Identification of email forwarders

US7908328B1 · kind B1 · utility

Assignee

• Microsoft Corporation · US

Inventors

• Geoffrey J. Hulten · Bainbridge Island, US
• Anthony Penta · Bellevue, US
• David M. Chickering · Bellevue, US
• Eliot C. Gillum · Mountain View, US
• Gopalakrishnan Seshadrinathan · Redmond, US
• Jay T. Buckingham · Kirkland, US
• Joshua T. Goodman · Redmond, US
• Paul Rehfuss · Seattle, US
• Robert L. Rounthwaite · Fall City, US
• Ryan Colvin · Bothell, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Dec 27, 2004
• Grant date: Mar 15, 2011
• Expiry date: Jan 22, 2028

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H04L51/212
• WIPO field: Digital communication
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

Identification of email forwarders is described. In an implementation, a method includes using heuristics to identify email forwarders for use in a reputation system for locating spammers. In another implementation, a method includes determining a likelihood that a particular Internet Protocol (IP) address corresponds to an email forwarder and processing email originating from the particular IP address based on the determined likelihood. In a further implementation, a method includes collecting heuristic data that describes characteristics of emails sent from one or more Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and constructing a model from the heuristic data for identifying whether at least one of the IP address is an email forwarder. In yet a further implementation, a method includes identifying that a particular Internet Protocol (IP) address likely corresponds to an email forwarder and processing email from the particular IP address based on an implied sender of the email.