Secure electronic message transport protocol
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- encrypting flow control information associated with an electronic message, the flow control information including identities of a sender and an intended recipient; and
transmitting the electronic message with the encrypted flow control information from the sender to a recipient group mailbox accessible by the intended recipient.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic message transport protocol applies two distinct sub-protocols, a message transport protocol and an encryption key management protocol, which operate in tandem to provide enhanced security. The protocol may employ an existing SMTP infrastructure to transport secure email messages, and a key server implementing the key management protocol to transport key packets associated with the secure email message. However, the protocol need not be limited to email, and may be applicable to other electronic message applications. The message transport protocol permits communicating parties to obscure their identities to enhance security. The key management protocol supports message security, and allows senders to control access to messages even after they have been transmitted. The message transport protocol permits the sender to encrypt the entire message and utilizes the key management protocol for exchange of necessary keys. The message transport protocol relies on a group addressing scheme to obscure individual sender and recipient identities.
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Citations
39 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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encrypting flow control information associated with an electronic message, the flow control information including identities of a sender and an intended recipient; and
transmitting the electronic message with the encrypted flow control information from the sender to a recipient group mailbox accessible by the intended recipient. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10)
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- 7. The method of claim 7, further comprising permitting the sender to invalidate the message key after transmitting the message key to the message key server to prevent the recipient from decrypting the encrypted flow control information.
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11. A system comprising:
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a sender client that generates an electronic message and encrypts flow control information associated with the electronic message;
a recipient client that receives the electronic message, wherein the flow control information includes identities of the sender client and the recipient client;
one or more message transport servers that receive the electronic message with the encrypted flow control information from the sender client;
a recipient group mailbox, accessible by the receiver client, that receives the electronic message with the encrypted flow control information from the message transport servers. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions to cause a processor to:
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encrypt flow control information associated with an electronic message, the flow control information including identities of a sender and an intended recipient; and
transmit the electronic message with the encrypted flow control information from the sender to a recipient group mailbox accessible by the intended recipient. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method comprising:
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generating a symmetric message key;
encrypting an electronic message using the symmetric message key;
encrypting the symmetric message key using a public asymmetric key associated with a recipient of the electronic message;
transmitting the encrypted message key to a key server;
formulating a message header;
encrypting the header using the public asymmetric key associated with the recipient; and
attaching the encrypted header to the message. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A method comprising:
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receiving an electronic message encrypted with a symmetric message key, wherein the electronic message includes a message header encrypted with a public asymmetric key associated with a recipient;
decrypting the header using a private asymmetric key associated with the recipient;
identifying a key server based on an identification in the header;
accessing the key server to retrieve the symmetric message key; and
decrypting the electronic message using the symmetric message key. - View Dependent Claims (33)
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34. A method comprising:
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encrypting flow control information associated with an electronic message, the flow control information including identities of a sender and an intended recipient;
encrypting a symmetric message key using a public asymmetric key associated with a recipient of the electronic message;
transmitting the encrypted symmetric message key to a key server;
formulating a message header including the flow control information and an identification of the key server; and
transmitting the electronic message with the encrypted flow control information and the message header from the sender to a recipient group mailbox accessible by the intended recipient.
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35. A method comprising:
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encrypting flow control information associated with an electronic message using a symmetric message key associated with the sender, the flow control information including identities of a sender and an intended recipient;
encrypting the symmetric message key using a public asymmetric key associated with a recipient of the electronic message;
transmitting the encrypted symmetric message key to a key server;
generating a time stamp indicating a time at which the key server receives the encrypted message key;
transmitting the electronic message with the encrypted flow control information from the sender to a recipient group mailbox accessible by the intended recipient. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39)
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Specification