JP2018018343A - Mail information processing device, mail information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mail system that enables a user to easily perform settings related to rejection of junk mails.SOLUTION: A mail information processing device includes: detection means that detects storage of an electronic mail to a first folder; extraction means that extract the characteristics of the electronic mail which are specified on the basis of the first folder in which the electronic mail is stored, from the electronic mail stored in the first folder; and generation means that generates information on conditions for electronic mails to be rejected which is based on the extracted characteristics.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

  The present disclosure relates to email management and delivery control.

  Several techniques for rejecting (blocking) e-mails that the user does not want to receive, so-called junk mails, are known.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, a user sets whether or not to refuse reception for each email address of a sender via a user interface unit, and an email of a sender set to be rejected by a determination unit Describes a mail system that discards the e-mail when it is received.

  Patent Document 2 describes a mail system that uses a web browser to make settings related to an electronic mail that is rejected by a mail recipient.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-133867 describes a technique for extracting the destination information (destination email address) of each email whose destination is unknown or whose reception is rejected, and generating a reception rejection list.

  Patent Document 4 acquires information on the sender of junk mail at the MAC address level by registering route information of an email returned due to unknown destination and information on a MAC (Media Access Control) address. The technology is described.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-136012 JP 2013-157749 A JP 2007-5896 A JP 2006-86771 A

  As seen in the mail systems disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, the user usually activates a specific application or transitions to a specific setting screen in order to perform settings related to mail rejection. There is a need to. Then, the user inputs the characteristics of the mail to be rejected (for example, mail address). As described above, the setting relating to the rejection of mail generally involves troublesome work for the user.

  The techniques described in Patent Documents 3 and 4 are not techniques for setting an e-mail and a transmission source that the e-mail user wants to refuse to receive, and do not reflect the intention of the e-mail user.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a mail system that allows a user to easily perform settings related to rejection of spam mail.

  A mail information processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention stores an electronic mail from detection means for detecting storage of an electronic mail in a first folder and the electronic mail stored in the first folder. Extraction means for extracting the characteristics of the e-mail specified based on the first folder, and generation means for generating information on the e-mail condition to be rejected based on the extracted characteristics. Prepare.

  The mail information processing method according to an aspect of the present invention detects the storage of an email in a first folder, and the email is stored from the email stored in the first folder. The feature of the e-mail specified based on one folder is extracted, and information regarding the condition of the e-mail to be rejected is generated based on the extracted feature.

  A program according to one aspect of the present invention stores, in a computer, an electronic mail from a detection process for detecting storage of an electronic mail in a first folder and the electronic mail stored in the first folder. An extraction process for extracting the characteristics of the e-mail identified based on the first folder, and a generation process for generating information on the e-mail condition to be rejected based on the extracted characteristics. Let it run.

  According to the present invention, an e-mail user can make settings related to the rejection of junk mail by a simple operation.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the mail system which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a structure of the folder in a mailbox. It is a figure which shows the example of the data structure of a refusal database. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the operation | movement regarding the setting of refusal of the mail system which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the operation | movement regarding reception of an email of the mail transfer agent which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the mail system which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the mail system which concerns on the 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the mail system which concerns on the 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the main structures of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the main structures of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the example of the hardware which comprises each part of each embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

<< First Embodiment >>
First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described.

<Configuration>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the mail system 1 according to the first embodiment.

  The mail system 1 includes a mail server 11 and a client device 21. The mail server 11 and the client device 21 are connected via a communication network 31 so that they can communicate with each other.

  The client device 21 is a device for the user 41 to access the mail server 11. The client device 21 is a terminal such as a personal computer. The client device 21 is operated by the user 41 via an input / output interface or the like, for example.

  The client device 21 provides the user 41 with a function of accessing the mail server 11 by executing software that implements a MUA (Mail User Agent), a so-called mailer, for example. For example, in accordance with an input from the user 41, the client device 21 instructs the mail server 11 to perform an operation related to mail (for example, acquisition of an email, change of a folder in which the email is stored, etc.). Further, for example, the client device 21 acquires an e-mail from the mail server 11 and displays the e-mail so that the user 41 can view it.

  The mail server 11 includes a mail transfer agent (Mail Transfer Agent, hereinafter referred to as “MTA”) 111, a mail retrieval agent (Mail Retrieval Agent, hereinafter referred to as “MRA”) 112, a mail box 113, a rejection data generation unit 114, and a rejection database 115. Including.

=== MTA 111 ===
The MTA 111 is an agent that transfers electronic mail. The MTA 111 receives an e-mail from another MTA on the communication network 31. Then, the MTA 111 determines whether the delivery destination of the electronic mail is the mail server 11. A general protocol used by the MTA 111 with other MTA is SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol).

  If the delivery destination of the received e-mail is not the mail server 11, the MTA 111 transfers the e-mail to another MTA.

