System and method for verifying delivery and integrity of electronic messages
DCFirst Claim
1. In a method of transmitting a message from a sender to a recipient through a server displaced from the recipient and of authenticating the message, the steps at the server of:
- receiving the message from the sender,transmitting the message to the recipient,storing at the server at least a portion of a mail transport protocol dialog generated by the server and the recipient during the transmission of the message between the server and the recipient,receiving at the server an indication from the recipient that the message has been received at the recipient from the server,maintaining the message and additionally creating a digital signature of the message for later authentication of the message by the server, andtransmitting to the sender the message, the digital signature of the message, and the at least a portion of the mail transport dialog before any authentication of the message for storage by the sender.
5 Assignments
Litigations
1 Petition
Accused Products
Abstract
In order to provide third party verification of the content and delivery of an electronic message such as an e-mail, a server receives the e-mail intended to be sent or forwarded to a specified addressee, and “tags” the message to indicate that it is “registered” with the provider of the service. The server then establishes a direct telnet connection with the addressee'"'"'s Mail User Agent (MUA), and transmits the tagged e-mail to the addressee'"'"'s MUA, as well as to the MUA'"'"'s of any other addressees. After receiving responses from the receiving MUA'"'"'s that the message was successfully received, the server then creates and forwards to the message originator an electronic receipt. The receipt includes one or more, and preferably all of, the following: the original message including any original attachments; a delivery success/failure table listing which addressee'"'"'s MUA'"'"'s successfully received the message and at what time, and for which MUA'"'"'s there was a delivery failure; and a digital signature corresponding to the message and attachments. By receiving the receipt at a later date and verifying that the digital signature matches the message and related information, the operators of the system can provide independent third party verification that the receipt is a genuine product of their system and that the information pertaining to content and delivery of the message is accurate, without the need to archive either the original message or the receipt.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. In a method of transmitting a message from a sender to a recipient through a server displaced from the recipient and of authenticating the message, the steps at the server of:
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receiving the message from the sender, transmitting the message to the recipient, storing at the server at least a portion of a mail transport protocol dialog generated by the server and the recipient during the transmission of the message between the server and the recipient, receiving at the server an indication from the recipient that the message has been received at the recipient from the server, maintaining the message and additionally creating a digital signature of the message for later authentication of the message by the server, and transmitting to the sender the message, the digital signature of the message, and the at least a portion of the mail transport dialog before any authentication of the message for storage by the sender. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. In a method of authenticating a message provided by a sender and transmitted to a destination server by a second server displaced from the sender and the destination server, the steps at the second server of:
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creating an electronic attachment at the second server including the identity and address of the sender and the identity and address of the second server and the identity and address of the destination server and at least a portion of a mail transport protocol dialog generated by the second server and the destination server during the transmission of the message between the second server and the destination server, and transmitting the electronic attachment from the second server to the sender after the transmission of the message from the second server to the destination server but before any authentication of the message by the second server. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification