Granted Patent B2

US 7,992,210 · App. 12/562,039 · Granted Aug 2, 2011

Abstract

Claims (53)

1. A computer-implemented method of processing information, the method comprising:

accessing a first set of encrypted strings, the first set of encrypted strings generated by applying a first encryption function to each plaintext string in a first set of plaintext strings;

accessing a first encryption test record, the first encryption test record generated by applying the first encryption function to a mutually disclosed plaintext string, the first encryption test record corresponding to the first set of encrypted strings;

accessing a second set of encrypted strings, the second set of encrypted strings generated by applying the first encryption function to each plaintext string in a second set of plaintext strings;

comparing the first encryption test record to a second encryption test record generated by applying the first encryption function to the mutually disclosed plaintext string to determine if the first and second encryption test records are the same; and

if the first and second encryption test records are the same, comparing the first set of encrypted strings with the second set of encrypted strings to determine a third set of encrypted strings comprising one or more encrypted strings that are included both in the first set of encrypted strings and in the second set of encrypted strings.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining a first key used to generate the first set of encrypted strings; and

wherein applying the first encryption function to each plaintext string in the second set of plaintext strings comprises using the first key to generate the second set of encrypted strings from the second set of plaintext strings.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising receiving a single document storing the first set of encrypted strings, information identifying the first encryption function, and information identifying the first key.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the first set of encrypted strings is received from a first data processing system, the method further comprising:

communicating the third set of encrypted strings to the first data processing system; and

determining, at the first data processing system, a third set of plaintext strings comprising plaintext strings included in the first set of plaintext strings excluding plaintext strings corresponding to encrypted strings included in the third set of encrypted strings.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the first set of plaintext strings, the second set of plaintext strings, and the third set of plaintext strings comprise one or more plaintext email addresses, the method further comprising communicating an email from the first data processing system to each plaintext email address in the third set of plaintext strings.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining a fourth set of encrypted strings comprising encrypted strings from the first set of encrypted strings that are not included in the third set of encrypted strings.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the first set of encrypted strings is received from a first data processing system, the method further comprising:

communicating the fourth set of encrypted strings to the first data processing system; and

determining, at the first data processing system, a fourth set of plaintext strings comprising plaintext strings from the first set of plaintext strings corresponding to encrypted strings in the fourth set of encrypted strings.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the first set of plaintext strings, the second set of plaintext strings, the third set of plaintext strings, and the fourth set of plaintext strings comprise one or more plaintext email addresses, the method further comprising communicating an email from the first data processing system to each plaintext email address in the fourth set of plaintext strings.

9. The method of claim 6 further comprising determining a plaintext string from the first set of plaintext strings corresponding to each encrypted string in the fourth set of encrypted strings.

10. A computer program product stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium for processing information, the computer program product comprising:

code for accessing a first set of encrypted strings, the first set of encrypted strings generated by applying a first encryption function to each plaintext string in a first set of plaintext strings;

code for accessing a first encryption test record, the first encryption test record generated by applying the first encryption function to a mutually disclosed plaintext string, the first encryption test record corresponding to the first set of encrypted strings;

code for accessing a second set of encrypted strings, the second set of encrypted strings generated by applying the first encryption function to each plaintext string in a second set of plaintext strings; and

code for comparing the first encryption test record to a second encryption test record generated by applying the first encryption function to the mutually disclosed plaintext string to determine whether the first and second encryption test records are the same; and

code for, if the first and second encryption test records are the same, comparing the first set of encrypted strings with the second set of encrypted strings to determine a third set of encrypted strings comprising one or more encrypted strings that are included in the first set of encrypted strings and included in the second set of encrypted strings.

11. The computer program product of claim 10 further comprising:

code for determining a first key used to generate the first set of encrypted strings; and

wherein the code for applying the first encryption function to each plaintext string in the second set of plaintext strings comprises code for using the first key to generate the second set of encrypted strings from the second set of plaintext strings.

12. The computer program product of claim 11 further comprising code for receiving a single document storing the first set of encrypted strings, information identifying the first encryption function, and information identifying the first key.

13. The computer program product of claim 10 wherein the first set of encrypted strings is received from a first data processing system, the computer program product further comprising:

code for communicating the third set of encrypted strings to the first data processing system; and

code for determining, at the first data processing system, a third set of plaintext strings comprising plaintext strings included in the first set of plaintext strings excluding plaintext strings corresponding to encrypted strings included in the third set of encrypted strings.

14. The computer program product of claim 13 wherein the first set of plaintext strings, the second set of plaintext strings, and the third set of plaintext strings comprise one or more plaintext email addresses, the computer program product further comprising code for communicating an email from the first data processing system to each plaintext email address in the third set of plaintext strings.

15. The computer program product of claim 10 further comprising code for determining a fourth set of encrypted strings comprising encrypted strings from the first set of encrypted strings that are not included in the third set of encrypted strings.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the first set of encrypted strings is received from a first data processing system, the computer program product further comprising:

code for communicating the fourth set of encrypted strings to the first data processing system; and

code for determining, at the first data processing system, a fourth set of plaintext strings comprising one or more plaintext strings from the first set of plaintext strings corresponding to encrypted strings in the fourth set of encrypted strings.

17. The computer program product of claim 16 wherein the first set of plaintext strings, the second set of plaintext strings, the third set of plaintext strings, and the fourth set of plaintext strings comprise one or more plaintext email addresses, the computer program product further comprising code for communicating an email from the first data processing system to each plaintext email address in the fourth set of plaintext strings.

18. The computer program product of claim 15 further comprising code for determining a plaintext string from the first set of plaintext strings corresponding to each encrypted string in the fourth set of encrypted strings.

19. A system comprising:

a first computer;

a second computer; and

a third computer coupled with the first computer and the second computer;

wherein the third computer is configured to:

access a first set of encrypted strings from the first computer, the first set of encrypted strings generated by applying a first encryption function to each plaintext string in a first set of plaintext strings;

access a first encryption test record from the first computer, the first encryption test record generated by applying the first encryption function to a mutually disclosed plaintext string, the first encryption test record corresponding to the first set of encrypted strings;

access a second set of encrypted strings from the second computer, the second set of encrypted strings generated by applying the first encryption function to each plaintext string in a second set of plaintext strings;

compare the first encryption test record to a second encryption test record generated by applying the first encryption function to the mutually disclosed plaintext string to determine if the first and second encryption test records are the same; and

if the first and second encryption test records are the same, compare the first set of encrypted strings with the second set of encrypted strings to determine a third set of encrypted strings comprising one or more encrypted strings that are included both in the first set of encrypted strings and in the second set of encrypted strings.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein:

the third computer is configured to determine a first key used to generate the first set of encrypted strings; and

wherein applying the first encryption function to each plaintext string in the second set of plaintext strings comprises using the first key to generate the second set of encrypted strings from the second set of plaintext strings.

Assignments (8)