System and method of indicating the strength of encryption
View Patent ↗A method and system are provided for secure messaging on mobile computing devices. The method and system provide for an indication of a security trust level associated with a security method used with an electronic message.
1. A method of indicating on an electronic device a security trust level associated with an electronic message that has been encrypted, comprising the steps of:
accessing security-related data associated with the electronic message;
wherein the security-related data indicates which type of security cipher algorithm was used with respect to the electronic message;
accessing security-related trust categories that are stored on the electronic device;
determining, based upon the accessed security-related data, which of the security-related trust categories corresponds to the electronic message;
wherein a trust-level indicator is displayed on the electronic device;
wherein the trust-level indicator comprises a trust-level description regarding encryption applied to the electronic message, the trust-level description being based upon the determined corresponding security-related trust category.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the electronic device comprises a wireless mobile communication device.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the electronic device comprises a cellular telephone.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the electronic device comprises a personal data assistant.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the security-related trust categories is determined by an owner of the device.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the security-related categories is determined by a user of the device.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the trust-level indicator includes text.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the security-related data includes a checksum.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the security-related data includes a digital signature.
10. Computer-readable medium capable of causing a mobile device to perform the method of claim 1 .
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the encryption applied to the electronic message is Triple Data Encryption Standard or Advanced Encryption Standard.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the electronic message comprises an electronic mail message.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein a messaging client handles the electronic mail message.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the trust-level indicator comprises a graphical indicator.
15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising the step of providing a message in response to selection of the trust-level indicator.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the security-related data indicates which type of security was used with respect to the electronic message.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein a security-related policy store contains associations between security-related trust categories and security types, wherein the determining of the corresponding security-related trust categories includes using the ssociations of the security-related policy store to determine which of the security-related trust categories correspond to the electronic message,
wherein the electronic device and another electronic device are configured to use different security-related trust categories for the same security type.
18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the security types include different cipher algorithms.
19. A security-level indication system for electronic devices, wherein security-related data indicates what type of security has been used for an electronic message that has been encrypted, comprising:
a security-related policy store configured to store security-related trust categories;
a comparator module configured to determine which of the security-related trust categories corresponds to the electronic message by using the security-related data;
wherein a trust-level indicator is displayed on the electronic device;
wherein the trust-level indicator comprises a trust-level description regarding encryption applied to the electronic message, the trust-level description being based upon the determined corresponding security-related trust category.
20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the security-related policy store contains associations between the security-related trust categories and security types, wherein determination of the corresponding security-related trust categories includes using the associations of the security-related policy store to determine which of the security-related trust categories correspond to the electronic message.
21. The security-level indication system of claim 19 , further comprising a user interface configured to display a message in response to selection of the trust-level indicator.
22. A system of indicating on an electronic device a security trust level associated with an electronic message that has been encrypted, comprising:
means for accessing security-related data associated with the electronic message;
wherein the security-related data indicates which type of security cipher algorithm was used with respect to the electronic message;
means for accessing security-related trust categories that are stored on the electronic device;
means for determining, based upon the accessed security-related data, which of the security-related trust categories corresponds to the electronic message;
wherein a trust-level indicator is displayed on the electronic device;
wherein the trust-level indicator comprises a trust-level description regarding encryption applied to the electronic message, the trust-level description being based upon the determined corresponding security-related trust category.