KR100489406B1 - E-mail sending method for preventing spam mail caused by computer viruses - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are an e-mail sending system and method for preventing the propagation of spam mails by viruses. The electronic mail sending system of the present invention includes first and second mail address modifying means. The modification of the mail address by the first mail address modifying means is performed when the user of the sender computer inputs a transfer command from the outside, the modification of the mail address by the first mail address modifying means. If the transmission command to transmit the e-mail is unintentionally generated by infection with a computer virus or the like, modification of the e-mail address by the first e-mail address modification means is not performed. The second mail modifying means restores the mail address modified by the first mail modifying means to the original mail address and is performed regardless of whether it is an externally controlled transmission command. Therefore, when the transmission command is not controlled externally, the mail address generated by the second mail address modification means is not the same as the original mail address at all. Therefore, when an electronic mail is attempted to be transmitted by a computer virus, the transmission of the electronic mail fails. Therefore, according to the e-mail sending system and the e-mail sending method of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the transmission of spam mail indiscriminately transmitted by a computer virus regardless of the sender's intention.

Description

E-MAIL SENDING METHOD FOR PREVENTING SPAM MAIL CAUSED BY COMPUTER VIRUSES}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an e-mail sending method, and more particularly, to an e-mail sending method for preventing indiscriminate transmission of an e-mail by a virus on a communication network such as the Internet.

Recently, with the development of communication networks such as the Internet, commercial and non-commercial services using communication networks are increasing exponentially. One such network service is e-mail. E-mail is a service that can deliver a message to the recipient's e-mail address specified by the sender. The address of the other party's e-mail is usually stored in the user's computer so that the message can be easily sent.

On the other hand, since the mid-1980s, computer viruses have been developed and spread in earnest based on personal computers. Today, computer viruses are causing not only personal computers but also network computers and communication networks. That is, when a computer that is not infected with a virus enters a virus infected program, the computer system may perform an operation not intended by the user. For example, a virus-infected computer sends a message containing the virus to the address of any e-mail stored on it, regardless of the user's intention. In such a case, the computer of another user who received a message containing a virus would also be infected. The spread of the virus through e-mail is devastating. In 1999, the emergence of the MELISSA virus caused approximately $ 385 million in the United States. And the Love Letter virus, which appeared in 2000, caused about $ 15 billion in damage.

Therefore, it is required to effectively block the e-mail unintended by the user from the computer infected with the computer virus.

An object of the present invention is to provide an e-mail sending method that can effectively block unintended e-mail sending by a user of a computer infected with a virus.

One aspect of the present invention for achieving the above technical problem relates to an e-mail sending method for sending an e-mail through a communication network connected to the sender computer and the receiver computer by wire or wireless. An email sending method of the present invention comprises: an address generating step of generating an email address of a recipient computer to which the email is to be sent, using the sender computer; A transmission control command generation step of generating a transmission control command instructing the transmission of the electronic mail in the sender computer; Determining, by the sender computer, whether or not according to the selection of the "send button" in which the transmission control command is embedded: if the transmission control command is in accordance with the selection of the "send button"; A first mail address modification step of transforming an electronic mail address of the computer by a predetermined first modification method; A second mail address modification step of transforming, in the sender computer, an e-mail address of the receiver computer into a predetermined second modification method, wherein the second modification method is an e-mail of the receiver computer modified into the first modification method. The second mail address modification step of restoring an address; And a mail sending step, wherein the sender computer attempts to send an e-mail to an e-mail address of the recipient computer on which the second mail address modification step has been performed. In the determining step, if the transmission control command is not according to the selection of the "send button", the first mail address modification step is not performed, and the second mail address modification step is immediately performed.

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In order to fully understand the present invention, the operational advantages of the present invention, and the objects achieved by the practice of the present invention, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention and the contents described in the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. For each figure, like reference numerals denote like elements. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a communication network constructed using an e-mail sending system to which the e-mail sending method of the present invention can be applied. As shown in FIG. 1, the sender computer 100 can send an e-mail to the recipient computer 200 via the communication network 1. The sender computer 100 is composed of a sender mail server 110 and a sender client 120. One or more sender clients 120 may be connected to the sender mail server 110. In some cases, the mail server 110 and the sender client 120 may be integrally formed.

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The recipient computer 200 is composed of a recipient mail server 210 and a recipient client 220. One or more recipient clients 220 may be connected to the recipient mail server 210. In some cases, the recipient mail server 210 and the recipient client 220 may be integrated.

Meanwhile, in the present embodiment, the sender mail server 110 and the receiver mail server 210 may be connected to a wireless communication network as well as a wired communication network. In addition, the transmitter computer 100 and the receiver computer 200 may change or replace the terminal according to the type of the communication network 1. For example, when the communication network is a wireless communication network, the sender and / or receiver terminal is an information communication terminal of a personal digital assistant (PDA) capable of wirelessly communicating data, a notebook computer having a wireless modem. And the like.

Therefore, the sender computer 100 shown in FIG. 1 may be referred to herein as an 'e-mail sending system'.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram schematically showing one of the sender mail server 110 and the sender client 120 in the sender computer 100 of FIG.

The sender client 120 includes an external control means 121, a transmission control command generating means 123, a mail address generating means 125 and a first mail address modifying means 127.

The external control unit 121 may allow a user of the sender computer 100 to select predetermined information or control a predetermined command from the outside. That is, the external control unit 121 may input the mail address of the recipient computer 200 to which the user of the sender computer 100 wishes to send an e-mail. In addition, the external control means 121 may select a specific e-mail address previously stored in a mailing list included in the database 119. In addition, the external control unit 121 may input a transmission command for instructing the sending of the e-mail. The input of the transmission command by the external control means 121 may be performed by clicking a button such as 'send' which is set in advance as a command to send the designated email to the designated email address.

The transmission control command generating means 123 generates a 'transmission control command' in response to the transmission command by the control of the external control means 121.

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The mail address generating means 125 generates an email address input or selected through the external control means 121 as an email address of the recipient.

The first mail address modifying means 127 transforms the e-mail address of the recipient generated by the mail address generating means 125 into a predetermined first modification method. In detail, the change of the e-mail address by the first mail address modifying means 127 is performed in response to the 'transmission control command' under the control of the external control means 121. That is, when the user of the sender computer 100 inputs a transmission command from the outside, the first e-mail address modification means 127 changes the e-mail address. Therefore, when a transmission command for transmitting an e-mail is infected by a computer virus or the like and unintentionally generated, the e-mail address is not modified by the first e-mail address modification means 127.

Meanwhile, the first modification method may be performed by various methods such as dummy character addition, compression, and encryption. When the first modification method is performed by addition of dummy characters, the position at which the dummy characters are added may be determined before, after, or in the middle of the e-mail address. In addition, the first modification method may be performed by combining dummy characters, compressing, encrypting, and the like.

The sender mail server 110 includes a central processing unit 111, a second mail address changing unit 113, a mail sending unit 115, a D / B managing unit 117, and a database 119.

The central processing unit 111 manages the database 119 through the D / B managing unit 117. The central processing unit 111 is reserved for further processing of the e-mail transmitted from the sender client 120.

In response to the transmission control command, the second mail address modifying means 113 transforms the input mail address to be transmitted in a predetermined second modification method. The second modification method is an inverse transformation of the first modification method performed by the first mail address modification means 127. If the first modification method is a modification to add dummy characters, the second modification method is a modification to delete the dummy characters. If the first modification method is a transformation that compresses the e-mail address, the second modification method is a transformation that decompresses the compressed e-mail address. And, if the first modification method is a modification for encrypting the e-mail address, the second modification method is a modification for decrypting the encrypted e-mail address.

Therefore, if the transmission control command is a 'transmission control command' generated by the transmission control command generating means 123, the e-mail address generated by the second mail address modifying means 113 is the electronics of the recipient computer 200. Same as e-mail address. However, if the 'transmission control command' is not a 'transmission control command' generated by the transmission control command generating means 123, the e-mail address generated by the second mail address modifying means 113 is the recipient computer ( 200) is completely different from the e-mail address. In this case, even if an attempt is made to transmit an e-mail, it may eventually fail, preventing the spread of computer viruses.

The mail sending means 115 attempts to send an e-mail to the 'e-mail address' generated by the second mail address changing means 113.

On the other hand, on the display of the sender computer, as shown in Fig. 4, it is possible to confirm whether or not the electronic mail sending system of the present invention is applied by providing a screen. Referring to each item of FIG. 4, item 1 is a question about whether the electronic mail sending system of the present invention is applied. In FIG. 4, it is set to apply. Item 2 is a question about the first conversion method and the second conversion method. In Fig. 4, the dummy character addition method is set so that three characters are added before the @ of the e-mail address. Item 3 is a question about the application period of the electronic mail sending system of the present invention. In the example of FIG. 4, it is set to apply for one week.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an e-mail sending method for transmitting an e-mail using the e-mail sending system of FIG. 1. Referring to Figure 3, the e-mail sending method of the present invention, the address generation step (S311), the transmission control command generation step (S315), the determination step (S323), the first mail address modification step (S327), the second mail address A modification step S331 and a mail sending step S335 are provided and are performed in the sender computer 100.

In the address generation step (S311), the sender computer 200 generates the e-mail address of the recipient to which the e-mail is to be sent by a direct input or selection method. In the transmission control command generation step (S315), a 'transmission control command' for instructing transmission of the e-mail is generated. The 'transmission control command' is generated by control of the outside of the sender computer 100.

In step S319, it is determined whether the current spam mail transmission blocking technique is applied. If the determination result of step S319 does not meet the conditions for applying the spam mail transmission blocking technique, the sender's e-mail is transmitted to the set e-mail address (S335).

If it is determined in step S319 that the application conditions of the spam mail transmission blocking method are met, the determination step (S323) is performed. In the determination step (S323), it is determined whether a 'transmission control command' for instructing the sender's e-mail is generated by external control of the sender's computer. As described above, the determination of whether the 'transmission control command' is generated by external control is performed by a person skilled in the art by checking whether a signal is generated according to the selection of the 'send' button embedded in the sender's computer. It can be realized easily.

In the first mail address modification step S327, if the 'transmission control command' is generated by selection of a 'send' button of the sender computer, the e-mail address is transformed into the first modification method. Subsequently, in the second mail address modification step S331, the e-mail address is modified again by the second modification method. In this case, the e-mail address generated in the second mail address modification step S331 is the same as the e-mail address of the recipient computer.

However, as a result of the determination in the determination step S323, if the 'transmission control command' is not by external control, the first mail address modification step S327 is not performed, and the second mail address modification step ( S331 ') is performed. In the present specification, reference numeral S331 'is the same step as reference numeral S331, but is shown separately for convenience of description. As described above, when the 'transmission control command' is generated by a computer virus or the like, the e-mail address generated in the second mail address modification step S331 'is the e-mail address of the recipient computer generated in step S311. Will be different from.

In the mail sending step (S335, S335 '), an attempt is made to send an email to the email address generated in the second mail address modification step (S331, S331'). In this case, when the sender intentionally sends an e-mail in the sender computer, the e-mail can be successfully sent to the receiver computer. On the other hand, if a virus or the like attempts to send it unintentionally, the sending of the e-mail fails.

Meanwhile, the above-described embodiments of the present invention can be written as a program that can be executed on a computer. And, using a medium used in a computer, it can be implemented in a general-purpose digital computer for operating the program. The medium may be a magnetic recording medium (for example, a ROM, a floppy disk, a hard disk, etc.), an optical reading medium (for example, a CD-ROM, a DVD, etc.) and a carrier wave (for example, Recording media such as, for example, transmission via the Internet.

An embodiment of the recording medium relates to a recording medium in which an e-mail sending program for sending an e-mail through a communication network connected to a sender computer and a receiver computer by wire or wirelessly is recorded as a program code executable in a computer. The recording medium of the present invention comprises: an address generation module for generating an e-mail address of a recipient computer to which the e-mail is to be sent, by using the sender computer; A transmission control command generation module for generating a transmission control command instructing the transmission of the electronic mail at the sender computer; A determination module for determining, by the sender computer, according to the selection of the "send button" in which the transmission control command is embedded: in the sender computer, if the transmission control command is in accordance with the selection of the "send button" A first mail address modification module for transforming an electronic mail address of the computer by a first predetermined modification method; A second mail address modification module for transforming, in the sender computer, an e-mail address of the receiver computer into a predetermined second modification method, wherein the second modification method is an e-mail of the recipient computer modified into the first modification method. The second mail address modification module to recover an address; And a mail sending module, wherein the sender computer attempts to send an email to an email address of the recipient computer on which the second mail address transformation step has been performed. In the determination module, when the transmission control command is not according to the selection of the "send button", the first mail address modification module is not performed, and the second mail address modification module is immediately performed.

Functional modules for implementing the present invention as described above can be easily implemented by programmers with average knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention belongs.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to one embodiment shown in the drawings, this is merely exemplary, and those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible therefrom. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention will be defined by the technical spirit of the appended claims.

According to the e-mail sending system and the e-mail sending method of the present invention as described above, if the "transmission control command" is controlled by an external control such as a "send" button, the e-mail address that attempts to send the e-mail is determined by the other party. It is substantially the same as the e-mail address of the recipient's computer. However, if the 'transmission control command' is not an external control but is unintentional such as a virus, the e-mail address generated as a result of the second e-mail address modification is not the same as the e-mail address of the recipient computer. . Therefore, when an electronic mail is attempted to be transmitted by a computer virus, the transmission of the electronic mail fails. According to the electronic mail sending method of the present invention as described above, it is possible to prevent the transmission of spam mail indiscriminately transmitted by a computer virus regardless of the sender's intention.

In order to more fully understand the drawings used in the detailed description of the invention, a brief description of each drawing is provided.

1 is a block diagram showing a communication network constructed using an e-mail sending system to which the e-mail sending method of the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram schematically showing one of a sender mail server and a sender client in the sender computer of FIG.

3 is a flowchart illustrating an e-mail sending method for transmitting an e-mail according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is one of the display screen of the e-mail sending system of the present invention, a screen for confirming the application of the e-mail sending system.

Claims (8)

In the e-mail sending method for sending an e-mail through a wired or wireless communication network with the sender computer and the receiver computer, An address generation step of generating, using the sender computer, an e-mail address of a recipient computer to which the e-mail is to be sent; A transmission control command generation step of generating a transmission control command instructing the transmission of the electronic mail in the sender computer; A determination step of determining, by the sender computer, whether or not the sender computer is in accordance with the selection of a "send button" in which the transmission control command is embedded; A first mail address modification step of modifying, at the sender computer, the e-mail address of the receiver computer by a predetermined first modification method if the transmission control command is in accordance with the selection of the "send button"; A second mail address modification step of transforming, in the sender computer, an e-mail address of the receiver computer into a predetermined second modification method, wherein the second modification method is an e-mail of the receiver computer modified into the first modification method. The second mail address modification step of restoring an address; And A mail sending step, wherein the sender computer attempts to send an e-mail to an e-mail address of the recipient computer on which the second mail address changing step is performed, In the determining step, when the transmission control command is not according to the selection of the "send button", The first mail address transformation step is not performed, and the second mail address modification step is performed immediately. delete delete According to claim 1, The first modification method is a modification to add a predetermined dummy character, The second modification method is an e-mail sending method, characterized in that the modification to delete the dummy character. According to claim 1, The first modification method is the compression of an e-mail address, And the second modification method is to decompress the compressed e-mail address. According to claim 1, The first modification method is the encryption of the mail address, And the second modification method is decrypting the encrypted mail address. delete In a recording medium recording an e-mail sending method for sending an e-mail over a wired or wireless communication network with a sender computer and a receiver computer, An address generation module for generating an e-mail address of a recipient computer to which the e-mail is to be sent, by using the sender computer; A transmission control command generation module for generating a transmission control command instructing the transmission of the electronic mail at the sender computer; A determination module for determining, by the sender computer, whether or not the sender computer is in accordance with the selection of the "send button" in which the transmission control command is embedded; A first mail address modification module for modifying, at the sender computer, the e-mail address of the receiver computer by a predetermined first modification method if the transmission control command is in accordance with the selection of the "send button"; A second mail address modification module for transforming, in the sender computer, an e-mail address of the receiver computer into a predetermined second modification method, wherein the second modification method is an e-mail of the recipient computer modified into the first modification method. The second mail address modification module to recover an address; And And a sender computer, wherein the sender computer attempts to send an e-mail to an e-mail address of the receiver computer on which the second mail address transformation step is performed, In the determination module, when the transmission control command is not according to the selection of the "send button", The first mail address modification module is not performed, and the second mail address modification module is performed. The recording medium having recorded thereon an e-mail sending program as a program code executable on a computer.