Patent ID: 8661086

Claim:
A method for immunizing a recipient's computer system in a data processing network from possible corrupting contents of an incoming message addressed to the recipient's computer system and received over a communications path through a message buffer in a server, said method comprising the steps of: A) receiving an incoming message in the message buffer, B) providing for each incoming message and recipient an isolated controlled environment set of at least one controlled environment that is isolated from the recipient's computer system for receiving and processing an incoming message, each controlled environment set including: i) a message criteria set of at least one message criterion that defines with certainty an incoming message that contains no possible corrupting contents and is therefore proven to be valid, and ii) a message transmission criteria set including a first message transmission criterion that designates the recipient's computer system as a message destination and a second message transmission criterion that defines an alternate message destination to which the recipient's computer system is granted limited access, and C) controlling the destination of the incoming message by: i) transferring the incoming message from the server buffer to the controlled environment set provided for the recipient and the message, ii) analyzing the content of the incoming message in the controlled environment set according to the message criteria set to categorize a message that meets the message criteria as a valid message and all other messages as being invalid messages, iii) selecting the first transmission criterion only when said analyzing determines that the message is categorized as a valid message and otherwise selecting the second transmission criterion, and iv) transferring the incoming message in the controlled environment set in accordance with the selected transmission criterion whereby only incoming messages categorized as valid messages transfer to the recipient's computer system and all other messages transfer to the alternate message destination.