  If the delivery destination of the received electronic mail is the mail server 11, the MTA 111 specifies the destination of the electronic mail, that is, the user who should read the electronic mail. In addition, when a user cannot be specified (for example, when there is no user who uses a destination address), an email indicating an error may be sent to the sender.

  When the MTA 111 specifies the user of the e-mail destination, the MTA 111 determines whether to “reject” the e-mail. Specifically, the MTA 111 determines whether the received e-mail satisfies the “rejection condition” stored in the reject database 115. Details of the “rejection condition” and the determination will be described later in the description of the rejection database 115 and the operation. When the MTA 111 determines that the email satisfies the rejection condition, the MTA 111 rejects the email.

  There are various ways to reject an email. For example, the MTA 111 discards the electronic mail without putting it in the mailbox 113 (described later). The MTA 111 may return an error to the transmission source. Alternatively, for example, the MTA 111 stores the electronic mail in a folder in which spam mail is stored. Alternatively, for example, the MTA 111 adds predetermined information to the header portion of the electronic mail. Alternatively, for example, the MTA 111 adds a predetermined character string (such as a text to call attention) to the subject field or body of the e-mail. In this embodiment, handling differently from e-mail that is not rejected is expressed as “reject” in this embodiment.

  If the MTA 111 determines that the e-mail does not satisfy the rejection condition, the MTA 111 “accepts” the e-mail. To accept is to handle without refusal. For example, the MTA 111 stores accepted e-mails in a predetermined folder in the mail box 113. The mail box 113 is an email storage area provided for each destination. In the present embodiment, the predetermined folder is an “INBOX” folder (described later).

=== MRA 112 ===
The MRA 112 is software that receives an operation instruction for the mail box 113 from the client device 21 and executes the operation. Common protocols for exchanging electronic mail between the MRA 112 and the client device 21 are IMAP4 (Internet Message Access Protocol 4) and POP3 (Post Office Protocol version 3). In the present embodiment, electronic mail is transmitted and received between the MRA 112 and the client device 21 using the IMAP4. IMAP4 is a protocol that supports the function of classifying electronic mail in the mail server (11) into folders.

=== Mailbox 113 ===
Mailbox 113 is an area for storing electronic mail accepted by MTA 111. When there are a plurality of users who use the mailboxes in the mail server 11, there may be different mailboxes 113 for each user. In FIG. 1, the mailbox 113 for “user 41” and the mailbox 113 for “user 42” are clearly shown, but the number of the mailbox 113 may be one or three or more. The MTA 111 stores the received electronic mail in an appropriate mail box 113 according to the destination of the electronic mail.

  A plurality of folders are set in the mail box 113. Each e-mail is distributed to one of the plurality of folders. The user 41 performs folder management via the client device 21 and the MRA 112 (as described above, this function is supported by, for example, IMAP4). Folder management includes, for example, changing a folder in which electronic mail is stored (also referred to as movement between folders), creating, deleting, and changing a folder name. Generally, a GUI (Graphical User Interface) for easily managing a folder is mounted on the MUA executed by the client device 21. Therefore, the user 41 who operates the client device 21 that executes MUA can manage the folder with an easy operation.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the folder structure of the mail box 113. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the mailbox 113 <for user 41> has “INBOX”, “rejected BOX <address>”, “rejected BOX <domain>”, “folder” as folders for sorting e-mails addressed to the user 41. There are four folders of “Reject BOX <IP address>”. In addition, the mail box 113 may have “OUTBOX” as a folder for storing an electronic mail transmitted to another user by the user 41.

  The “INBOX” folder is a folder that first stores an e-mail received by the MTA 111.

  “Reject BOX <address>”, “Reject BOX <domain>” and “Reject BOX <IP address>” are the destinations when the client device 21 moves an e-mail to another folder in accordance with an operation from the user. It can be a folder. Hereinafter, these folders may be collectively referred to as “rejected BOX”. For example, the user 41 refers to the mail in the INBOX, and if the user 41 finds a mail to be rejected, the user 41 moves the mail to one of “rejected BOX”. By operating the mail system 1 under such a rule, the reject data generation unit 114 described later recognizes that the mail moved to the “reject box” is the mail that the user 41 wants to reject. be able to.

  Further, these “rejected BOX” are distinguished based on the characteristics of the e-mail moved to the folder and the user determines that the e-mail is desired to be rejected. The Specifically, the user 41 performs an operation related to rejection of the email as follows based on the information of the browsed email.

  For example, the user 41 stores, in the “reject box <address>”, an e-mail that the user 41 has determined that “we want to reject an e-mail from the same address as the source address of this e-mail in the future”. The sender address is the sender's email address. The transmission source address is, for example, a mail address described in a line beginning with “from:” in the mail header. Hereinafter, this address is referred to as a “from address”. Alternatively, the source address may be an envelope address, for example. The envelope address is a source address included in the envelope. The envelope address is a mail address that is set as an address to which a mail is returned when the mail is not delivered for some reason. In one example, the envelope address is described in a line beginning with “Return-Path:” in the header. Incidentally, in general, the envelope address may have higher credibility of information about the sender than the “from address”.

