A document management (DM), data leak prevention (DLP) or similar application in a
data processing system is instrumented with a document protection
service provider interface (SPI). The
service provider interface is used to call an external function, such as an
encryption utility, that is used to facilitate secure
document exchange between a sending entity and a receiving entity. The
encryption utility may be configured for local download to and installation in the
machine on which the SPI is invoked, but a preferred approach is to use the SPI to invoke an external
encryption utility as a “service.” In such case, the external encryption utility is implemented by a
service provider. When the calling program invokes the SPI, preferably the user is provided with a display panel. Using that panel, the
end user provides a
password that is used for encryption
key generation, together with an indication of the desired encryption strength. The service provider uses the
password to generate the encryption key. In one embodiment, the service provider provides the key to the
service provider interface, which then uses the key to encrypt the document and to complete the
file transfer operation. In the alternative, the service provider itself performs the document or file encryption. The
service provider interface also preferably generates and sends an email or other message to the receiving entity that includes the key or a link to enable the receiving entity to retrieve the key. This approach obviates the sending and receiving entity having to install and manage matched or other special-purpose encryption utilities.