JP2003224605A - Mail server and mail distribution control method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mail server and mail distribution control method which protect subscribers of a mail system against a junk mail sent from a sender having no relation with the subscribers of the mail distribution system. <P>SOLUTION: Provided are a key extracting means of extracting a recipient mail address and a key corresponding thereto from a received mail, an authenticating means of matches the couple of the recipient mail address extracted by the key extracting means and the key against a couple of a previously registered recipient mail address and a key corresponding thereto, and a distribution control means which distributes the mail when the authenticating means obtains a match. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mail server and a mail delivery control method, and more particularly to a mail server and a mail server for protecting a subscriber from unwanted mail sent from a party unrelated to the subscriber of the mail delivery system. It relates to a mail delivery control method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to send advertisement mails, solicitation mails, etc. to an unspecified large number of Internet users, there are businesses that randomly generate and send destination mail addresses by using random numbers. The destination mail generated in this manner is a so-called junk mail sent from a party unrelated to the recipient, and it is desired that the mail delivery system company detect and remove it in advance.

FIG. 6 shows a first conventional example for protecting subscribers of a mail delivery system from such unsolicited mail. In this example, control is performed so that an unreceivable mail address is registered in advance in the mail server for each recipient (subscriber), and mails from the mail address are not delivered to the recipient. As a second method, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-134257 (a mail delivery device and a mail delivery method) discloses a mail delivery method in which an identification code is sent in advance to a recipient who is permitted to receive the mail and only an email with the identification code attached is accepted. ing.

[0004]

The first conventional example shown in FIG. 6 is that "wow@fox.com, bow" is added to the "rejectable address list" corresponding to the recipient (email address: boo@foo.com). @
foe.com ”is registered. In this case, the mail of the user 2 whose sender address is "wow@fox.com" can be detected as "unreceivable mail" by collating with the unreceivable address list. However, like the user 3, the sender's address "bow@foe.com" is changed to "bow@who.co.
If it is tampered with like "m" or sent from another address, it cannot be detected as "unreceivable mail" and the subscriber will receive junk mail.

The second method is to prevent illegal registration in electronic commerce, etc., and each time a temporary application for a transaction is made, an identification code is transmitted from the server side to the temporary applicant, and thereafter the transaction is performed. Regarding the above, only mails to which the identification code is attached are accepted. With this method, an application without the provisional application procedure and therefore without the identification code attached can be rejected.However, if the provisional application procedure is performed, the identification code can be freely obtained regardless of the recipient's will, so malicious We cannot reject the provisional application (spam mail) that we have.

An object of the present invention is to protect subscribers from unsolicited e-mails sent from parties unrelated to the subscribers of the mail delivery system.

[0007]

A mail server according to the present invention includes a key extracting means for extracting a recipient mail address and a key corresponding to the recipient mail address from a received mail, and a reception extracted by the key extracting means. Authentication means for collating a person email address and key pair with a preregistered recipient email address and a key pair corresponding to the recipient email address, and delivering the email if the authentication means matches. And a delivery control means for controlling the delivery.

[0008] The recipient of the mail (subscriber) notifies the user (mail sender) who permits the reception in advance of the key corresponding to the recipient's mail address and the place where the key is designated. Register a recipient email address and a key pair corresponding to the recipient email address in the address / key list. Here, "deliver mail" means
It means a normal mail delivery process such as "notify recipient of incoming mail", "notify recipient of incoming mail after a predetermined time", or "hold mail in mail server".

FIG. 2 shows the outline of the operation of the present invention. The user 1 who has been notified in advance of the key corresponding to the recipient's email address and the place to specify the key by the recipient 7 sends the key corresponding to the email address to a predetermined place in the outgoing mail, for example, an email. Specify in the subject. The user 2 who sends unsolicited emails to an unspecified number of recipients cannot know the key corresponding to the email address and the place to specify the key. Therefore, the key corresponding to the mail address is not specified in the mail sent by the user 2. The mail server 3 that has received the mail addressed to the recipient 7 extracts the recipient's mail address and a predetermined location in the mail, for example, the key specified as the subject of the mail, and pre-registers it in the address / key list 8. Matches the recipient's email address and the key pair corresponding to the recipient's email address, and delivers the email if the match is found.

FIG. 3A shows a mode in which verification is performed by the authentication means in the mail server as in the above invention.
As shown in -b, the mail server may be provided with an authentication requesting means, and an authentication means such as an external certificate authority may be used. In this case, the recipient of the e-mail registers the recipient e-mail address and the key pair corresponding to the recipient e-mail address in advance in the certificate authority. Further, the key extracting means extracts the recipient email address and the key corresponding to the recipient email address from the received email, and the authentication requesting means verifies the pair of the extracted recipient email address and the key by external authentication. The request is sent to the station, and the delivery control means receives the result of the collation request, and delivers the mail when the collation is successful.