  The user 41 stores, in the “reject box <domain>”, an e-mail that the user has determined that “we want to reject e-mails from a source that is the same domain as the e-mail source domain in the future”. In the present embodiment, the transmission source domain is a character string described after “@” in the transmission source address.

  The user 41 stores, in the “reject box <IP address>”, an e-mail that the user has determined that “we want to reject an e-mail having the same connection source IP address as this e-mail in the future”. The connection source IP address is an IP (Internet Protocol) address of a server to which the sender has connected to transmit the electronic mail. The connection source IP address may be, for example, the IP address of the mail server through which the electronic mail first passes.

  That is, the user 41 gives an instruction to store an e-mail having a feature that is desired to be rejected in any of “rejected BOX” according to the type of the feature. In other words, because there are different folders depending on the type of feature that the user 41 desires to use for the decision to reject, the folder reflects the intention regarding the e-mail condition that the user 41 desires to reject. .

  There are various types of e-mail features described in the description of the present embodiment other than the above. Other examples of feature types will be described in detail in “Modifications”.

  Each of the “rejected BOX” folders is associated with a feature type. For example, an identifier for distinguishing each “rejection BOX” folder may be associated with the above-described feature type. For example, if the feature extraction process by the extraction unit 1142 described later is defined to be performed based on the identifier of the “rejected BOX” folder, it can be said that the folder and the feature type are associated with each other. The feature extraction processing by the extraction unit 1142 may be performed based on information for distinguishing each folder (for example, the name of the folder).

  Note that the name of each “reject box” may be set so that the user 41 can know what meaning the folder has. In addition, in order to make the user understand the effect of using “rejected BOX”, an email describing the folder may be stored in each “rejected BOX” in advance.

=== Rejected Data Generation Unit 114 ===
The refusal data generation unit 114 creates information (hereinafter also referred to as “rejection data”) regarding the condition of the rejected email from the email information stored in the “rejection BOX”.

  Specifically, the refusal data generation unit 114 includes the configuration shown in FIG. 1 and realizes the above function by the operation of each configuration.

  As illustrated in FIG. 1, the reject data generation unit 114 includes a detection unit 1141, an extraction unit 1142, and a generation unit 1143.

  The detection unit 1141 detects the electronic mail stored in the “reject box”. For example, the detection unit 1141 may detect an undetected e-mail by periodically checking the e-mail stored in the “reject box”. The detection unit 1141 may be called by, for example, the MRA 112 when the MRA 112 performs an operation of moving an e-mail to one of “rejected BOX”.

  The extraction unit 1142 extracts the feature of the email based on the folder in which the detected email is stored. For example, when the e-mail is stored in “rejection BOX <address>”, the extraction unit 1142 extracts the e-mail transmission source address from, for example, the e-mail header. Further, for example, when the electronic mail is stored in “rejected BOX <domain>”, the extraction unit 1142 extracts the domain of the electronic mail.

  When extracting the feature, the extraction unit 1142 passes the extracted feature to the generation unit 1143.

  The generation unit 1143 generates information regarding “rejection conditions” based on the extracted features.

  The “rejection condition” is a condition for rejected mail. That is, mail that satisfies the rejection condition is rejected by the MTA 111. If there is a rejection condition for each user, an e-mail that satisfies the rejection condition regarding the destination user is rejected.

  The information regarding the rejection condition generated by the generation unit 1143 is information indicating that, for example, an e-mail having the extracted feature should be rejected. That is, the information regarding the refusal condition may be one of the elements constituting the refusal condition.

  The generation unit 1143 sends information regarding the “rejection condition” to the rejection database 115. In other words, the rejection condition stored in the rejection database 115 is updated based on the extracted features.

  In a mail system designed to reject an e-mail having any one of the features extracted by the extraction unit 1142, the generation unit 1143 uses the extracted feature itself as information regarding the rejection condition, as a rejection database 115. You can just send it to

=== Rejection database 115 ===
The rejection database 115 is a database that stores “rejection conditions” set for each user. In the present embodiment, the rejection condition is a condition based on, for example, a transmission source address, a transmission source domain, and a connection source IP address.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the rejection database 115 according to this embodiment. The rejection database 115 stores e-mail conditions that are rejected among e-mails addressed to the user 41, for example, as shown in FIG. In the example of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the rejection database 115 stores, as a rejection condition, the features extracted in the areas distinguished by headers such as “address” and “domain” in a list format. Just be fine. For example, when the generation unit 1143 extracts the transmission source address from the e-mail that the user 41 has moved to “rejection BOX <address>”, the generation unit 1143 sends the transmission source address to the rejection database 115 as information regarding the rejection condition. The rejection database 115 may add the character string of the source address to the list in the “address” column.

  In the present embodiment, the MTA 111 satisfies the condition when at least one of the transmission source address, domain, and connection source IP address of the received email is included in the list stored in the rejection database 115. Consider. The MTA 111 rejects an e-mail that satisfies the condition.

<Operation>
An example of the operation of each component of the mail system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described.

(Example of operations related to refusal settings)
The user 41 starts up the MUA on the client device 21 and accesses the mail server 11. Through the relay of the MRA 112, the user 41 browses the mail stored in the mail box 113 for the user 41 through user authentication or the like.

  The user 41 finds junk mail from the mail stored in the “INBOX” folder in the mail box 113. When the user 41 determines that the mail sent from the spam mail source address is unnecessary, the user 41 performs an operation of moving the spam mail to the “rejected BOX <address>” folder. As this operation, for example, an operation of dragging and dropping an e-mail, an input of a command for storing the e-mail in another folder, and the like can be considered.

  The subsequent operation flow will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. By the operation of the user 41, the MUA of the client device 21 instructs the MRA 112 to move the spam mail to the “rejected BOX <address>” folder (step S41). Based on the instruction, the MRA 112 moves the junk mail to the “rejected BOX <address>” folder (step S42). Specifically, for example, the MRA 112 creates a copy of the mail in the “rejected BOX <address>” folder, and deletes the mail in the “INBOX” folder. Or MRA112 may rewrite the identifier of the folder linked | related with the spam mail. A specific method for moving the folder may be performed in accordance with the implementation form of the folder.

  Thereafter, the detection unit 1141 of the rejection data generation unit 114 detects the electronic mail stored in the “rejection BOX” (in this example, “rejection BOX <address>”) (step S43).

  The extraction unit 1142 extracts a feature based on the type of “rejection BOX” (step S44).

  The generation unit 1143 generates information on the rejection condition based on the extracted feature (step S45), and sends the information to the rejection database 115.

  As described above, the characteristics of the mail that the user has determined to be junk mail are registered in the rejection database 115. In other words, the rejection conditions stored in the rejection database 115 are updated.

(Modification of operation)
The MRA 112 notifies the detection unit 1141 of information (for example, the identifier of the user who instructed the change, the information of the transmission source, and the identifier of the folder to be changed) regarding the mail determined to be spam mail at the time of step S42. You can just do it. Even by doing so, the detection unit 1141 can detect that the e-mail is stored in the “rejection BOX” based on the information notified from the MRA 112. The MRA 112 may move the junk mail to the “rejected BOX <address>” folder after step S43.

(Example of operations related to receiving e-mail)
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow in which the MTA 111 determines whether or not to reject an electronic mail when the electronic mail whose delivery destination is the mail server 11 is received.

  First, the MTA 111 receives e-mail information (step S51). Incidentally, it is not necessary for the MTA 111 to receive all the data composing the e-mail at this point, and some information about the e-mail (destination and sender information) is sufficient.

  The MTA 111 specifies the user who is the destination of the mail. Then, the MTA 111 refers to the “rejection condition” regarding the identified user in the reject database 115 (step S52).

  Assume that the destination of the e-mail is the user 41. The MTA 111 determines whether or not the electronic mail satisfies the rejection condition regarding the user 41 (step S53). Then, the MTA 111 rejects or accepts the e-mail according to the determination result. That is, if the electronic mail satisfies the rejection condition (YES in step S53), the MTA 111 rejects the electronic mail (step S54). If the email does not satisfy the rejection condition (NO in step S53), the MTA 111 accepts the email (step S55).

  For example, when the “rejection condition” is stored in the form as shown in FIG. 3, specifically, the MTA 111 performs the determination according to the following flow. First, the MTA 111 checks whether the e-mail transmission source address is among the addresses included in the “address” column of the user 41 stored in the rejection database 115. If there is a source address of the electronic mail, the MTA 111 rejects the electronic mail. If there is no source address of the electronic mail, the MTA 111 checks whether the domain of the electronic mail is in the domain name included in the “domain” column. If there is a domain for the electronic mail, the MTA 111 rejects the electronic mail. If there is no domain of the electronic mail, the MTA 111 checks whether the IP address included in the “ip” column includes the IP address of the transmission source of the electronic mail. If there is an IP address of the electronic mail connection source, the MTA 111 rejects the electronic mail. If there is no IP address of the connection source of the electronic mail, the MTA 111 accepts the electronic mail. That is, the MTA 111 stores the e-mail in the “INBOX” folder. Through the above processing, an e-mail having the characteristics registered in the rejection database 115 is rejected, and an e-mail having no characteristics registered in the rejection database 115 is accepted.

  The above process flow is a process designed based on the premise that an e-mail satisfying any one or more of a plurality of conditions is rejected. Naturally, the condition determination process may be variously changed according to the design of the “rejection BOX” and the process of the rejection data generation unit 114. Another example of condition determination will be described in detail in the description of the modification.

  When the MTA 111 stores an e-mail in a mailbox (INBOX), the MTA 111 may add information that the MTA 111 can acquire about the e-mail to the e-mail header or the like. Information that can be acquired with respect to the e-mail is, for example, information used for SMTP communication (for example, an envelope address, information about a server through which the e-mail passes), or a known technique for detecting junk mail. Information related to e-mail. By doing so, the extraction unit 1142 can use the information when extracting the feature of the e-mail.

