Traceability for threaded communications
Individual chunks of a message are signed with their originators' signatures, thereby providing traceability in threaded messages so that every contributor's content as well as modifications thereof can be identified.
1. A method comprising:
originating a first electronic message comprising user content;
receiving a user selection of a quoted portion of a second electronic message;
receiving a user instruction to perform a copy and paste operation on the quoted portion to incorporate in the user content of the first electronic message the quoted portion of the second electronic message;
in response to detecting the copy and paste operation, determining if the quoted portion corresponds to a digitally signed source chunk of the second electronic message;
in response to the quoted portion comprising entire said digitally signed source chunk, including the digitally signed source chunk and its digital signature into the user content of the first electronic message;
in response to the quoted portion comprising less than entire said digitally signed source chunk, including the quoted portion and a delimiting character into the user content of the first electronic message and attaching the digitally signed source chunk and its digital signature to the first electronic message;
breaking up the first electronic message into a plurality of chunks;
signing any unsigned said chunks of the first electronic message with a digital signature of an originator of the first electronic message;
delivering the first electronic message to a recipient;
validating the digital signatures of the plurality of chunks of the first electronic message;
presenting the first electronic message to the recipient, including indicating for the plurality of chunks of the first electronic message results of the validating of the digital signatures; and
in response to the recipient selecting the delimiting character of the quoted portion in the first electronic message, presenting the digitally signed source chunk for display to the recipient, including indicating the results of the validating of the digital signature of the digitally signed source chunk.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the breaking up and the signing is effected by a client or a browser of the originator.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the breaking up and the signing is effected by a messaging server.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the validating is effected by a messaging client or a browser of the recipient.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the validating is effected by a messaging server.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein:
the validating is effected by one of a message client or a web browser of the originator.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the user instruction to perform the copy and paste operation on the quoted portion to incorporate in the user content of the first electronic message the quoted portion of the second electronic message comprises the first electronic message referencing within the user content the quoted portion of the digitally signed source chunk, wherein the digitally signed source chunk and its digital signature is appended to the first electronic message.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein referencing the quoted portion comprises instructing presentation to the recipient the quoted portion inline in the user content of the first electronic message and instructing the digitally signed source chunk to be withheld from presentation to the recipient until selection of the quoted portion by the recipient.
9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
in response to the quoted portion comprising entire said digitally signed source chunk, including separate from the user content of the first electronic message the digitally signed source chunk and its digital signature by attaching the digitally signed source chunk and its digital signature to the first electronic message.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein including the quoted portion and the delimiting character into the user content of the first electronic message and appending the digitally signed source chunk and its digital signature to the first electronic message comprises instructing presentation to the recipient the quoted portion and the delimiting character inline in the user content of the first electronic message and instructing the digitally signed source chunk to be withheld from presentation to the recipient until selection of the quoted portion by the recipient.
11. A non-transient computer-readable medium containing instructions which, when executed in a computer, cause the computer to:
originate a first electronic message comprising user content;
receive a user selection of a quoted portion of a second electronic message;
receive a user instruction to perform a copy and paste operation on the quoted portion to incorporate in the first electronic message the quoted portion of the second electronic message;
determine if the quoted portion corresponds to a digitally signed source chunk of the second electronic message that is digitally signed by a first party;
include the digitally signed source chunk and its digital signature into the user content of the first electronic message if the quoted portion comprises entire said digitally signed source chunk or include the quoted portion and a delimiting character into the user content of the first electronic message and appending the digitally signed source chunk and its digital signature to the first electronic message if the quoted portion comprises less than entire said digitally signed source chunk;
break up the first electronic message into a plurality of chunks;
sign any individual ones of the plurality of chunks that are unsigned with a digital signature of an originator of the first electronic message;
validate the digital signature of the plurality of chunks of the first electronic message and of any attached digitally signed source chunks;
present the first electronic message for display in a threaded communication with validation of the digital signatures of the plurality of chunks and any attached digitally signed source chunks; and
present the digitally signed source chunk for display in the threaded communication, including the results of the validation of the digital signature of the digitally signed source chunk in response to a recipient selecting the delimiting character.
12. An apparatus comprising:
means for originating a first electronic message comprising user content;
means for receiving a user selection of a quoted portion of a second electronic message;
means for receiving a user instruction to perform a copy and paste operation on the quoted portion to incorporate in the user content of the first electronic message the quoted portion from a digitally signed source chunk of the second electronic message;
means for determining if the quoted portion corresponds to the digitally signed source chunk of the second electronic message;
means for including separate from the user content of the first electronic message, the digitally signed source chunk of the second electronic message and its digital signature with the first electronic message, in response to determining that the quoted portion corresponds to the digitally signed source chunk;
means for breaking up the first electronic message into a plurality of chunks; and
means for signing any unsigned said chunks of the first electronic message with a digital signature of an originator of the first electronic message.