Unwanted e-mail filtering system including voting feedback

Abstract

A filter mechanism for unwanted e-mail messages uses a downloadable central source (1, 2) of filter rule data. User reports of received unwanted e-mail messages are relayed back to the central source of the filter data and used to automatically update that filter data. An algorithmic approach to identifying characteristics of unwanted e-mail messages may be applied based upon the preponderance of predetermined words within an e-mail message or characteristics of the addressee list. If an e-mail message is identified as suspect, but not definitely unwanted, then it may be encapsulated within a HTML document and sent to its addressee together with buttons (28) allowing the recipient to provide feedback in the form of votes as to whether or not that e-mail message is unwanted. This recipient feedback may be used to establish a new local rule.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]This invention relates to the field of data processing systems. More particularly, this invention relates to the field of e-mail filtering within such data processing systems.[0003]With the rise in the use of e-mail as a communication mechanism, this has been accompanied by a rise in the occurrence of unsolicited and unwanted e-mail messages. These so-called “Spam” messages cause a number of problems, such as consuming physical network and processing resources as well as wasting the time of the recipients in dealing with these messages in their inbox.[0004]2. Description of the Prior Art[0005]It is known to provide e-mail filtering mechanisms that apply predefined rules to received e-mail messages in order that Spam messages may be identified and automatically deleted. These existing system often work on content filtering with rules based on regular expressions applied to all inbound messages. A significant amount of un...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This solution provides a flexible and automated system for identifying and blocking spam messages more effectively, reducing the burden on mail systems and enabling faster and more reliable anti-spam protection by leveraging user feedback to improve filtering accuracy and responsiveness.

Problems solved by technology

A significant amount of unwanted e-mail is generally still able to pass through such systems because the filtering rules are not normally maintained to a high degree and tend to lack flexibility to deal with an ever changing problem.

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