The address / key list 8 of the authentication means
It is also possible to register a set of keys corresponding to the sender email address, the recipient email address, and the recipient email address. In this case, the key extracting means extracts a set of a sender mail address, a recipient mail address, and a key corresponding to the recipient mail address from the received mail, and the authenticating means 4 extracts the set of mail address and key. Is collated with a previously registered mail address and key pair, the collation result is sent to the delivery control means, and the delivery control means 6 delivers the mail when the collation is successful.

[0012]

1 shows a mail server configuration according to the present invention. The mail server 3 has a key extracting means 5,
The authentication unit 4 and the delivery control unit 6 are provided, the key extraction unit 5 extracts the recipient email address and the key corresponding to the recipient email address from the received email, and the authentication unit 4 receives the extracted reception. The person's e-mail address and the key pair are collated by the collating means 9 in advance with the recipient e-mail address registered in the address / key list 8 in the authenticating means 4 and the key pair corresponding to the recipient e-mail address. The result is sent to the delivery control means, and the delivery control means 6 delivers the mail when the collation is successful.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a key description location in a mail whose delivery is controlled by the mail server shown in FIG.
FIG. 4-a shows a mail destination (recipient) address “To: b
"oo@foo.com" followed by email subject "hello"
An example in which "[Key = woo]" is described after is shown. Fig. 4-b
Is the sender address of the email "From: sender@world.com
An example of describing "Key = woo" in the mail header following ".

FIG. 4C shows "Key = woo" in the body of the mail.
The following is an example. In FIG. 4-d, a tag "<>" indicating that it is a key is added in the body of the email, and "<Key =" woo ">
An example is described. If the key is described in the body of the email or in the tag in the body of the email, it is necessary to refer to the body of the email, so it is desirable to obtain approval from the subscriber in advance.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the description of a key when broadcasting to a plurality of recipients. In this example, the addresses are "boo@foo.com", "bow@foo.com", and "boo @ nifty."
For the recipients of "com", the keys are "woo",
An example in which "bowbow" and "mc21" are described is shown. In this way, the mail server provider, that is, the mail delivery system trader, accepts registration of the mail address of the recipient (subscriber) and the key pair corresponding to the mail address of the recipient in the address / key list, and receives the received mail. It is possible to protect subscribers from unsolicited emails by matching the address with the key and delivering the email if the match is found. The certificate authority may be different from that of the mail delivery system company.

Supplementary note (Supplementary note 1): Key extracting means for extracting the recipient's email address and the key corresponding to the recipient's email address from the received mail; and the recipient's email address and key pair extracted by the key extracting means. An authentication means for collating a pre-registered recipient email address with a key pair corresponding to the recipient email address; and a delivery control means for delivering an email when the authentication means collates. A mail server characterized by that.

(Supplementary Note 2) Key extraction means for extracting the recipient mail address and the key corresponding to the recipient mail address from the received mail, and the matching of the recipient mail address and the key pair extracted by the key extraction means. A mail server comprising: an authentication requesting means for requesting an external certification authority; and a delivery control means for receiving the result of the collation request and delivering a mail when the collation is successful.

(Supplementary Note 3) The mail server according to Supplementary Note 1 or Supplementary Note 2, wherein the key extracting means extracts a key corresponding to the recipient's mail address from the subject of the received mail. Mail server. (Supplementary Note 4) Key extracting means for extracting a set of a sender email address, a recipient email address, and a key corresponding to the recipient email address from the received email, and a mail address and key pair extracted by the key extracting means. And an authenticating means for collating a sender's e-mail address, a recipient's e-mail address, and a key pair corresponding to the recipient's e-mail address, which are registered in advance, and a delivery for delivering an e-mail when the collating is successful. A mail server comprising a control means.

(Supplementary Note 5) A recipient e-mail address and a key corresponding to the recipient e-mail address are extracted from the received mail, and the extracted recipient e-mail address and key pair are received with the recipient e-mail address registered in advance. An e-mail delivery control method characterized by collating with a pair of keys corresponding to a person's e-mail address and delivering the e-mail when the collation is successful.

(Supplementary note 6) The mail server according to Supplementary note 1 or Supplementary note 2, wherein the key extracting means extracts the key corresponding to the recipient's mail address from the header of the received mail. server. (Supplementary note 7) The mail server according to Supplementary note 1 or Supplementary note 2, wherein the key extracting means extracts the key corresponding to the recipient's mail address from the body of the received mail.

