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GoogleGranted patentSecurity & privacyInterest 6/10

Google patents email check that flags messages sent to wrong people

This patent describes a method for email servers to verify that a message is actually intended for the person receiving it. The system checks the sender's digital signature and compares the recipient's address against the list of intended recipients in the email header. If the signature is valid but the user is not on that list, the system flags the message as unauthentic.

Why it mattersThis could help users spot phishing attempts or misdirected emails by adding an extra layer of verification beyond just checking the sender's address.

In the filing’s own words

A method for securing messages includes obtaining, at a message server, a message for a user of a message service hosted by the message server. The message includes a header and the header includes a digital signature signed by an author of the message and a list of one or more recipients of the message. The method includes determining whether the digital signature by the author is valid and determining, using the list of one or more recipients, whether the user is a declared recipient of the message. When the digital signature by the author is valid and the user is the declared recipient of the message, the method includes delivering the message to a user device of the user. When the digital signature by the author is valid and the user is not the declared recipient of the message, the method includes alerting the user.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A computer-implemented method when executed by data processing hardware causes the data processing hardware to perform operations comprising: obtaining, at a message server, a message for a user of a message service hosted by the message server, the message comprising a header, the header comprising: a digital signature signed by an author of the message; and a list of one or more recipients of the message; determining that the digital signature by the author is valid; determining, using the list of one or more recipients, that the user is not a declared recipient of the message; and based on determining that the user is not the declared recipient of the message, indicating the message is unauthentic.

Facts

Company
Google (Google LLC)
Official title
Enhancing domain keys identified mail (DKIM) signatures
Patent number
US12771557B2
Application number
18936902
Filed
Nov 4, 2024
Granted
Oct 20, 2026
Inventors
1
Claims
20

Classified under

H04L 9/3247 Electricity & electronicsH04L 9/3271 Electricity & electronicsH04L 51/214 Electricity & electronicsH04L 51/234 Electricity & electronicsH04L 51/48 Electricity & electronics
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.