Automatic delivery selection for electronic content

1. A method for secure delivery of a message in a communication system comprising:

automatically identifying a method for delivery of a message wherein the message is an email message and wherein the method is selected from among three available delivery methods including direct, gateway and Web browser-accessible message center delivery methods, wherein automatically identifying includes:

identifying preferences for delivery of the sender and the recipient including determining an availability of security parameters for securing content of the message, wherein the security parameters include a recipient key and a recipient gateway key;

automatically determining, by one or more processors, a preferred ordering from among the three available delivery methods including when to first send the message directly to the recipient, when to first send the message through a gateway and when to notify the recipient to retrieve the message at the Web browser-accessible message center based on the sender, recipient and availability;

encrypting the message with the recipient key when available and sending the recipient key encrypted message directly to the recipient, encrypting the message with the recipient gateway key when available and sending the recipient gateway encrypted message to the recipient gateway or sending the message to the Web browser-accessible message center for delivery in accordance with the preferred ordering of delivery methods from among available delivery methods and attempting to deliver the message to the recipient in accordance with the preferred ordering.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the direct delivery includes encrypting the message using public key encryption and retrieving a public key for the recipient to encrypt the message.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the gateway delivery method includes encrypting the message using public key encryption, encrypting the message using the public key of a recipient gateway that is coupled between the sender and the recipient, delivering the message encrypted to a recipient's gateway, and decrypting the message at the recipient's gateway prior to sending the message to the recipient.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising scanning the decrypted message at the recipient's gateway for inappropriate, unwanted or unauthorized content.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising dropping the message if the scanning step detects inappropriate, unwanted or unauthorized content.

6. The method of claim 4 further comprising logging the detected content.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the gateway delivery method includes

directing the message from the sender to a sending gateway;

scanning the message for disclosure of corporate secrets or sensitive information; and

processing the message if the scanning step detects disclosure of corporate secrets or sensitive information.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein processing includes dropping the message.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein processing includes logging the message.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein a delivery method selected is based at least in part on whether the message contains: corporate secrets or sensitive information.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the preferred ordering includes considering security preferences includes considering security preference of the sender and security preference of the recipient.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the availability of one or more security parameters for securing content of the message includes determining the availability of a public key associated with the recipient.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein determining includes determining to send the message directly to the recipient when the public key is determined to be available.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining security preferences associated with the recipient includes determining the recipient's delivery preference for delivering the message using one of the direct delivery, gateway delivery, or Web browser-accessible message center delivery method.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein:

determining the availability of one or more security parameters for securing content of the message includes determining the availability of an encryption key associated with the recipient.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising:

selecting a new delivery method including selecting another one of the direct delivery method, gateway delivery method, or Web browser-accessible message center delivery method different from that associated with the determining when a predetermined condition occurs; and

sending the message from the sender to the recipient using the new delivery method.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein selecting the new delivery method is performed when a method used to send the message fails to deliver the message.

18. A computer program product, wherein the product is not a signal, for secure delivery of a message in a communication system, the computer program product operable to cause a computer to execute instructions to:

automatically identifying a method for delivery of a message wherein the message is an email message and wherein the method is selected from among three available delivery methods including direct, gateway and Web browser-accessible message center delivery methods, wherein automatically identifying includes:

identifying preferences for delivery of the sender and the recipient including determining an availability of security parameters for securing content of the message, wherein the security parameters include a recipient key and a recipient gateway key;

automatically determining, by one or more processors, a preferred ordering from among the three available delivery methods including when to first send the message directly to the recipient, when to first send the message through a gateway and when to notify the recipient to retrieve the message at the Web browser-accessible message center based on the sender, recipient and availability;

encrypting the message with the recipient key when available and sending the recipient key encrypted message directly to the recipient, encrypting the message with the recipient gateway key when available and sending the recipient gateway encrypted message to the recipient gateway or sending the message to the Web browser-accessible message center for delivery in accordance with the preferred ordering of delivery methods from among available delivery methods and attempting to deliver the message to the recipient in accordance with the preferred ordering.

19. The computer program product of claim 18 wherein determining the preferred ordering includes consider security preference of the sender and security preference of the recipient.