System and method for verifying delivery and integrity of electronic messages
View Patent ↗A server transmits a message from a sender to a destination address. During transmission, the server and the destination address have a dialog constituting an attachment, via a particular one of SMTP and ESMTP protocols, concerning the message, the server and the destination address. The message passes through servers between the server and the destination address. This passage is included in the attachment. Verifiers are provided for the message and for the attachments. The verifiers may constitute encrypted hashes of the message and of the attachment. The sender receives the message, the attachments and the verifications from the server before authentication and transmits the message, the attachments and the verifiers to the server to obtain authentication by the server. The server operates on the message and the message verifier to authenticate the message and operates on the attachments and the attachments' verifier to verify the attachments.
1. A method of transmitting a message from a sender through a server to a destination address for submission to a recipient displaced from the destination address including the steps by the server of
receiving a message at a server displaced from a destination address of the recipient of the message;
transmitting the message to the destination address;
storing at least a portion of a mail transport protocol dialog generated during the transmission of the message between the server and the destination address for subsequent proof of the message and the delivery of the message by the server to the destination server, wherein
the mail transport protocol dialog between the server and the destination address includes matters relating to the identities of the server and the destination address and relating to the message;
generating an attachment to the message including the mail transport protocol dialog; and wherein
a first verification is provided by the server of the message and a second verification is provided by the server of the attachment and wherein
the message is authenticated by processing the message and the first verification by the server and the attachment is authenticated by processing the attachment and the second verification by the server.
2. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein
the mail transport protocol dialog includes a listing of the stations through which the message has passed during its transmission between the server and the destination address.
3. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein
the attachment also includes the identity and address of the sender, the identity of the server and the identity and address of the destination address.
4. The method as set forth in claim 1 wherein
the message and the attachment and the first and second verifications are transmitted to the sender by the server before any authentication of the message, and wherein
the server disposes of the message and the attachment and the verifications after their transmission to the sender and before any authentication of the message, and wherein
the message and the attachment and the verifications are transmitted thereafter by the sender to the server to obtain an authentication of the message by the server.
5. A method of providing a proof of the delivery and the contents of a message transferred electronically from a sender through a server to a destination address for a recipient, including the steps by the server of
receiving from the sender the electronic message, the message having a destination address associated therewith;
transmitting the message electronically from the server to the destination address,
receiving a message transport protocol dialog including an exchange of data between the server and the destination address relating to the message and the sender and the recipient during the transmission of the message from the server to the destination address,
recording at the server, before any authentication of the message in the course of the transmission of the message from the server to the destination address, at least a portion of the message transport protocol data exchanged between the server and the destination address, the recorded at least a portion of the message transport protocol data being available for use in authenticating the message should authentication of the message be requested at a later time;
including the recorded portion of the dialog in an attachment and wherein the message passes through a number of server stages between the server and the destination address, and wherein information relating to the server stages is included in the attachment;
recording the server stages during the transmission of the message from the server to the destination address;
providing a verification of the message and a verification of the attachment, the verification of the message constituting an encrypted hash of the message and the verification of the attachment constituting an encrypted hash of the attachment;
transmitting the message and the attachment and the verifications of the message and the attachment to the sender before any authentication of the message and the attachment;
disposing of the message and the attachment and the verifications of the message and the attachment before any authentication of the messaged and the attachment;
providing a first hash of the message from the message and a second hash of the message from the encrypted hash of the message and a first hash of the attachment from the attachment and a second hash of the attachment from the encrypted hash of the attachment; and
comparing the first and second hashes of the message to authenticate the message and comparing the first and second hashes of the attachment to authenticate the attachment.