System and method for controlling the downstream preservation and destruction of electronic mail
First Claim
1. A system for controlling the downstream preservation and destruction of electronic mail, comprising:
- means for encrypting a message, the message consisting of an electronic mail message, an access control list containing an electronic mail address of a recipient, and a policy limiting use of said electronic mail message by said recipient; and
means for authenticating a reader for said recipient'"'"'s electronic mail address, said authenticated reader being adapted to decrypt said message and apply said policy, wherein said authenticated reader extracts said access control list from said encrypted message and determines whether said recipient'"'"'s electronic mail address is on said access control list.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for controlling the downstream preservation and destruction of electronic mail by encrypting the electronic mail and limiting access to the encrypted file based on registration of recipient e-mail addresses, and detection and restriction of output functionality available to the recipient. The registration procedure limits access to recipients included on an access control list, who receive a pre-configured reader and then authenticate their e-mail address to the reader via a known SMTP Server. The sender of an e-mail is provided with a dialog for determining the limitations on access to the e-mail by the recipient: whether the e-mail is to be inaccessible after a certain period of time, whether a recipient may copy or print the e-mail and/or its attachments, or whether a password is required to read the e-mail. These limitations comprise an access control policy applicable to the e-mail, the pre-configured reader being adapted to decrypt the e-mail and apply the policy.
112 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A system for controlling the downstream preservation and destruction of electronic mail, comprising:
-
means for encrypting a message, the message consisting of an electronic mail message, an access control list containing an electronic mail address of a recipient, and a policy limiting use of said electronic mail message by said recipient; and
means for authenticating a reader for said recipient'"'"'s electronic mail address, said authenticated reader being adapted to decrypt said message and apply said policy, wherein said authenticated reader extracts said access control list from said encrypted message and determines whether said recipient'"'"'s electronic mail address is on said access control list. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A method for controlling the downstream preservation and destruction of electronic mail, comprising the steps of:
-
encrypting a message, the message consisting of an electronic mail message, an access control list containing an electronic mail address of a recipient, and a policy limiting use of said electronic mail message by said recipient; and
authenticating a reader for said recipient'"'"'s electronic mail address, said authenticated reader being adapted to decrypt said message and apply said policy, wherein said authenticated reader extracts said access control list from said encrypted message and determines whether said recipient'"'"'s electronic mail address is on said access control list. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification