Systems and methods for authenticating an electronic message

• US 8,095,797 B2
• Filed: 06/18/2009
• Issued: 01/10/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: United States Postal Service (Government of the United States of America)
• Original Assignee: United States Postal Service (Government of the United States of America)
• Inventors: Campbell, Leo J., Cook, Jon L., Chamberlain, Charles R., McGrath, Michael J., Schoen, Isadore
• Primary Examiner(s): BROWN, CHRISTOPHER J
• Application Number:
  US12/457,683
• Publication Number:
  US 20090259840A1
• Time in Patent Office: 936 Days
• Field of Search: 713/176, 713/178
• US Class Current: 713/176
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 17/00733 Cryptography or similar special procedures in a franking system
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 2017/00766 Digital signature, e.g. DSA, DSS, ECDSA, ESIGN
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 2017/00798 using timestamps, i.e. recording time in message
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 2017/00927 Certificates, e.g. X.509
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/56 Financial cryptography, e.g. electronic payment or e-cash
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/76 Proxy, i.e. using intermediary entity to perform cryptographic operations
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/321 involving a third party or a trusted authority
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3247 involving digital signatures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3297 involving time stamps, e.g. generation of time stamps

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed for authenticating electronic messages. A data structure is generated by a computer server which allows for the authentication of the contents and computer server identity of a received electronic message and provides a trusted stamp to authenticate when the message was sent. Data which can authenticate the message, the computer server identity, and the time the message was sent is included into a data structure which is called an Electronic PostMark (EPM).

Claims

1. A method for authenticating an electronic message, performed by an authentication sever, comprising the steps of:

receiving, at a predetermined time, a request to authenticate the electronic message, the request including a recipient electronic address and a hash value corresponding to the electronic message;

creating an electronic postmark data structure for the electronic message, the electronic postmark data structure including time and date information and a value that uniquely identifies the electronic postmark data structure;

generating a digital signature for the electronic postmark data structure;

including the digital signature in the electronic postmark data structure;

generating a public digital key for a recipient;

exporting the public digital key to a key authenticator for authorizing;

sending the electronic postmark data structure and the recipient electronic address to a recipient client for delivery to the recipient at the recipient electronic address;

storing a copy of the electronic postmark data structure including the time and date information in a log file; and

creating a digest of the log file.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

obtaining a authorized digital key for the electronic postmark data structure from a key authenticator, wherein the recipient can use the authorized digital key to verify the electronic postmark data structure; and

sending the authorized digital key to the receiver client.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of receiving a request further involves including the electronic message in the request.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of sending the electronic postmark data structure to a recipient client includes sending the electronic message to the recipient client.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of exporting the public digital key to a key authenticator involves using one of a key signing authority and a certificate authority.

6. A method for authenticating an electronic message, comprising the steps of:

sending a message comprising message data and a recipient electronic address from a sender to a sender front-end module at a sender client;

transmitting the message from the sender front-end module to a sender client proxy module at the sender client;

creating, by the sender client proxy module, a hash value from the message data;

sending, at a predetermined time, the hash value and the recipient electronic address from the sender client proxy module via a network client module to a network server module at an authentication server;

generating an electronic postmark for the hash value by the authentication server, the electronic postmark including time and date information and a value that uniquely identifies the electronic postmark;

sending the electronic postmark and the recipient electronic address from the authentication server via a network client module on a recipient client to a recipient client proxy module on a recipient client;

transmitting the electronic postmark and the recipient electronic address from the recipient client proxy module to a recipient front-end module at the recipient client;

sending the electronic postmark from the recipient client to a recipient at the recipient electronic address;

storing a copy of the electronic postmark hash value in a log file; and

creating a digest of the log file.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of generating an electronic postmark involves using the time and the date which indicate when the electronic message was received by the authentication server.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of sending the hash value and the recipient electronic address to an authentication server involves using the authentication server which is an electronic postmark server.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of:

verifying the electronic postmark using a authorized digital key.