Secure Electronic Mail System

• US 20120198017A1
• Filed: 04/12/2012
• Published: 08/02/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Appriver Canada, ULC (Open Text Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Email2 SCP Solutions Inc.
• Inventors: LeVasseur, Thierry, Astudillo, Esteban, McLean, Matt, Wilson, Alex, Yee, Tina
• Granted Patent: US 9,401,900 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/216 Handling conversation history, e.g. grouping of messages in sessions or threads
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/224 providing notification on incoming messages, e.g. pushed notifications of received messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/48 Message addressing, e.g. address format or anonymous messages, aliases
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/06 for supporting key management in a packet data network cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key management H04L9/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/123 received data contents, e.g. message integrity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/145 the attack involving the propagation of malware through the network, e.g. viruses, trojans or worms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/168 above the transport layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

An e-mail system is disclosed that overcomes many deficiencies of, but is backward compatible with, existing e-mail systems. An exemplary method for communicating e-mail messages comprises receiving, at a server system, an original e-mail message associated with a unique message ID that is assigned by the server system. The method further comprises storing a distribution list associated with the unique message ID and a thread participation status indicator for each of the one or more recipients, and, in response to an opt-out request received from one of the recipients, updating the distribution list to thereby produce a modified distribution list that does not include the requesting recipient. The method further comprises receiving a reply e-mail message in the same thread, and sending the reply e-mail message based on the modified distribution list such that the reply e-mail message is not sent to the requesting recipient.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of securely communicating e-mail messages, comprising:

receiving, at a server system, an original e-mail message from a sender, the original e-mail message to be sent to a plurality of recipients, the original e-mail message associated with a unique message ID that is assigned by the server system;

storing an original distribution list associated with the unique message ID on the server system, the original distribution list including the sender and one or more recipients;

storing a thread participation status indicator for each of the one or more recipients on the distribution list in a database;

in response to an opt-out request received from one of the recipients in the distribution list, modifying the corresponding thread participation status indicator for the requesting recipient to indicate that the requesting recipient has opted out of receiving further e-mail messages in a same thread as the original e-mail message;

updating the distribution list by deleting or adding recipients from the distribution list based on the respective status of each of the recipients to thereby produce a modified distribution list that has a different set of recipients than the original distribution list and that does not include the requesting recipient;

receiving, at the server system, a reply e-mail message in the same thread for sending from a recipient of the original e-mail message in the modified distribution list to other users in the modified distribution list, where the reply message is associated with the unique message ID of the original e-mail message; and

sending the reply e-mail message based on the modified distribution list such that the reply e-mail message is not sent to the requesting recipient.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the opt-out request is received from a remote client executed on a remote client device via an HTTPS connection over a computer network.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising sending, via the remote client, authentication information from the remote client device to the server system to enable the server system to authenticate the remote client device prior to receiving the opt-out request.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the remote client comprises a web-based e-mail client.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the remote client comprises an e-mail client plug-in configured to run in conjunction with an e-mail client program on the remote client device.

6. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

storing a thread participation status indicator for the sender on the distribution list in the database;

in response to an opt-out request received from the sender in the distribution list, modifying the corresponding thread participation status indicator for the sender to indicate that the sender has opted out of receiving further e-mail messages in the same thread as the original e-mail message;

updating the distribution list by deleting the sender from the distribution list based on the status of the sender to thereby produce the modified distribution list;

receiving, at the server system, a second reply e-mail message in the same thread for sending from a recipient of the original e-mail message in the modified distribution list to other users in the modified distribution list, where the reply message is associated with the unique message ID of the original e-mail message; and

sending the second reply e-mail message based on the modified distribution list such that the second reply e-mail message is not sent to the sender of the original e-mail message who sent the opt-out request.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising, at a remote device of a recipient of the original e-mail message who did not send the opt-out request:

retrieving a plurality of e-mail messages associated with the original e-mail message from the server system, the plurality of e-mail messages comprising at least original e-mail message and the reply e-mail message;

aggregating the plurality of e-mail messages into a threaded display; and

displaying the threaded display via a display device operatively coupled to the remote device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the threaded display comprises a representation of the thread participation status indicator for each of the one or more recipients.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the threaded display comprises a single logical e-mail message.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising encrypting the opt-out request on the remote client device such that the opt-out request is sent to the server system in an encrypted form.

11. A secure e-mail server system, comprising:

a logic subsystem; and

a data-holding subsystem comprising instructions stored thereon that are executable by the logic subsystem to;

receive an original e-mail message from a sender, the original e-mail message to be sent to a plurality of recipients, the original e-mail message associated with a unique message ID that is assigned by the server system;

store an original distribution list associated with the unique message ID on the server system, the original distribution list including the sender and one or more recipients;

store a thread participation status indicator for each of the one or more recipients on the distribution list in a database;

in response to an opt-out request received from one of the recipients in the distribution list, modify the corresponding thread participation status indicator for the requesting recipient to indicate that the requesting recipient has opted out of receiving further e-mail messages in a same thread as the original e-mail message;

update the distribution list by deleting or adding recipients from the distribution list based on the respective status of each of the recipients to thereby produce a modified distribution list that has a different set of recipients than the original distribution list and that does not include the requesting recipient;

receive a reply e-mail message in the same thread for sending from a recipient of the original e-mail in the modified distribution list to other users in the modified distribution list, where the reply message is associated with the unique message ID of the original e-mail message; and

sending the reply e-mail message based on the modified distribution list such that the reply e-mail message is not sent to the recipient of the original e-mail message who sent the opt-out request.

12. The server system of claim 11, wherein the opt-out request is received from a remote client executed on a remote client device via an encrypted connection over a computer network.

13. The server system of claim 12, wherein the encrypted connection comprises an HTTPS connection.

14. The server system of claim 11, the instructions being further executable to:

receive, via the remote client, authentication information from the remote client device; and

authenticate the remote client device based on the authentication information prior to receiving the opt-out request.

15. The server system of claim 12, wherein the remote client comprises a web-based e-mail client.

16. The server system of claim 12, wherein the remote client comprises an e-mail client plug-in configured to run in conjunction with an e-mail client program on the remote client device.

17. The server system of claim 11, the instructions being further executable to:

store a thread participation status indicator for the sender on the distribution list in the database;

in response to an opt-out request received from the sender in the distribution list, modify the corresponding thread participation status indicator for the sender to indicate that the sender has opted out of receiving further e-mail messages in the same thread as the original e-mail message;

update the distribution list by deleting the sender from the distribution list based on the status of the sender to thereby produce the modified distribution list;

receive a second reply e-mail message in the same thread for sending from a recipient of the original e-mail in the modified distribution list to other users in the modified distribution list, where the reply message is associated with the unique message ID of the original e-mail message; and

sending the second reply e-mail message based on the modified distribution list such that the second reply e-mail message is not sent to the sender of the original e-mail message who sent the opt-out request.