a sixth computer code device configured to parse a “From:” field into the candidate machine and the candidate user id.  
     
     
         4 . The computer program product as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the second computer code device comprises a sixth computer code device configured to parse a “Reply-To:” field into the candidate machine and the candidate user id.  
     
     
         5 . The computer program product as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the fifth computer code device comprises a sixth computer code device configured to block delivery of the incoming electronic mail message based on filtering rules and based on the verification response when the verification response indicates that the candidate machine does not exist or the candidate user id is invalid.  
     
     
         6 . The computer program product as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein the fifth and eighth computer code devices comprise a ninth computer code device configured to use a weighted metric to block delivery of the incoming electronic mail message based on the authentication response and based on the verification response when the verification response indicates that the candidate machine does not exist or the candidate user id is invalid.  
     
     
         7 . The computer program product as claimed in  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 a sixth computer code device configured to remove the incoming electronic mail message from a user's mail box after delivery when the incoming electronic mail message subsequently is identified as a junk electronic mail message.    
     
     
         8 . The computer program product as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein: 
 the second computer code device comprises a ninth computer code device configured to parse a unique identification code from the incoming electronic mail message; and    the sixth computer code device comprises a tenth computer code device configured to send the unique identification code, the candidate machine, and the candidate user id to the authenticator.    
     
     
         9 . A computer program product, comprising: 
 a computer storage medium and a computer program code mechanism embedded in the computer storage medium for causing a computer to process electronic mail messages, the computer program code mechanism comprising:    a first computer code device configured to receive an incoming electronic mail message;    a second computer code device configured to parse out an intended addressee for the incoming electronic mail message;    a third computer code device configured to compare the intended addressee to a list of seed addresses which identify possible mass mailings, and    a fourth computer code device configured to block delivery of other electronic mail messages when a message body of the other electronic mail messages is similar to a message body of the incoming electronic mail message.    
     
     
         10 . The computer program product as claimed in  claim 9 , wherein the fourth computer code device comprises a fifth computer code device configured to send the message body of the incoming electronic mail message to a remote authenticator.  
     
     
         11 . The computer program product as claimed in  claim 9 , wherein the fourth computer code device comprises a fifth computer code device configured to send the message body of the incoming electronic mail message to a local authenticator.  
     
     
         12 . A computer-implemented method of utilizing a computer memory to perform the steps of: 
 receiving an incoming electronic mail message;    determining a candidate machine and a candidate user id of a purported sender of the incoming electronic mail message;    sending a verification request to the candidate user id at the candidate machine;    receiving a verification response to the verification request; and    blocking delivery of the incoming electronic mail message based on the verification response when the verification response indicates that the candidate machine does not exist.    
     
     
         13 . The computer-implemented method as claimed in  claim 12 , further comprising the steps of: 
 sending an authentication message to an authenticator to determine if the incoming electronic mail message purportedly from the candidate user id and candidate machine should be blocked;    receiving an authentication response from the authenticator indicating whether the incoming electronic mail message should be blocked; and    blocking delivery of the incoming electronic mail message based on the authentication response.    
     
     
         14 . The computer-implemented method as claimed in  claim 12 , wherein the step of determining comprises the sub-step of parsing a “From:” field into the candidate machine and the candidate user id.  
     
     
         15 . The computer-implemented method as claimed in  claim 12 , wherein the step of determining comprises the sub-step of parsing a “Reply-To:” field into the candidate machine and the candidate user id.  
     
     
         16 . The computer-implemented method as claimed in  claim 12 , wherein the step of blocking comprises the sub-step of blocking delivery of the incoming electronic mail message based on filtering rules and based on the verification response when the verification response indicates that the candidate machine does not exist or the candidate user id is invalid.  
     
     
         17 . The computer-implemented method as claimed in  claim 13 , wherein the steps of blocking comprise a combined sub-step of using a weighted metric to block delivery of the incoming electronic mail message based on the authentication response and based on the verification response when the verification response indicates that the candidate machine does not exist or the candidate user id is invalid.  
     
     
         18 . The computer-implemented method as claimed in  claim 12 , further comprising: 
 removing the incoming electronic mail message from a user's mail box after delivery when the incoming electronic mail message subsequently is identified as a junk electronic mail message.    
     
     
         19 . The computer-implemented method as claimed in  claim 13 , wherein: 
 the step of determining comprises the sub-step of parsing a unique identification code from the incoming electronic mail message; and    the step of sending the verification request comprises sending the unique identification code, the candidate machine, and the candidate user id to the authenticator.    
     
     
         20 . A computer-implemented method of utilizing a computer memory to perform the steps of: 
 receiving an incoming electronic mail message;    parsing out an intended addressee for the incoming electronic mail message;    comparing the intended addressee to a list of seed addresses which identify possible mass mailings; and    blocking delivery of other electronic mail messages when a message body of the other electronic mail messages is similar to a message body of the incoming electronic mail message.    
     
     
         21 . The computer-implemented method as claimed in  claim 20 , wherein the step of blocking comprises sending the message body of the incoming electronic mail message to a remote authenticator.  
     
     
         22 . The computer-implemented method as claimed in  claim 20 , wherein the step of blocking comprises sending the message body of the incoming electronic mail message to a local authenticator.  
     
     
         23 . A computer program product, comprising: 
 a computer storage medium and a computer program code mechanism embedded in the computer storage medium for causing a computer to process electronic mail messages, the computer program code mechanism comprising:    a first computer code device configured to receive an incoming electronic mail message;    a second computer code device configured to determine a candidate machine and a candidate user id of a purported sender of the incoming electronic mail message;    a third computer code device configured to send a verification request to the candidate user id at the candidate machine;    a fourth computer code device configured to receive a verification response to the verification request; and    a fifth computer code device configured to block delivery of the incoming electronic mail message based on the verification response when the response indicates that the candidate user id is invalid.    
     
     
         24 . A computer-implemented method of utilizing a computer memory to perform the steps of: 
 receiving an incoming electronic mail message;    determining a candidate machine and a candidate user id of a purported sender of the incoming electronic mail message;    sending a verification request to the candidate user id at the candidate machine;    receiving a verification response to the verification request; and    blocking delivery of the incoming electronic mail message based on the verification response when the verification response indicates that the candidate user id is invalid.    
     
     
         25 . A system for blocking undesired e-mails, the system comprising: 
 means for receiving an incoming electronic mail message;    means for determining a candidate machine and a candidate user id of a purported sender of the incoming electronic mail message;    means for sending a verification request to the candidate user id at the candidate machine;    means for receiving a verification response to the verification request; and    means for blocking delivery of the incoming electronic mail message based on the verification response when the verification response indicates that the candidate user id is invalid.    
     
     
         26 . A system for blocking undesired e-mails, the system comprising: 
 means for receiving an incoming electronic mail message;    means for determining a candidate machine and a candidate user id of a purported sender of the incoming electronic mail message;