<Effect>
According to the mail server according to the first embodiment, the user can reject an e-mail having the same characteristics as the e-mail only by an operation of moving the e-mail to a specific folder (“Reject BOX”). it can. The reason is that the extraction unit 1142 extracts the feature of the e-mail stored in the specific folder based on the specific folder, and the generation unit 1143 reflects the information regarding the rejection condition based on the feature in the rejection database 115. It is because it makes it.

  Since the function of managing folders is a function implemented in IMAP4, moving an e-mail folder is an operation that can be executed in a general MUA. Therefore, the user 41 does not need to use a special MUA or start another application. That is, according to the first embodiment, an e-mail user can perform settings related to rejection of junk mail by a simple operation.

  In addition, the mail server operator does not need to start up and manage a Web server in order to set a rejected mail.

(Modification)
A modification of the above embodiment will be described.

(1)
The MRA 112 may automatically delete the e-mail stored in the “rejected BOX” when a predetermined time has passed since the e-mail was stored. This reduces the cost for storing emails that the user does not need.

(2)
In addition to the above example, some types of e-mail characteristics identified based on “rejected BOX” are conceivable.

  For example, the feature type may be a part of the connection source IP address (for example, upper 24 bits).

  The type of feature may be a string of three characters at the beginning of the email subject.

  The extraction unit 1142 may extract a feature common to all e-mails in a specific “rejected BOX” as one of the feature types. In this case, even if the user puts in the specific “rejected BOX” without considering the feature of the email determined to be spam, the feature of the email determined to be spam can be extracted.

(3)
There may be a folder for specifying the e-mail conditions to accept. That is, a folder may be designed in which an e-mail including a predetermined characteristic of the e-mail stored in the folder is accepted.

  When such a folder (hereinafter, “acceptance BOX”) is designed, the rejection database 115 may store “acceptance conditions” as part of the rejection conditions. The acceptance condition is a condition of mail to be accepted. The MTA 111 accepts an e-mail that satisfies the acceptance condition even if the e-mail falls under the list of e-mail characteristics that should be rejected. The extraction unit 1142 extracts a feature specified according to the folder of the mail stored in the “acceptance BOX”. The generation unit 1143 generates information indicating that the extracted feature is a feature constituting the acceptance condition as information regarding the rejection condition, and sends the information to the rejection database 115. For example, the generation unit 1143 associates a value representing “acceptance” with the extracted feature and sends the feature to the rejection database 115. When the rejection database 115 receives a feature representing “acceptance”, the rejection database 115 stores the feature as one of acceptance conditions. In this configuration, the generation unit 1143 may associate a value representing “rejection” with the feature extracted from the e-mail stored in the “rejection BOX”.

  According to such a configuration, for example, mail whose domain is “xxx.jp” is stored in “rejected BOX <domain>” and whose sender address is “aaa@xxx.jp” Is stored in “accept BOX <address>”, an e-mail whose transmission source address is “aaa@xxx.jp” is accepted.

  According to such a configuration, the user can set conditions more finely.

(4)
When the e-mail stored in the “reject box” is moved to another folder, the reject data generation unit 114 may delete the condition based on the feature of the e-mail from the reject condition stored in the reject database 115. . For example, when the detection unit 1141 detects that the e-mail of “rejection BOX” has moved to “INBOX”, the extraction unit 1142 extracts the characteristics of the e-mail based on the type of the original “rejection BOX”. Then, the generation unit 1143 may delete the condition based on the feature from the rejection database 115. In order for the generation unit 1143 to delete the condition, an instruction to delete the condition based on the feature from the rejection condition may be sent to the rejection database 115. As a result, it is possible to delete a part of the rejection condition generated when the user accidentally moved the electronic mail.

<< Second Embodiment >>
The mail system 2 according to the second embodiment of the present invention has a configuration in which the function of the reject data generation unit 114 is implemented in the client device.

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the mail system 2.

  In the mail system 2, similarly to the mail system 1, the client device 22 is connected to the mail server 12 via the communication network 31. However, the mail server 12 does not include the reject data generation unit 114 as compared to the mail server 11 of the first embodiment. Instead, the client device 22 includes a reject data generation unit 114.

  In the present embodiment, the detection unit 1141 detects a request to move the mail to “reject box” from the request from the client device 22 to the MRA 112. The detection unit 1141 may detect an instruction to move the mail to “reject box” from an operation received by the client device 22 from the user 41.

  Note that the folder need not be mounted in the mail box 113, and the folder may be mounted in the client device 22. When a folder is implemented in the client device 22, the protocol used for sending and receiving e-mail between the client device 21 and the MRA 112 may be POP3.

  The extraction unit 1142 extracts features specified based on “rejection BOX” in which the moving e-mail is stored.

  The generation unit 1143 transmits information on the rejection condition based on the extracted feature to the rejection database 115 via the communication network 31.

