A
system, various methods, and various apparatuses are provided for the purpose of supplying and including in an electronic message or
multimedia session signalling unit a valid cryptographic
authentication token, verifying said token's validity upon arrival of said message or signalling unit, and thereby providing message recipients or session parties with the assurance that said message or signalling unit is from a valid sender. A
system, apparatus, and various methods are further provided for the purpose of protecting legitimate application traffic and the network elements exchanging it from intrusion by wild packets attempting to consume application resources and thereby deny service to legitimate users or network elements. A
system, various methods, and various apparatuses are further provided for the purpose of enabling legitimate advertising via electronic messages, relying upon message and sender
authentication to assure both advertisers and viewers of advertising messages that all participants are valid, legitimate, and accountable for any abuse that may occur.