E-mail address inspection

A method for e-mail address inspection may include providing a list of suggested or predicted addresses in response to a partial e-mail address being received. The method may also include checking the partial e-mail address for other possible matches in an electronic address book in response to an address being selected by a user from the list of suggested or predicted addresses. The method may further include presenting a warning in response to other possible matches and the selected address not being in a predetermined domain.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to electronic mail and similar forms of communication, and more particularly to a communications device and method for electronic mail or e-mail address inspection to detect ambiguities or similar improper addresses.

Many e-mail composing programs or the like have a predictive input text feature, whereby the user enters only the first several characters of a destination address and the software completes the address by matching against recently used addresses or addresses in an electronic address book, list of contacts or the like. While this feature can be a great time saver in some cases, it can also present a risk of sending an e-mail to the wrong person, possibly with undesirable consequences. When the user input is ambiguous or there may be multiple possible addresses corresponding to the partial input, the software may present a list of potential matches from which the user may select. A wrong address or an address that the user does not want the e-mail going to may inadvertently be selected from the list. In such situations, sensitive information may be accidentally sent to the wrong recipient, such as a recipient outside the user's domain, organizational network or the like.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a method for e-mail address inspection may include providing a list of suggested or predicted addresses in response to a partial e-mail address being received. The method may also include checking the partial e-mail address for other possible matches in an electronic address book in response to an address being selected by a user from the list of suggested or predicted addresses. The method may further include presenting a warning in response to other possible matches and the selected address not being in a predetermined domain.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a communications device may include an e-mail module to provide a list of suggested or predicted addresses in response to a partial e-mail address being received and to check the partial e-mail address for other possible matches in an electronic address book in response to an address being selected by a user from the list of suggested or predicted addresses. The communications device may also include a user interface to present a warning in response to other possible matches and the selected address not being in a predetermined domain.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a system may include a network for sending and receiving e-mails. The system may also include an e-mail module to provide a list of suggested or predicted addresses in response to a partial e-mail address being received and to check the partial e-mail address for other possible matches in an electronic address book in response to an address being selected by a user from the list of suggested or predicted addresses.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a computer program product for e-mail address inspection may include a computer useable medium having computer useable program code embodied therein. The computer useable medium may include computer useable program code configured to provide a list of suggested or predicted addresses in response to a partial e-mail address being received and to check the partial e-mail address for other possible matches in an electronic address book in response to an address being selected by a user from the list of suggested or predicted addresses. The computer useable medium may also include computer useable program code configured to present a warning in response to other possible matches and the selected address not being in a predetermined domain.

Other aspects and features of the present invention, as defined solely by the claims, will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following non-limited detailed description of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following detailed description of embodiments refers to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate specific embodiments of the invention. Other embodiments having different structures and operations do not depart from the scope of the present invention.

Any suitable computer useable medium may be utilized. The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, for example but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or medium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium would include some or all of the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, or a magnetic storage device. In the context of this document, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be any medium that can contain or store the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

FIGS. 1A,1B and1C (collectivelyFIG. 1) are a flow chart of an example of a method100for e-mail address inspection in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As used herein e-mail may include any type of electronic communication or electronic message service where an electronic address for a recipient of a message may be specified, entered or selected, including but not necessarily limited to e-mail, instant messaging, short message service or similar services. In block102, a recipient or destination address entered by a user may be received. In block104, a determination may be made if the entry by the user is a partial input or partial e-mail address. If a determination is made in block104that a partial e-mail address has not been entered, that is, a complete e-mail address has been entered by the user, the method100may advance to block112and the complete e-mail address may be placed in an address field of the e-mail being composed. If a determination is made in block104that a partial e-mail address has been entered in block102, a list of suggested or predicted addresses may be provided or presented to the user in block106. The list of suggested or predicted addresses may be recently used addresses or addresses from an address book, contacts list or the like stored on a communications device or elsewhere. In another embodiment of the present invention, the suggested or predicted addresses may be presented after the user has entered only a portion of a complete e-mail address.

In block108, a flag or other indication may be set in response to the user selecting an address from the list of suggested or predicted addresses. In block110, the partial e-mail address entry and the corresponding matching address selected by the user from the list may be saved in a memory of the communications device or elsewhere in a system. In block112, the complete address selected by the user may be placed in the address field of the e-mail being composed.

In block114, a determination may be made if another address has been received. If a determination is made in block114that another address or partial address has been received or entered, the method100may return to block104and the method100may proceed as previously described. If a determination is made in block114that another address has not been received, the method100may advance to block116. In block116, a message body entered into the communications device by the user may be received.

In block118, a determination may be made if the flag has been set in response to the user selecting a suggested or predicted address in block108. If a determination is made in block118that the flag is not set, the method100may advance to block124and the e-mail or other type communication may be sent. If a determination is made in block118that the flag has been set, the method100may advance to block120.

