Apparatus for preventing automatic generation of a chain reaction of messages if a prior extracted message is similar to current processed message

A method of preventing maelstroms in computers and computer networks populated by entities capable of outputting messages automatically in response to incoming messages, comprising steps of:

• for each message processed by an entity that may potentially be forwarded to another entity, extracting information from the message for permitting that message or a similar message to be recognized;
• storing the extracted information for that message such that it is accessible by the entity;
• for each further message processed by the entity, comparing a currently processed message against the stored information for a set of messages that have been previously processed by the entity;
• and
• if the stored information for a previously processed message is sufficiently similar to the information extracted from the currently processed message, preventing the currently processed message from triggering the generation of a new message, wherein the step of extracting includes a preliminary step of identifying at least one portion of the message as being a special block, and wherein the step of extracting treats the special block as being an indivisible unit when extracting the information.

A method of preventing maelstroms in computers and computer networks populated by entities capable of outputting messages automatically in response to incoming messages, comprising steps of:

• for each message processed by an entity that may potentially be forwarded to another entity, extracting information from the message for permitting that message or a similar message to be recognized;
• storing the extracted information for that message such that it is accessible by the entity;
• for each further message processed by the entity, comparing a currently processed message against the stored information for a set of messages that have been previously processed by the entity;
• and
• if the stored information for a previously processed message is sufficiently similar to the information extracted from the currently processed message, preventing the currently processed message from triggering the generation of a new message, wherein the step of extracting information includes a preliminary step of filtering all or a part of the message to generate a filtered message, and further includes a preliminary step of identifying at least one portion of the message as being a special block, wherein the step of extracting information includes a step of extracting at least one signature pattern comprised of at least one byte sequence from the filtered message, and further treats the special block as being an indivisible unit when extracting the at least one signature pattern.

A method for preventing an occurrence of a maelstrom in a computer network populated by entities capable of generating an outgoing message automatically in response to an incoming message, comprising steps of:

• providing a signature database for storing entries, each entry corresponding to a message processed by the entity and containing data for enabling a subsequent instance of a same message or a similar message to be identified;
• for each message processed by the entity, extracting a signature from the message and comparing the extracted signature to the stored entries to determine if a match occurs;
• if a match occurs, updating the matching stored entry and making a determination as to whether to generate a new signature database entry;
• if not, determining whether to continue processing the message or not to continue processing the message;
• if processing is to continue, transferring the message to a next message processing stage, else if processing is to terminate, terminating the processing of the message;
• if the determination as to whether to generate a new signature database entry is to generate the entry, generating the new signature database entry by first extracting the new entry from all or a portion of the message, storing the extracted new signature database entry, and then determining whether to continue processing the message or not to continue processing the message;
• else if a match does not occur, generating a new signature database entry by extracting the new entry from the message, storing the extracted new signature database entry, and then determining whether to continue processing the message or not to continue processing the message.

A digital data processing system comprising interconnected entities capable of outputting messages automatically in response to incoming messages, said system comprising, in at least one of said entities, a subsystem for preventing an occurrence of a maelstrom, comprising:

• a unit for extracting information from messages processed by the entity, the messages being those that have the potential to trigger an occurrence of a maelstrom, the extracted information being chosen so as to minimize a likelihood that a different message would also contain the extracted information;
• a memory for storing the extracted information in a database of extracted information, said database having the extracted information for each message stored in an entry associated with the message;
• and
• a unit for comparing each message processed by the entity against the database entries and, if an entry is found to match exactly to the processed message, for preventing triggering the outputting of a new message, and if an entry is found to similarly match, but not exactly match, the processed message, for preventing triggering the outputting of a new message.

A digital data processing system comprising interconnected entities capable of outputting messages automatically in response to incoming messages, said system comprising, in at least one of said entities, a subsystem for preventing an occurrence of a maelstrom, comprising:

• a unit for extracting information from messages processed by the entity, the extracted information permitting that message or a similar message to be recognized;
• a memory for storing the extracted information in a database of extracted information, said database having the extracted information for each message stored in an entry associated with the message;
• and
• a unit for comparing each message processed by the entity against the database entries and, if an entry is sufficiently similar to the processed message, for preventing triggering the outputting of a new message, wherein said extracting unit operates to first filter all or a part of the message to generate a filtered message, and further operates to identify at least one portion of the message as being a special block, and wherein said extracting unit extracts at least one signature pattern comprised of at least one byte sequence from the filtered message, and treats the identified special block as being an indivisible unit when extracting the at least one signature pattern.

A computer program embodied on a computer-readable medium for providing a subsystem to prevent an occurrence of a maelstrom, comprising:

• an information extracting segment for extracting information from messages processed by an entity, the messages being those that have the potential to trigger an occurrence of a maelstrom, the extracted information being chosen so as to minimize a likelihood that a different message would also contain the extracted information;
• a storage segment for storing the extracted information in a database of extracted information, said database having the extracted information for each message stored in an entry associated with the message;
• and
• a comparison segment for comparing messages processed by the entity against the database entries stored in the storage segment and, if an entry is found to match exactly to the message, for preventing triggering the generation and forwarding of a new message;
• and if an entry is found to similarly match, but not exactly match, to the message, for preventing triggering the generation and forwarding of a new message.