(Supplementary Note 8) In the mail server according to Supplementary Note 1 or Supplementary Note 2, the key extracting means extracts the key corresponding to the recipient's mail address from the tag described in the body of the received mail. A mail server characterized by that. (Supplementary note 9) The mail server according to Supplementary note 1 or Supplementary note 2, wherein the key extracting means extracts the key corresponding to the recipient's email address from the attached file of the received email. .

(Supplementary Note 10) The mail server according to Supplementary Note 1 or Supplementary Note 2, wherein the delivery control means notifies the recipient of the arrival of the mail when the collation is successful. (Supplementary Note 11) In the mail server according to Supplementary Note 1 or Supplementary Note 2, if the delivery control means is verified,
A mail server characterized by holding received mail in the mail server.

(Supplementary Note 12) The mail server according to Supplementary Note 1 or Supplementary Note 2, wherein the delivery control means delivers the email to the recipient after a predetermined time if the collation is successful. server. (Supplementary note 13) The mail server according to Supplementary note 1 or Supplementary note 2, wherein the delivery control means is supplementary notes 10 to 1
A mail server characterized in that the delivery operation of 2 can be selectively set.

(Supplementary Note 14) The mail server according to Supplementary Note 1 or Supplementary Note 2, wherein the delivery control means returns the received mail to the sender when the collation fails. . (Supplementary note 15) The mail server according to Supplementary note 1 or Supplementary note 2, wherein the delivery control means deletes the received mail if the collation cannot be obtained.

(Supplementary note 16) The mail server according to Supplementary note 1 or Supplementary note 2, wherein the delivery control means holds the received email without delivering it if no collation is obtained. server. (Supplementary note 17) The mail server according to Supplementary note 1 or Supplementary note 2, wherein the delivery control means deletes the received mail after a predetermined time if the collation fails.

(Supplementary note 18) The mail server according to Supplementary note 1 or Supplementary note 2, wherein the delivery control means, if the collation fails, delivers the authentication result to the recipient instead of the received email. A mail server characterized by. (Supplementary note 19) The mail server according to Supplementary note 1 or Supplementary note 2, wherein the delivery control means is supplementary notes 14 to 1
8. A mail server characterized in that the delivery operation of 8 can be selectively set.

(Supplementary Note 20) The mail server according to Supplementary Note 2, wherein the key authentication requesting means sends the entire received mail to the certificate authority to request authentication. (Supplementary Note 21) In the mail server according to Supplementary Note 1 or Supplementary Note 2, when the received emails are emails simultaneously transmitted to a plurality of persons, the key extracting means uses the recipient email address in each email. And a key pair corresponding to the recipient's email address.

[Brief description of drawings]

[Figure 1] Mail server configuration

[Figure 2] Operation overview

FIG. 3 Arrangement of authentication means

[Fig. 4] Example of key description location

[Fig. 5] Example of description when broadcasting to multiple people

FIG. 6 Conventional example

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2 users 3 mail server 4 Authentication means 5 Key extraction means 6 Delivery control means 7 recipients 8 address / key list 9 Verification means

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A key extracting means for extracting a recipient email address and a key corresponding to the recipient email address from the received email, a recipient email address and key pair extracted by the key extracting means, and registered in advance. An authentication means for collating the received recipient e-mail address with a key pair corresponding to the recipient e-mail address; and a delivery control means for delivering the e-mail when the authentication means collates. And mail server. 2. A key extracting means for extracting a recipient email address and a key corresponding to the recipient email address from the received email, and a matching of the recipient email address and the key pair extracted by the key extracting means to the outside. And a delivery control means for receiving the result of the collation request and delivering an e-mail when the collation is successful. 3. The mail server according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the key extracting means extracts a key corresponding to the recipient email address from the subject of the received email. Mail server. 4. A key extracting means for extracting a set of a sender's email address, a recipient's email address, and a key corresponding to the recipient's email address from the received email; and a mail address and a key extracted by the key extracting means. Authentication means for collating the group with a registered sender email address, recipient email address, and key pair corresponding to the recipient email address; and delivering mail if the authentication means matches A mail server comprising a delivery control means. 5. The recipient email address and the key corresponding to the recipient email address are extracted from the received email, and the extracted recipient email address and key pair are registered in advance as the recipient email address and the recipient email. A mail delivery control method characterized by matching the key pair corresponding to the address and delivering the mail if the match is found.