Patent ID: 7792909

Claim:
A network traffic filtering system for filtering a flow of electronic messages across a computer network from electronic message sources to intended recipients, the system comprising: an engine configured to generate reputation data and updated reputation data for sources of messages by evaluating messages after being sent from sending servers and before being received by any targeted receiving server associated with one or more intended recipients of one or more of the messages, the engine further configured to generate source reputation profiles of the electronic message sources using the reputation and updated reputation data; a centralized server installed on one or more computing devices and including the engine, the centralized server external to any gateway to a network having one or more of the targeted receiving servers associated with the one or more intended recipients; a source reputation profile of one of the message sources created by the engine and comprising: a first reputation score for the message source calculated by the engine based on the reputation data for the message source, the first reputation score indicating a likelihood that electronic messages from the message source are unwanted by intended recipients of the messages, and a second reputation score for the message source adjusted from the first reputation score by the engine based on updated reputation data associated with the message source, the second reputation score indicating a decreased likelihood that electronic messages from the message source are unwanted by the intended recipients; and a database connected to the centralized server and also external to any gateway to a network having one or more of the targeted receiving servers associated with the one or more intended recipients, the database configured to store the source reputation profiles.