Method and apparatus for enabling authentication of e-mail messages
First Claim
1. A method of processing an e-mail message intended for a recipient, the method comprising:
- establishing a message code as a recipient-specific code uniquely associated with a recipient prior to creating an e-mail message;
creating an e-mail message with the message code logically connected therewith by a sender, the message code being associated with the e-mail message and specific to the recipient; and
sending the e-mail message to the recipient, wherein, the message code is disposed to serve as an authenticity indicator for the e-mail message.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Method and apparatus for enabling authentication of e-mail messages. A message code is embedded in an e-mail, where the message code can be used by the recipient to verify the authenticity of the e-mail. In some embodiments, this code can be created for a particular e-mail message; in other embodiments, the code is created as a watermark for use in all e-mail to a specific recipient. The message code is associated with both the e-mail message and the recipient. In the case of a message-specific code, a recipient can verify the e-mail message by inputting the code via a Web server to be looked up in the database. The invention can be implemented in a system including a server which creates e-mail messages and injects message codes and a database for storing codes and recipient e-mail addresses.
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method of processing an e-mail message intended for a recipient, the method comprising:
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establishing a message code as a recipient-specific code uniquely associated with a recipient prior to creating an e-mail message; creating an e-mail message with the message code logically connected therewith by a sender, the message code being associated with the e-mail message and specific to the recipient; and sending the e-mail message to the recipient, wherein, the message code is disposed to serve as an authenticity indicator for the e-mail message. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. Apparatus for processing e-mail messages, each intended for a recipient, the apparatus comprising:
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means for establishing a message code as a recipient-specific code uniquely associated with a recipient prior to creating an e-mail message; means for creating an e-mail message with the message code logically connected therewith by a sender, the message code being associated with the e-mail message and specific to the recipient; and means for sending the e-mail message to the recipient, wherein, the message code is disposed to serve as an authenticity indicator for the e-mail message. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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14. A computer program product, the computer program product comprising a medium with a computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable program code for execution by an instruction execution platform to implement a method for enabling processing of e-mail messages, each intended for a recipient, the method comprising:
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establishing a message code as a recipient-specific code uniquely associated with a recipient prior to creating an e-mail message; creating an e-mail message with the message code logically connected therewith by a sender, the message code being associated with the e-mail message and specific to the recipient; and sending the e-mail message to the recipient, wherein, the message code is disposed to serve as an authenticity indicator for the e-mail message. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A system for processing e-mail messages, each intended for a recipient, the system comprising:
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at least a first server to create and send an e-mail message with a message code logically connected therewith, wherein, the message code is a recipient-specific code uniquely associated with the recipient and the message code is disposed therein by the sender to serve as an authenticity indicator for the e-mail message; and a database connected to the first server to store at least the message code and an address for the recipient, so that the message code is associated with the e-mail message and the recipient. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification