Automated spam filter updating by tracking user navigation

摘要

An email filter updating system includes a tracking component, and a logic component. The tracking component is provided to track user navigation. This tracking compiles information about websites the user has visited and presumably may “trust” in the event an email associated with one such site or application is later received by the user's email application. The logic component uses information and a set of configurable rule-based criteria to output a characterization that a particular email message has been initiated from a site that the user has visited or should otherwise trust. The characterization is then provided to the email filter to control whether in-bound email is passed to the user's email client inbox. Further, the logic component is operative to generate filter update commands that update the email filter in an automated manner, i.e., without user input.

主权项

1. An apparatus, comprising:
a processor; computer memory holding computer program instructions that when executed by the processor to manage an email filter associated with a client computing machine, the computer program instructions comprising:
program code to collect information as a user navigates to and interacts with external websites;program code to apply one or more rule-based criteria to the collected information to determine a characterization to be applied to an initiator of an email message;program code to provide the characterization to the email filter to facilitate an email filter operation with respect to a subsequent email message received from the initiator; andprogram code operating dynamically and in an automated manner as a given initiator is determined to be trusted by applying the rule-based criteria to the collected information and, in response, to generate a filter update command that instructs the email filter to modify a given email filter entry in the email filter, to thereby improve an email system associated with the client computing machine.