| CPC H04L 63/20 (2013.01) [H04L 51/48 (2022.05); H04L 61/4511 (2022.05)] | 17 Claims |
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1. A system for collecting and distributing email policies associated with an Internet domain, the system comprising:
Internet-connected servers comprising one or more processors coupled to non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing program instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the Internet-connected servers to implement a Domain Email Authority (DEA) for the Internet domain; wherein the DEA is designated by the Internet domain, via a Domain Name System (DNS) record stored in at least one authoritative DNS server of the Internet, as a domain-level email policy manager for the Internet domain,
the DNS record comprising:
a designated domain field containing the Internet domain;
a designated type field containing a predetermined type indicator; and
a designated value field containing a web address for accessing the DEA;
and wherein the DEA comprises:
a policy collection interface for collecting email policies of the Internet domain from policy administrators and other designated parties authorized to administer email policies for the Internet domain;
a policy repository for storing email policies; and
a policy distribution interface for distributing email policies to email servers configured to enforce policies on emails from sender addresses whose domain portion matches the Internet domain, the domain portion being that part of an email address following the “@” symbol;
wherein the policy collection interface is configured to:
provide authenticated access to the policy administrators and the other designated parties authorized to administer email policies for the Internet domain to: create, modify, or delete email policies associated with the Internet domain;
validate email policies for accuracy and consistency as determined by one or more validators provided by the DEA; and
store the validated email policies in the policy repository; and
wherein the policy distribution interface is further configured to:
distribute, via a non-privileged interface, one or more validated email policies stored in the policy repository to requesting parties seeking email policies associated with the Internet domain.
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