<< Third Embodiment >>
A device that exists independently from the mail server and the client device may have the same function as the rejection data generation unit 114.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mail system 3 including a reject data generation device 51 that is a configuration corresponding to the reject data generation unit 114 of the first embodiment, as a third embodiment of the present invention.

  In the mail system 3, as in the mail system 1, the client device 21 is connected to the mail server 13 via the communication network 31. However, the mail server 13 does not include the rejection data generation unit 114 and the rejection database 115 as compared with the mail server 11 of the first embodiment. Instead, a rejection data generation device 51 having the same configuration as that of the rejection data generation unit 114 and a storage device 61 constituting the rejection database 115 are connected to the mail server 12.

  The rejection data generation device 51 includes a detection unit 1141, an extraction unit 1142, and a generation unit 1143, similarly to the rejection data generation unit 114 of the first embodiment.

  The storage device 61 has a database similar to the rejection database 115 of the first embodiment. The MTA 111 of the mail server 12 determines whether or not to reject the received electronic mail based on the rejection condition stored in the database of the storage device 61.

  Also with this configuration, the e-mail user can make settings related to the rejection of spam mails by a simple operation.

<< Fourth Embodiment >>
In the above-described embodiment, an e-mail having the same characteristics as an e-mail recognized by the user as a junk e-mail is rejected in subsequent reception. However, with the above-described configuration alone, an e-mail already accepted The rejection condition is not effective. However, when it is convenient for the user that the e-mail already in the “INBOX” does not remain in the “INBOX”, the e-mail having the same characteristics as the e-mail recognized by the user as the junk e-mail There is.

  FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the mail system 4 according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. In the mail system 4, the rejection data generation device 52 includes a moving unit 1144 in addition to the same configuration as the rejection data generation device 51 of the second embodiment.

  The moving unit 1144 moves an e-mail stored in a predetermined folder having the same feature as the feature extracted by the extracting unit 1142 to a specific folder. For example, the predetermined folder is an “INBOX” folder, and the specific folder may be a “rejected BOX” in which the e-mail from which the feature is extracted is stored, or may be a dedicated folder unrelated to the “rejected BOX”. .

  Specifically, for example, the moving unit 1144 extracts the IP address when the extracting unit 1142 extracts the IP address from the electronic mail stored in the “reject box (IP)” of the mailbox 113 for the user 41. Receive. The moving unit 1144 then sends, to the MRA 112, an e-mail whose connection source IP address is the same as the received IP address in the “INBOX” folder of the mailbox 113 for the user 41, to the “reject box (IP)”. Instruct to move. The moving unit 1144 may move the e-mail in the mail box 113 directly.

  According to such a configuration, an e-mail having the same characteristic as that of the e-mail recognized by the user as a junk mail is automatically moved to a specific folder.

  Therefore, in the mail system 4 according to the fourth embodiment, in addition to the same effects as those of the mail system 3 according to the third embodiment, the user can delete spam mails having the same characteristics in a predetermined folder in a specific folder. There is an effect that it is not necessary to repeatedly perform an operation (including browsing) for moving to. In particular, if there is no spam mail having the same characteristics as the spam mail from the folder (“INBOX”) that the user normally browses, the number of spam mails that the user unintentionally sees is reduced. Can be reduced.

<< Main composition >>
The main configuration of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the mail information processing apparatus 10 having the main configuration of the present invention.

  The mail information processing apparatus 10 includes a detection unit 1141, an extraction unit 1142, and a generation unit 1143.

  Specific examples of the mail information processing apparatus 10 are the mail server 11 of the first embodiment, the client apparatus 22 of the second embodiment, and the reject data generation apparatuses 51 and 52 of the third and fourth embodiments. .

  The flow of the operation of each configuration will be described along the flowchart of FIG.

  The detection unit 1141 detects storage of an e-mail in the first folder (step S101). The detection unit 1141 may detect that an e-mail is stored in the first folder, or may detect that an e-mail is stored in the first folder. An example of the first folder is “rejection BOX” and “acceptance BOX” in the above-described embodiment.

  The extraction unit 1142 starts from the e-mail stored in the first folder (which can be either an e-mail already stored or an e-mail stored in the future) to the first folder in which the e-mail is stored. The characteristics of the e-mail specified based on the e-mail are extracted (step S102).

  The generation unit 1143 generates information regarding the rejection condition based on the extracted feature (step S103). A rejection condition is an email condition that is rejected (eg, by an MTA).

  According to this structure, the user of an e-mail can perform the setting regarding rejection of junk mail by a simple operation. The reason is that the information regarding the refusal condition based on the characteristic of the e-mail specified based on the first folder is generated simply by moving the e-mail that the user has determined to be junk mail to the first folder. Because.

(About hardware configuration)
As described above, in each embodiment of the present invention described above, each component of each device represents a functional unit block. Part or all of each component of each device is realized by a possible combination of a computer 1100 and a program as shown in FIG. 11, for example. The computer 1100 includes the following configuration as an example.

