IP Library Granted Patent US 7,475,256
Granted Patent B2
US 7,475,256 · App. 10/616,100 · Granted Jan 6, 2009

Secure message forwarding system detecting user's preferences including security preferences

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 7,475,256
App. No.
10/616,100
Granted
Jan 6, 2009
Kind
B2
Abstract

A system and method for providing secure message services. The system includes a forwarding service to receive message for delivery to a recipient. The system checks for preferences for delivery of the message content including encryption preferences and notifies the recipient or delivers the message according to the encryption preferences. The system includes an interoperability engine to determine delivery preferences including security preferences, the security preferences indicating a security protocol by which the message can be securely delivered to the recipient.

Claims (41)

1. A computer implemented method for sending a secure message to multiple recipients comprising:

encrypting a message;

sending the encrypted message to a forwarding server, including providing a list of recipients to the forwarding server;

at the forwarding server, decrypting the encrypted message and determining a delivery preference for each recipient in the list of recipients; and

for each recipient that has a delivery preference, re-encrypting the message and delivering the re-encrypted message in accordance with the delivery preference.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising notifying each recipient that does not have a delivery preference that the message is available for retrieval.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 2 , wherein:

notifying the recipient includes notifying the recipient that the message is available for retrieval through a secure link.

4. A computing system for providing secure message services for messages addressed to multiple recipients, comprising:

a forwarding engine executing on a computer operable to:

receive an encrypted message and a list of recipients;

decrypt the encrypted message;

determine a delivery preference for each recipient in the list of recipients;

for each recipient that has a delivery preference, re-encrypt the message and deliver the re-encrypted message in accordance with the delivery preference; and

for each recipient that does not have a delivery preference, notify the recipient that the message is available for retrieval.

5. The computing system of claim 4 , wherein the forwarding engine is operable to:

notify the recipient that the message is available for retrieval through a secure link.

6. A computer implemented method for sending a secure message to multiple recipients comprising:

encrypting a message;

sending the encrypted message to a forwarding server, including providing a list of recipients to the forwarding server;

at the forwarding server, decrypting the encrypted message and determining a decryption capability for each recipient in the list of recipients; and

for each recipient, re-encrypting the decrypted message according to the decryption capability of the recipient and delivering the re-encrypted message to the recipient.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 6 , further comprising:

for each recipient that does not have decryption capability or the decryption capability cannot be determined, notifying the recipient that the message is available for retrieval.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 7 , wherein:

notifying the recipient includes notifying the recipient that the message is available for retrieval through a secure link.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 6 , wherein:

determining a decryption capability for each recipient includes determining whether each recipient has an associated published key.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 6 , wherein:

determining a decryption capability for each recipient includes determining whether each recipient has an associated certificate.

11. The computer implemented method of claim 6 , wherein:

determining the decryption capability of each recipient in the list of recipients includes selecting one decryption capability in accordance with a recipient's preference if the recipient has more than one decryption capability.

12. A computing system for providing secure message services for messages addressed to multiple recipients, comprising:

a forwarding engine executing on a computer operable to:

receive an encrypted message and a list of recipients;

decrypt the encrypted message;

for each recipient in the list of recipients, determine whether the recipient has a decryption capability;

for each recipient with a decryption capability, re-encrypt the message according to the decryption capability of the recipient and deliver the re-encrypted message to the recipient; and

for each recipient that does not have a decryption capability, notify the recipient that the message is available for retrieval.

13. The computing system of claim 12 , wherein the forwarding engine is operable to:

notify the recipient that the message is available for retrieval through a secure link.

Assignments (5)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jul 12, 2022
From: VENTURE LENDING & LEASING IX, INC.; WTI FUND X, INC.
To: PARALLEL WIRELESS, INC.
Reel/Frame 060900/0022 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS Recorded Dec 27, 2021
From: TRUIST BANK
To: ZIXCORP SYSTEMS, INC.
Reel/Frame 058591/0349 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 27, 2019
From: ZIXCORP SYSTEMS, INC.
To: SUNTRUST BANK, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 048710/0492 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 31, 2016
From: ZIX CORPORATION
To: ZIXCORP SYSTEMS, INC.
Reel/Frame 040177/0939 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 14, 2008
From: COOK, DAVID P.
To: ZIX CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 021681/0557 →