Patent ID: 8707425
Filing Date: 2014-04-22
Classification: G06F,H04L

Abstract:
1. A method, comprising: determining, using a processor provided in a client device, whether an identifier indicating a scan of a message is stored, wherein the identifier and a scan action associated with the identifier are stored in a same data structure separate from the message and the data structure includes a plurality of identifiers and associated scan actions from other previously sent and previously scanned messages, wherein the identifier includes at least a portion of a header of the message and one or more indices identifying scan actions for associated portions of the message that have already been scanned, wherein each indices is stored as a hash of a portion of the message that has already been scanned, and wherein the message is an electronic mail message sent from a first location over a network to a second location; preventing scanning of a copy of the message, based on the determination, that at least a portion of the message has already been scanned, wherein the portion of the message that has already been scanned is identified by a corresponding indices stored in the data structure; determining whether or not the copy of the message is to be deleted based on a parameter contained in the identifier; deleting the copy of the message in response to the parameter indicating that the copy of the message is to be deleted; retrieving a scan action from the data structure to identify an appropriate scan action for the portion of the message that has already been scanned, wherein the scan action includes cleaning, deleting, replacing, or quarantining; and wherein each portion of the message has an associated scan action; performing the cleaning, deleting, replacing or quarantining operation to the portion of the copy of the message represented by the corresponding indices based on the identified scan action; and removing the scan action indicating the at least one of the cleaning, the deleting, the replacing and the quarantining of the portion of the message from the data structure, wherein the data structure is a scan action cache.