CPU (Central Processing Unit) 1101
ROM (Read Only Memory) 1102
RAM (Random Access Memory) 1103
A program 1104A and stored information 1104B loaded into the RAM 1103
A storage device 1105 that stores the program 1104A and the storage information 1104B
A drive device 1107 for reading / writing the recording medium 1106
Communication interface 1108 connected to the communication network 1109
Input / output interface 1110 for inputting / outputting data
-Bus 1111 connecting each component
Each component of each device in each embodiment is realized by the CPU 1101 loading the program 1104A for realizing these functions into the RAM 1103 and executing it. A program 1104A that realizes the function of each component of each device is stored in advance in, for example, the storage device 1105 or the ROM 1102, and is read by the CPU 1101 as necessary. Note that the program 1104A may be supplied to the CPU 1101 via the communication network 1109, or may be stored in the recording medium 1106 in advance, and the drive device 1107 may read the program and supply it to the CPU 1101.

  There are various modifications to the method of realizing each device. For example, each device may be realized by a possible combination of a separate computer 1100 and a program for each component. A plurality of components included in each device may be realized by a possible combination of one computer 1100 and a program.

  In addition, some or all of the constituent elements of each device are realized by other general-purpose or dedicated circuits, computers, or combinations thereof. These may be configured by a single chip or may be configured by a plurality of chips connected via a bus.

  When some or all of the constituent elements of each device are realized by a plurality of computers, circuits, etc., the plurality of computers, circuits, etc. may be centrally arranged or distributedly arranged. For example, the computer, the circuit, and the like may be realized as a form in which each is connected via a communication network, such as a client and server system and a cloud computing system.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. Various changes that can be understood by those skilled in the art can be made to the configuration and details of the present invention within the scope of the present invention.

A part or all of the above embodiment may be described as in the following supplementary notes, but is not limited thereto.
<< Appendix >>
[Appendix 1]
Detecting means for detecting storage of the e-mail in the first folder;
Extraction means for extracting the characteristics of the e-mail specified from the e-mail stored in the first folder based on the first folder in which the e-mail is stored;
Generating means for generating information on rejected e-mail conditions based on the extracted features;
A mail information processing apparatus comprising:
[Appendix 2]
The detecting means detects movement of the email stored in the first folder to the second folder;
The extraction means extracts the feature specified based on the first folder before the movement from the e-mail when the movement of the e-mail to the second folder is detected;
The generation unit deletes a condition based on the extracted feature from the conditions.
The mail information processing apparatus according to attachment 1.
[Appendix 3]
The mail information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the extraction unit extracts the feature from information added to the electronic mail by a mail transfer agent that has received the electronic mail.
[Appendix 4]
The apparatus further comprises moving means for moving an e-mail having the same characteristic as the extracted characteristic and stored in a third folder different from the first folder to a folder different from the third folder. ,
The mail information processing apparatus according to any one of appendices 1 to 3.
[Appendix 5]
Information about the condition is the extracted feature;
The condition is a condition that includes at least one of the features.
The mail information processing apparatus according to any one of appendices 1 to 4.
[Appendix 6]
Information about the condition is the extracted feature associated with a value representing acceptance or rejection;
The condition is a condition that includes at least one of the features associated with the value representing rejection and does not include any of the features associated with the value representing acceptance.
The mail information processing apparatus according to any one of appendices 1 to 4.
[Appendix 7]
The extraction means extracts, as one of the features, a feature common to all e-mails stored in the specific folder that is the first folder.
The mail information processing apparatus according to any one of appendices 1 to 6.
[Appendix 8]
The mail information processing apparatus according to any one of appendices 1 to 7,
Mail storage means for storing an e-mail in the first folder in accordance with an instruction from a user;
Mail transfer means for deciding whether to reject an email according to the above conditions;
Including mail system.
[Appendix 9]
Detect the storage of email in the first folder,
Extracting from the email stored in the first folder the characteristics of the email identified based on the first folder in which the email is stored;
Generating information related to rejected email conditions based on the extracted features;
Mail information processing method.
[Appendix 10]
Detecting movement of an email stored in the first folder to a second folder;
When the movement of the email to the second folder is detected, the feature specified based on the first folder before the movement is extracted from the email,
Deleting a condition based on the extracted feature from the conditions;
The mail information processing method according to attachment 9.
[Appendix 11]
The mail information processing method according to appendix 9 or 10, wherein the feature is extracted from information added to the email by a mail transfer agent that has received the email.
[Appendix 12]
Moving an email stored in a third folder different from the first folder, having the same characteristics as the extracted characteristics, to a folder different from the third folder;
The mail information processing method according to any one of appendices 9 to 11.
[Appendix 13]
Information about the condition is the extracted feature;
The condition is a condition that includes at least one of the features.
The mail information processing method according to any one of appendices 9 to 12.
[Appendix 14]
Information about the condition is the extracted feature associated with a value representing acceptance or rejection;
The condition is a condition that includes at least one of the features associated with the value representing rejection and does not include any of the features associated with the value representing acceptance.
The mail information processing method according to any one of appendices 9 to 12.
[Appendix 15]
As one of the features, a feature common to all e-mails stored in the specific folder that is the first folder is extracted.
The mail information processing method according to any one of appendices 9 to 14.
[Appendix 16]
Determining whether to reject the e-mail based on the information generated by the mail information processing method according to attachment 9.
Email rejection judgment method.
[Appendix 17]
On the computer,
A detection process for detecting storage of e-mail in the first folder;
An extraction process for extracting the characteristics of the e-mail specified from the e-mail stored in the first folder based on the first folder in which the e-mail is stored;
Generating processing for generating information on rejected e-mail conditions based on the extracted features;
A program that executes
[Appendix 18]
The detection process detects movement of an email stored in the first folder to a second folder;
In the extraction process, when the movement of the email to the second folder is detected, the feature specified based on the first folder before the movement is extracted from the email,
The generation process deletes a condition based on the extracted feature from the conditions.
The program according to appendix 17.
[Appendix 19]
The program according to claim 17 or 18, wherein the extraction process extracts the feature from information added to the email by a mail transfer agent that has received the email.
[Appendix 20]
On the computer,
Further executing a moving process for moving an email stored in a third folder different from the first folder and having the same characteristics as the extracted characteristics to a folder different from the third folder Let
The program according to any one of appendices 17 to 19.
[Appendix 21]
Information about the condition is the extracted feature;
The condition is a condition that includes at least one of the features.
The program according to any one of appendices 17 to 20.
[Appendix 22]
Information about the condition is the extracted feature associated with a value representing acceptance or rejection;
The condition is a condition that includes at least one of the features associated with the value representing rejection and does not include any of the features associated with the value representing acceptance.
The program according to any one of appendices 17 to 20.
[Appendix 23]
The extraction process extracts, as one of the features, a feature common to all e-mails stored in the specific folder that is the first folder.
The program according to any one of appendices 17 to 22.
[Appendix 24]
A program for causing a computer to execute a determination process for determining whether to reject an electronic mail based on the information generated by the mail information processing apparatus according to attachment 1.

