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-related trust category associated with an electronic message, the method comprising:
accessing security-related data associated with the electronic message, wherein the security-related data includes cipher information associated with the electronic message;
accessing security-related trust categories that are stored on the electronic device and separate from the electronic message;
determining, based upon the accessed security-related data, which of the security-related trust categories corresponds to the cipher information associated with the electronic message; and
displaying a security-related indicator on a user interface of the electronic device based upon the determined corresponding security-related trust category.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein if the electronic message was not secure, the security-related data contains no cipher information, and
wherein the method further comprising displaying a message on the user interface indicating the electronic message was not secure.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising accessing the security-related data separate from accessing the electronic message.
4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining the security-related trust category of the cipher information according to a policy store.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the policy store is stored on the electronic device.
6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the policy store contains information associated with a plurality of ciphers and the security-related trust categories associated with the plurality of ciphers.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the information associated with a plurality of ciphers comprises cipher policies, and
wherein the method further comprises receiving updated cipher policies from a network.
8. The method of claim 4 , further comprising comparing the security-related data with information stored in the policy store to determine the security-related trust category.
9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising storing the cipher policies in the policy store by an IT administrator.
10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors to perform operations for indicating on an electronic device a security-related trust category associated with an electronic message, the operations comprising:
accessing security-related data associated with the electronic message, wherein the security-related data includes cipher information associated with the electronic message
accessing security-related trust categories that are stored on the electronic device and separate from the electronic message;
determining, based upon the accessed security-related data, which of the security-related trust categories corresponds to the cipher information associated with the electronic message; and
displaying a security-related indicator on a user interface of the electronic device based upon the determined corresponding security-related trust category.
11. A system of indicating on an electronic device, what type of security has been used for an electronic message, the system comprising:
a security-related policy store configured to store security-related trust categories corresponding to cipher information; and
a comparator module configured to determine which of the security-related trust categories corresponds to cipher information associated with the electronic message by using security-related data associated with the electronic message,
wherein a security-related indicator indicative of trust relative to a type of encryption or a type of digital signature applied to the electronic message is displayed on the electronic device based upon the determined corresponding security-related trust category.