| CPC H04L 63/083 (2013.01) [H04L 63/0876 (2013.01); H04L 63/1483 (2013.01); H04L 2463/082 (2013.01)] | 14 Claims |

|
1. A system for communicating email messages using tokens, comprising:
a memory operable to store a token-email address mapping table comprising a plurality of email addresses mapped to a plurality of tokens, wherein:
each of the plurality of email addresses is associated with a different token from the plurality of tokens, and
each of the plurality of tokens uniquely identifies a different email address from the plurality of email addresses; and
a processor, operably coupled with the memory, and configured to:
receive a request to communicate an email message to a receiver, wherein the email message is associated with a sender's email address;
determine whether the sender's email address is associated with a token from the plurality of tokens;
in response to determining that the sender's email address is not associated with a token from the plurality of tokens, generate a particular token for the sender's email address, wherein the particular token uniquely identifies the sender's email address, and wherein the particular token is generated by applying a hash function to a personally identifiable information field of the email message; and
communicate the email message using the particular token instead of the sender's email address, such that the sender's email address remains anonymous from a perspective of the receiver;
a second processor configured to:
access the email message;
determine whether the sender's email address is associated with the particular token by searching for the sender's email address within the token-email address mapping table; and
in response to determining that the sender's email address is associated with the particular token, determine that the email message is not associated with a phishing treat.
|