Patent ID: 8359649
Filing Date: 2013-01-22
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A computer-implemented method for detecting spam in e-mail received by a recipient computer from a sending computer, wherein there are a plurality of mail transfer agents located between the sending computer and the recipient computer that are trusted by the recipient computer, the method comprising: determining an actual Internet Protocol (IP) address of the sending computer from a return path header associated with a mail transfer agent from the plurality of mail transfer agents that is closest to the sending computer; converting the actual IP address into geo-location data that identifies a geographical location associated with the sending computer; comparing the geo-location data to an access control list that is indicative of one or more geographical locations; and ascertaining whether the e-mail contains suspected spam based at least in part on the geographical location associated with the sending computer matching one of the geographical locations included in the access control list.