In block120, the partial entry or partial entries of an e-mail address or addresses saved in block110may be checked for any ambiguity or if there is more than one match in an electronic address book. As used herein, an electronic address book may be a contacts list, organization directory, domain or the like. The electronic address book may be stored on the communications device or elsewhere on a system or network, such as on a server or other data source.

In block120, the partial entries may be checked against the electronic address book for the same or similar identification (ID), user name or the like, but different domains. An algorithm may be used to identify similar addresses, such as an algorithm to identify similar names by evaluating differences or distances between the partial e-mail address and each address in the address book. For example, the partial e-mail address may be checked for possible matches by determining either a Hamming distance or a Levenshtein distance between the partial address and each address in the electronic address book. Determining Hamming distance or Levenshtein distance is used by spell checking algorithms to suggest replacements for mistyped words.

In block122, a determination may be made if any ambiguities or other possible matches for the partial e-mail address were detected in block120. If no ambiguities or other possible matches were detected, the e-mail or other communication may be sent in block124. If other possible matches were detected in block126, the method100may advance to block128.

In block128, a determination may be made if the address selected by the user from the list of suggested or predicted addresses is in a predetermined domain. The predetermined domain may be a directory for an organization, such as a corporation, a list of internal addresses, authorized addresses or the like. If a determination is made in block128that the address selected from the list of suggested or predicted addresses is in the predetermined domain, the method100may return to block124and the e-mail or other communication may be sent.

If a determination is made in block128that the selected address is not in the predetermined domain, the method100may advance to block130. In block130, a warning may be presented to the user. The warning may be a visual, audio or combination audio and visual warning that the e-mail may be addressed to a recipient that is not desired or that is not part of the predetermined domain.

In block132, a user may select to go ahead and send the e-mail or to edit the e-mail address. If the user selects to send the e-mail, the e-mail or other communications is sent in block134. If the user selects the option to edit the e-mail address, the method100may return to block102and the method100may proceed as previously described.

FIG. 2is a block schematic diagram of an exemplary system200and communications device202for e-mail inspection in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The communications device202may be a computer system, mobile computing system, personal digital assistant, cellular telephone or the like capable of sending e-mails or other electronic communications via a wireless or wire line connection. The method100ofFIG. 1may be embodied in the system200or communications device202.

The communications device202may include a processor204. An operating system206may run on the processor to control overall operation of the communications device202. The communications device202may also include a browser208for accessing web sites or the like on a network, such as the Internet, a private network or other type of network. The communications device202may also include an e-mail client210, application or the like that may be operable on the processor204. The communications device202may also include an e-mail inspection module212. The e-mail inspection module212may be part of the e-mail client210or may be features within the e-mail client210, or may be a separate module that operates in association with the e-mail client210. The method100may be embodied in the e-mail inspection module212or e-mail client210if combined. Accordingly, the blocks102-134or features described with respect to method100may correspond to components or elements of the e-mail inspection module212or e-mail client210.

The communications device202may also include an input/output (I/O) device or devices and a user interface214. The user interface214may include a display or monitor, keypad, keyboard or the like for a user to enter data and perform the functions described with respect to method100. The I/O device or devices may include disk drives or the like to download data from a computer useable or readable medium216as defined herein.

The communications device202may also include a memory system218. Among other data useable by the communications device202, the memory system218may include an address book220, contacts list or the like that may be used in conjunction with the e-mail client210and e-mail inspection module212similar to that described with respect to method100ofFIG. 1.

The communications device202may also include a network interface222for accessing a network224. The network interface222may be or may include a wireless transceiver for communicating with the network224via radio signals. The network224may be a wireless communications network, wire line communications network or a combination wire line and wireless communications network. The network224may also be or include the Internet or other network.

The communications device202may access a server226or other elements or components that may be part of the system200via the network224. The server226may include a processor228. An operating system230may be operable on the processor228to control operation of the server226and to perform various other functions, such as e-mail services and the like.

In some embodiments of the present invention, an e-mail application232or similar application may be operable on the processor230. An e-mail inspection component or element234may also be operable on the server processor228. The e-mail inspection component or element234may be part of the e-mail application232or may be a separate component operable in conjunction with the e-mail application232. The e-mail application232and e-mail inspection component234may function in coordination with the e-mail client210and e-mail module212in the communications device202. The e-mail application232and e-mail inspection component234may perform some or most of the operations associated with a method of e-mail address inspection similar to that described with respect toFIG. 1, particularly in communications devices that may have limited capacity to completely perform such functions.

The server226may also include a memory system236. The memory system236may include an address book238, directory or the like that may define the domain for an organization that can be checked to detect ambiguities in e-mail addresses as previously described. Alternately, the address book238, directory or the like may be stored in a separate database that is accessible by the server226.

The server226may also include a network interface240for accessing the network224. The network interface240may be similar to network interface222in the communications device202. The network interface240may also be or may include a transceiver for accessing the network224via a wireless, wire line or combination wireless and wire line connection.