Securing email conversations
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- determining that at least a portion of a transmission of an outgoing first email from a first email account to at least a second email account is to be encrypted, wherein the first email is to be sent by a first email server associated with the first email account and the second email account is associated with a different second email server;
changing a reply-to address included in the first email and corresponding to the second email account to an address associated with an intermediate device, wherein replies to the first email, intended for delivery to the second email account, are to be sent to the intermediate device prior to being routed to the second email server for delivery to the second email account based on the changed reply-to address to apply encryption to replies to the first email, replies to the first email sent to the intermediate device are sent over encrypted channels, and replies to the first email routed from the intermediate device to the second email server are sent over encrypted channels; and
causing at least a portion of a transmission of the first email to be encrypted and sent to the second email account with the changes to the reply-to address.
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Accused Products
Abstract
At least a portion of a transmission of an outgoing first email from a first email account to at least a second email account is encrypted. Second email address data is changed corresponding to the second email account to cause replies to the first email intended for the second email account to be sent to an intermediate device prior to being routed to the second email account. Replies to the first email are then sent to the intermediate device and sent over one or more encrypted channels. Replies to the first email including the changed email address data are decoded to identify the second email address data associated with the second email account. A reply to the first email is then sent to the second email account based on the identified second email address data.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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determining that at least a portion of a transmission of an outgoing first email from a first email account to at least a second email account is to be encrypted, wherein the first email is to be sent by a first email server associated with the first email account and the second email account is associated with a different second email server; changing a reply-to address included in the first email and corresponding to the second email account to an address associated with an intermediate device, wherein replies to the first email, intended for delivery to the second email account, are to be sent to the intermediate device prior to being routed to the second email server for delivery to the second email account based on the changed reply-to address to apply encryption to replies to the first email, replies to the first email sent to the intermediate device are sent over encrypted channels, and replies to the first email routed from the intermediate device to the second email server are sent over encrypted channels; and causing at least a portion of a transmission of the first email to be encrypted and sent to the second email account with the changes to the reply-to address. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 24)
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15. A method comprising:
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receiving at least one copy of a user-generated reply to a previously-sent first email, the reply to be sent to a first email account hosted at a first email server, the at least one copy including encoded reply-to email address data associated with the first email account, wherein the encoded reply-to email address data causes the at least one copy to be routed to the intermediate device over a first secured communication channel to apply encryption to the at least one copy of the reply to the first email prior to the at least one copy being routed to the first email server; decoding at least a portion of the encoded reply-to email address data to identify an email address associated with the first email account; and forwarding the at least one copy from the intermediate device to the first email server over a second secured communication channel for delivery to the first email account based on the identified email address. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 22, 23)
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19. At least one non-transitory, machine-accessible storage medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions when executed on a machine, cause the machine to:
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determine that at least a portion of a transmission of an outgoing first email from a first email account to at least a second email account is to be encrypted, wherein the first email is to be sent by a first email server associated with the first email account and the second email account is associated with a different second email server; change a reply-to address included in the first email and corresponding to the second email account to an address associated with an intermediate device, wherein replies to the first email, intended for delivery to the second email account, are to be sent to the intermediate device prior to being routed to the second email server for delivery to the second email account based on the changed reply-to address to apply encryption to replies to the first email, replies to the first email sent to the intermediate device are sent over encrypted channels, and replies to the first email routed from the intermediate device to the second email server are sent over encrypted channels; and cause at least a portion of a transmission of the first email to be encrypted and sent to the second email account with the changes to the reply-to address.
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20. A system comprising:
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at least one processor device; at least one memory element; and an email security engine, adapted when executed by the at least one processor device to; determine that at least a portion of a transmission of an outgoing first email from a first email account to at least a second email account is to be encrypted, wherein the first email is to be sent by a first email server associated with the first email account and the second email account is associated with a different second email serve; change a reply-to address included in the first email and corresponding to the second email account to an address associated with an intermediate device, wherein replies to the first email, intended for delivery to the second email account, are to be sent to the intermediate device prior to being routed to the second email server for delivery to the second email account based on the changed reply-to address to apply encryption to replies to the first email, replies to the first email sent to the intermediate device are sent over encrypted channels, and replies to the first email routed from the intermediate device to the second email server are sent over encrypted channels; and cause at least a portion of a transmission of the first email to be encrypted and sent to the second email account with the changes to the reply-to address. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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25. A system comprising:
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means to determine that at least a portion of a transmission of an outgoing first email from a first email account to at least a second email account is to be encrypted, wherein the first email is to be sent by a first email server associated with the first email account and the second email account is associated with a different second email server; means to change a reply-to address included in the first email and corresponding to the second email account to an address associated with an intermediate device, wherein replies to the first email, intended for delivery to the second email account, are to be sent to the intermediate device prior to being routed to the second email server for delivery to the second email account based on the changed reply-to address to apply encryption to replies to the first email, replies to the first email sent to the intermediate device are sent over encrypted channels, and replies to the first email routed from the intermediate device to the second email server are sent over encrypted channels; and causing at least a portion of a transmission of the first email to be encrypted and sent to the second email account with the changes to the reply-to address.
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Specification