Granted Patent B2

US 10,666,590 · App. 14/139,805 · Granted May 26, 2020

Inventors: Jack Dubie (Menlo Park, CA); Michael Roeder (Oakland, CA); Steven Kabbes (Mountain View, CA)

Assignee: Dropbox, Inc.

H04L51/12H04L63/12H04L51/16

Abstract

Claims (49)

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a request, at a server of a message management service, to send a message drafted in a client application executing on a client device, wherein the request includes a copy of the message;

Concatenating an item of message-specific information and a private key;

generating, by the server, a sent-message identifier for the copy of the message, wherein the sent-message identifier indicates that the message was sent using the message management service, and wherein the sent-message identifier includes a cryptographic hash value generated using the concatenated data corresponding to the message management service as input to a hash function that generates the hash value, wherein the item of message-specific information includes at least a portion of the copy of the message content;

adding, by the server, the sent-message identifier to the copy of the message;

sending, by the server, the copy of the message, including the sent-message identifier, to a message provider to be sent to one or more recipients;

generating, by the server, a thread identifier for the message;

adding the thread identifier to the message before sending the message to the message provider;

after the message has been sent by the message provider, retrieving the message, by the message management service, from the message provider;

analyzing the message to determine a thread identifier and the sent-message identifier;

generating a second sent-message identifier for the message, wherein the second sent-message identifier for the message includes a hash value generated using the item of message-specific information and the private key; and

determining whether the thread identifier is valid by comparing the sent-message identifier to the second sent-message identifier, wherein the thread identifier is valid if the sent-message identifier matches the second sent-message identifier.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the message is an email message.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hash value is generated using a secure hash algorithm.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the item of message-specific information and the private key are concatenated and used as an input to the secure hash algorithm.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the item of message-specific information includes an account identifier.

6. A server system, comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more memory devices including instructions stored thereon which, when executed, cause the one or more processors to execute operations including:

receiving a request, at a message management service, to send a message drafted in a client application executing on a client device, wherein the request includes a copy of the message;

concatenating an item of message-specific information and a private key;

generating a sent-message identifier for the copy of the message, wherein the sent-message identifier includes a hash value generated based on the concatenated data as input to a hash function that generates the hash value, wherein the item of message-specific information includes at least a portion of the copy of the message content;

adding the sent-message identifier to the copy of the message;

sending the copy of the message, including the sent-message identifier, to a message provider to be sent to one or more recipients;

generating a thread identifier for the message;

adding the thread identifier to the message before sending the message to the message provider;

after the message has been sent by the message provider, retrieving the message, by the message management service, from the message provider;

analyzing the message to determine a thread identifier and the sent-message identifier;

generating a second sent-message identifier for the message, wherein the second sent-message identifier for the message includes a hash value generated using the item of message-specific information and the private key; and

determining whether the thread identifier is valid by comparing the sent-message identifier to the second sent-message identifier, wherein the thread identifier is valid if the sent-message identifier matches the second sent-message identifier.

7. The server system of claim 6 , wherein the sent-message identifier is a secure identifier based on an item of message specific information and a private key of the message management service.

8. The server system of claim 7 , wherein the item of message-specific information and the private key are concatenated and used as an input to a secure hash algorithm to generate the sent-message identifier.

9. The server system of claim 8 , wherein the item of message-specific information includes an account identifier.

10. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising one or more sequences of instructions, which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations, comprising:

receiving a request, at a server of a message management service, to send a message drafted in a client application executing on a client device, wherein the request includes a copy of the message;

concatenating an item of message-specific information and a private key;

generating, by the server, a sent-message identifier for the copy of the message, wherein the sent-message identifier indicates that the message was sent using the message management service, and wherein the sent-message identifier includes a cryptographic hash value generated using the concatenated data corresponding to the message management service as input to a hash function that generates the hash value, wherein the item of message-specific information includes at least a portion of the copy of the message content;

adding, by the server, the sent-message identifier to the copy of the message;

sending, by the server, the copy of the message, including the sent-message identifier, to a message provider to be sent to one or more recipients;

generating, by the server, a thread identifier for the message;

adding the thread identifier to the message before sending the message to the message provider;

after the message has been sent by the message provider, retrieving the message, by the message management service, from the message provider;

analyzing the message to determine a thread identifier and the sent-message identifier;

generating a second sent-message identifier for the message, wherein the second sent-message identifier for the message includes a hash value generated using the item of message-specific information and the private key; and

determining whether the thread identifier is valid by comparing the sent-message identifier to the second sent-message identifier, wherein the thread identifier is valid if the sent-message identifier matches the second sent-message identifier.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the message is an email message.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the hash value is generated using a secure hash algorithm.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the item of message-specific information and the private key are concatenated and used as an input to the secure hash algorithm.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the item of message-specific information includes an account identifier.

Assignments (8)

Continuity (2)