Systems and Methods for Message Transmission and Retrieval using Blockchain

• US 20200134565A1
• Filed: 10/29/2018
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: j2 Cloud Services, LLC (Consensus Cloud Solutions, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Advanced Messaging Technologies, Inc. (J2 Global, Inc.)
• Inventors: Adluri, Mahender
• Granted Patent: US 10,929,816 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/182 Distributed file systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/27 Replication, distribution or synchronisation of data between databases or within a distributed database system; Distributed database system architectures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2463/082 applying multi-factor authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/046 Interoperability with other network applications or services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/10 Multimedia information
• 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 63/123 received data contents, e.g. message integrity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0643 Hash functions, e.g. MD5, SHA, HMAC or f9 MAC
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0838 Key agreement, i.e. key establishment technique in which a shared key is derived by parties as a function of information contributed by, or associated with, each of these network architectures or network communication protocols for key exchange in a packet data network H04L63/061
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3239 involving non-keyed hash functions, e.g. modification detection codes [MDCs], MD5, SHA or RIPEMD
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/50 using hash chains, e.g. blockchains or hash trees

Abstract

Systems and methods for message transfer and retrieval are provided. According to some aspects, message information is received from a sender, and a message can be created based on the received message information. A hash of the message and transaction information related to the message can be generated and provided to a current block in a blockchain. The message is transferred or otherwise provided to a receiver, and upon receipt and validation of authentication information from the receiver, access to the received message is provided to the receiver. A hash of the received message and additional transaction information related to the received message is generated and provided to a current block in the blockchain. Other aspects also are provided.

Claims

1. A method for message transfer between a plurality of participants, comprising:

receiving message information from a first device managed by a first participant of the plurality of participants;

creating a message based on the received message information;

generating a hash of the message and generating transaction information related to the message;

providing the transaction information and the hash of the message to one or more blocks in a blockchain;

transferring the message to a second device managed by a second participant of the plurality of participants to provide access to a received message on the second device;

requesting authentication information from the second participant from the second device,

providing access to the received message on the second device upon receipt and validation of the authentication information;

generating a hash of the received message and generating additional transaction information related to the received message; and

providing the hash of the received message and the additional transaction information to one or more blocks in the blockchain.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

notifying the second participant that the message has been transferred to the second device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the message comprises an audio message, a visual message, or a textual message.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein generating a hash of the message includes applying a hash function to electronic data of the message.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the hash function comprises a SHA256 or a RIPEMID function.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying information in the blockchain to provide a transaction history for the message.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the transaction information includes a transaction identifier, a message type, a participant identifier, a status, and time information related to the message.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the additional transaction information includes a transaction identifier, a message type, a participant identifier, a status, and time information related to the received message.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the authentication information comprises multifactor authentication information.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the authentication information includes a crypto key provided to the second participant.

11. A system for secure message transfer between a plurality of participants, comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more non-transitory computer readable storage mediums having instructions stored therein, the instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the system to;

receive message information from a first device managed by a first participant of the plurality of participants;

create a message based on the received message information;

generate a hash of the message and generate transaction information related to the message;

provide the transaction information and the hash of the message to one or more blocks in a blockchain;

transfer the message to a second device managed by a second participant of the plurality of participants to provide a received message on the second device;

receive authentication information from the second participant using the second device,

provide access to the received message on the second device upon validation of the authentication information;

generate a hash of the received message and generate additional transaction information related to the received message; and

provide the hash of the received message and the additional transaction information to one or more blocks in the blockchain.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the system notifies the second user that the message has been transferred to the second device.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the message comprises an audio message, a visual message, or a textual message.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the system applies a hash function to electronic data of the message to generate the hash of the message.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the hash function comprises a SHA256 or a RIPEMD function.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the system displays information provided in the blockchain on the first or second device to provide a transaction history for the message.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the transaction information includes a transaction identifier, a message type, a participant identifier, a status, and time information related to the message.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein the additional transaction information includes a transaction identifier, a message type, a participant identifier, a status, and time information related to the received message.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein the authentication information comprises multifactor authentication information.

20. The system of claim 11, wherein the authentication information includes a crypto key provided to the second participant.