Secure electronic mail system
An e-mail system is disclosed that overcomes many deficiencies of, but is backward compatible with, existing e-mail systems. Embodiments of the system may include various features, including but not limited to: (1) secure transfer of e-mail messages, without the need for users to replace existing e-mail clients or to change e-mail addresses; (2) tracking of all actions performed in connection with an e-mail transmission; (3) the ability for a recipient to view information about an e-mail message, optionally including information about how other addressees have responded to it, before deciding whether to retrieve the e-mail message; (4) the aggregation of entire e-mail conversations into a single threaded view; (5) the ability to include both private and public messages in a single e-mail communication; (6) sender control over downstream actions performed in connection with an e-mail message; (7) flexible control over cryptographic methods used to encrypt emails messages for storage.
1. A computer-implemented method of securely communicating e-mail messages, comprising at a client device:
sending, to a server system, an e-mail message addressed to a recipient from a sender via a remote client executed on the client device;
receiving, from the server system, a substitute message based on the e-mail message, the substitute message lacking at least some message content of the e-mail message, and including a link to a component that provides functionality for the recipient to securely retrieve the e-mail message from the server system; and
sending the substitute message to the recipient,
wherein the substitute message includes a message access key containing non-secret information which describes the e-mail message, the server system from which the e-mail message is to be retrieved, and a unique message ID that identifies the e-mail message on the server system.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the remote client comprises an e-mail client plug-in configured to run in conjunction with an e-mail client program on the client device.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the client communicates with the server system via an HTTPS connection over a computer network.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substitute message is sent to the recipient via a SMTP server associated with an e-mail address of the sender.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the component that provides functionality for the recipient to securely retrieve the e-mail message from the server system comprises a link to a network location for downloading an e-mail client plug-in that is capable of securely retrieving and displaying the e-mail message.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the component that provides functionality for the recipient to securely retrieve the e-mail message from the server system comprises a link to a web-based interface that provides functionality for viewing the e-mail message.