Automatic delivery selection for electronic content

1. A method for secure delivery of a message in a communication system comprising:

automatically identifying a method for delivery of a message wherein the message is an email message and wherein the method is selected from among three supported delivery methods including direct, gateway and Web browser-accessible message center delivery methods, wherein automatically identifying includes:

identifying preferences for delivery of the sender and the recipient including determining an availability of security parameters for securing content of the message, wherein the security parameters include a recipient key and a recipient gateway key; and

automatically determining, by one or more processors, a preferred ordering from among the three supported delivery methods including when to first send the message directly to the recipient, when to first send the message through a gateway and when to notify the recipient to retrieve the message at the Web browser-accessible message center based on the sender, recipient and availability;

attempting delivery of the message based on the preferred ordering, determining when message delivery is not available using a first method of the three supported delivery methods in accordance with the preferred ordering, attempting another delivery of the message based on the preferred ordering using a second method, determining when the another delivery is not available using the second method, and delivering the message based on preferred ordering using a third method in accordance with the preferred ordering.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the direct delivery includes encrypting the message using public key encryption and retrieving a public key for the recipient to encrypt the message.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the gateway delivery method includes encrypting the message using public key encryption, encrypting the message using the public key of a recipient gateway that is coupled between the sender and the recipient, delivering the message encrypted to a recipient's gateway, and decrypting the message at the recipient's gateway prior to sending the message to the recipient.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising scanning the decrypted message at the recipient's gateway for inappropriate, unwanted or unauthorized content.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising dropping the message if the scanning step detects inappropriate, unwanted or unauthorized content.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising logging the detected content.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the gateway delivery method includes

directing the message from the sender to a sending gateway;

scanning the message for disclosure of corporate secrets or sensitive information; and

processing the message if the scanning step detects disclosure of corporate secrets or sensitive information.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein processing includes dropping the message.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein processing includes logging the message.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein a delivery method selected is based at least in part on whether the message contains: corporate secrets or sensitive information.