Patent Document ID: 7921159
Application ID: 10686356
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for countering spam that disguises characters within an electronic message, the method implemented on a computer, the method comprising the steps of: locating portions of the electronic message where a difference in color between foreground color and background color is negligible, the locating performed by a processor of the computer, the locating comprising: determining whether at least one of the foreground color and the background color is a gray-scale color; and responsive to at least one of the foreground color and the background color being a gray-scale color, determining a difference in saturation between the foreground color and the background color, determining a difference in brightness between the foreground color an the background color, and deeming the difference in color between the foreground color and the background color to be negligible based on the difference in the saturation and the difference in brightness between the colors regardless of hue values of the colors, said deeming further comprises: determining that the difference between the colors falls below a negligibility threshold, the negligibility threshold used depending upon a type of monitor on which the electronic message is to be displayed; deleting from the electronic message foreground characters from said portions, to form a redacted electronic message; and forwarding the redacted electronic message to a spam filter.