1 to 4 mail system 10 mail information processing apparatus 11 to 13 mail server 21 and 22 client apparatus 31 communication network 41 user 51 and 52 rejection data generation apparatus 61 storage apparatus 111 mail transfer agent (MTA)
112 Mail Retrieval Agent (MRA)
113 Mailbox 114 Rejected Data Generation Unit 1141 Detection Unit 1142 Extraction Unit 1143 Generation Unit 1144 Moving Unit 115 Rejection Database 1100 Computer 1101 CPU
1102 ROM
1103 RAM
1104A Program 1104B Storage Information 1105 Storage Device 1106 Recording Medium 1107 Drive Device 1108 Communication Interface 1109 Communication Network 1110 Input / Output Interface 1111 Bus

Claims (10)

Detecting means for detecting storage of the e-mail in the first folder;
Extraction means for extracting the characteristics of the e-mail specified from the e-mail stored in the first folder based on the first folder in which the e-mail is stored;
Generating means for generating information on rejected e-mail conditions based on the extracted features;
A mail information processing apparatus comprising: The detecting means detects movement of the email stored in the first folder to the second folder;
The extraction means extracts the feature specified based on the first folder before the movement from the e-mail when the movement of the e-mail to the second folder is detected;
The generation unit deletes a condition based on the extracted feature from the conditions.
The mail information processing apparatus according to claim 1. The mail information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the extraction unit extracts the feature from information added to the electronic mail by a mail transfer agent that has received the electronic mail. The apparatus further comprises moving means for moving an e-mail having the same characteristic as the extracted characteristic and stored in a third folder different from the first folder to a folder different from the third folder. ,
The mail information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. Information about the condition is the extracted feature;
The condition is a condition that includes at least one of the features.
The mail information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4. Information about the condition is the extracted feature associated with a value representing acceptance or rejection;
The condition is a condition that includes at least one of the features associated with the value representing rejection and does not include any of the features associated with the value representing acceptance.
The mail information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The extraction means extracts, as one of the features, a feature common to all e-mails stored in the specific folder that is the first folder.
The mail information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6. The mail information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
Mail storage means for storing an e-mail in the first folder in accordance with an instruction from a user;
Mail transfer means for deciding whether to reject an email according to the above conditions;
Including mail system. Detect the storage of email in the first folder,
Extracting from the email stored in the first folder the characteristics of the email identified based on the first folder in which the email is stored;
Generating information related to rejected email conditions based on the extracted features;
Mail information processing method. On the computer,
A detection process for detecting storage of e-mail in the first folder;
An extraction process for extracting the characteristics of the e-mail specified from the e-mail stored in the first folder based on the first folder in which the e-mail is stored;
Generating processing for generating information on rejected e-mail conditions based on the extracted features;
A program that executes

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