SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DYNAMIC MODIFICATION OF ALLOWABLE ELECTRONIC MESSAGE PROPERTIES

• US 20080013717A1
• Filed: 07/11/2006
• Published: 01/17/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/11/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Brown, Michael S., Brown, Michael K., Kirkup, Michael G.
• Granted Patent: US 8,396,211 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 380/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/033 of the user plane, e.g. user's traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements

Abstract

A system and method for dynamically and automatically updating the appropriate fields on the message application screen of an electronic message to show which of the appropriate service book, security encoding or security properties are acceptable or allowed for the message being composed. This updating occurs automatically based on the contents of the fields that are modified during composition of the message, such as, for example, modifications to classification of the message, recipients, keywords, or the like. Thus, the properties in place for a given message is reflected in a dynamic options list provided to the user based on the contents of various fields of the electronic message and the system policies resident on the system. The dynamic updating may provide an updated list of options to the user, or may optionally automatically apply minimum level settings based on security policy and contents of the message.

Claims

1. A method for dynamic modification of allowable electronic message properties, comprising:

composing an electronic message by entering data in various fields of the message and selecting messaging properties from a list of available property options to apply to said message;

automatically updating said list of property options available to be applied to said message based on contents of the message entries made by a user and system policies applicable to said contents;

displaying an updated list of property options available to be applied to the message to the user based on the results of the automatic updating step;

selecting a property to apply to the message from the updated list of property options; and

sending the message having the selected property options applied thereto.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein:

said updated list of property options comprises a lower number of property options than a number of property options available prior to the automatic updating, said lower number of property options including a minimum encoding requirement.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the property options available to the user include security encoding properties.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the automatic updating of the list of available property options is based on a recipient of the message, a keyword present in the subject or text of the message, or a selected security classification of the message.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the automatic updating of the list of available property options is based on which of multiple types of messaging services is being used.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the system policy is provided by at least one of an IT policy managed by a system administrator or a third party policy applied to the electronic messaging system.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the electronic message is composed on a mobile wireless communication device.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the third party policy is provided by an electronic message server.

9. A system for dynamic modification of allowable electronic message properties, comprising:

a communication device capable of sending and receiving electronic messages and including a display;

program logic resident on said communication device for automatically updating a list of property options available to be applied to an electronic message based on contents of the message entered by a user and a system policy relating to said properties;

said display displaying an updated list of property options available to the be applied to the electronic message based on the results of the automatic update, and said user selecting a property to apply to the message from the updated list of property options; and

said communication device sending said message having the selected property option applied thereto.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein:

said updated list of property options comprises a lower number of property options than a number of property options available prior to the automatic updating, said lower number of property options including a minimum encoding requirement.

11. The system according to claim 9, wherein the property options available to the user include security encoding properties.

12. The system according to claim 9, wherein the automatic updating of the list of available property options is based on a recipient of the message, a keyword present in the subject or text of the message, or a security classification for the message.

13. The system according to claim 9, wherein the automatic updating of the list of available property options is based on which of multiple types of messaging services is being used by the communication device.

14. The system according to claim 9, wherein the system policy is provided by at least one of an IT policy managed by a system administrator or a third party policy applied to the electronic messaging system.

15. The system according to claim 9, wherein the communication device comprises a mobile wireless communication device.

16. The system according to claim 14, wherein the system policy is provided by an electronic message server.

17. A method for dynamic modification of allowable electronic message properties, comprising:

composing an electronic message by entering data in various fields of the message and selecting messaging properties from a list of available property options to apply to said message;

automatically updating said property options applied to said message based on contents of the message entries made by a user and system policies applicable to said contents;

notifying the user that the property option applied to the message has been automatically updated based on the results of the automatic updating step; and

sending the message having the automatically updated property options applied thereto.

18. The method according to claim 17, further comprising:

optionally providing an updated list of property options to apply to said message, said updated list including a minimum level of security encoding selected by the automatic updating step, and other options that conform to a system security policy for a user to select.

19. The method according to claim 18, further comprising:

selecting a higher level option to apply to said message;

applying the higher level option to the message; and

sending the message with the higher level option applied thereto.

20. The method according to claim 18, wherein:

said updated list of property options comprises a lower number of property options than a number of property options available prior to the automatic updating, said lower number of property options including a minimum encoding requirement.

21. The method according to claim 18, wherein the automatic updating of the list of available property options is based on a recipient of the message, a keyword present in the subject or text of the message, or a selected security classification for the message.

22. The method according to claim 17, wherein the automatically updated property option applied to the message is based on a recipient of the message, a keyword present in the subject or text of the message, or a selected security classification for the message.

23. The method according to claim 18, wherein the automatic updating of the list of available property options is based on which of multiple messaging services is being used.

24. The method according to claim 17, wherein the automatically updated property option applied to the message is based on which of multiple messaging services is being used.

25. The method according to claim 17, wherein the system policy is provided by at least one of an IT policy managed by a system administrator or a third party policy applied to the electronic messaging system.

26. The method according to claim 17, wherein the electronic message is composed on a mobile wireless communication device.

27. The method according to claim 25, wherein the system policy is provided by an electronic message server.

28. A system for dynamic modification of allowable electronic message properties, comprising:

a communication device capable of sending and receiving electronic messages and including a display;

program logic resident on said communication device for automatically updating property options applied to an electronic message based on contents of the message entered by a user and a system policy relating to said properties;

said display providing a notification to the user that the property option applied to the electronic message has been automatically updated; and

said communication device sending said message having the selected property option applied thereto.

29. The system according to claim 28, wherein:

said program logic optionally provides to the user an updated list of property options to apply to said message, said updated list including a minimum level of security encoding selected by the automatic update, and higher level options for a user to select.

30. The system according to claim 29, wherein:

said user selects a higher level option to apply to said message;

said program logic applying the higher level option to the message; and

said communication device sends the message with the higher level option applied thereto.

31. The system according to claim 29, wherein:

said updated list of property options comprises a lower number of property options than a number of property options available prior to the automatic updating, said lower number of property options including a minimum encoding requirement.

32. The method according to claim 29, wherein the automatic updating of the list of available property options is based on a recipient of the message, a keyword present in the subject or text of the message, or a selected security classification for the message.

33. The method according to claim 28, wherein the automatically updated property option applied to the message is based on a recipient of the message, a keyword present in the subject or text of the message, or a selected security classification for the message.

34. The method according to claim 29, wherein the automatic updating of the list of available property options is based on which of multiple types of messaging services is being used.

35. The method according to claim 28, wherein the automatically updated property option applied to the message is based on which of multiple messaging services is being used.

36. The method according to claim 28, wherein the system policy is provided by at least one of an IT policy managed by a system administrator or a third party policy applied to the electronic messaging system.

37. The method according to claim 28, wherein the communication device comprises a mobile wireless communication device.

38. The method according to claim 36, wherein the system policy is provided by an electronic message server.