Communicating Apparatus Bcc Address Privacy via Selective Certificate Printing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional email security technologies, such as S/MIME, fail to prevent the revelation of Bcc addresses when encrypted email data is transmitted to multiple destinations, and users cannot distinguish between securely encrypted and potentially altered mail.
Innovation Solution
A communicating apparatus with a reception unit for encrypted email data, a decryption unit using the corresponding private key, and a print unit that prints only the email data and the public key certificate of the apparatus, preventing information about other transmission destinations from being printed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If encrypted email data is transmitted to multiple destinations including Bcc addresses using S/MIME, then email security and encryption are improved, but transmission destination information is inadvertently revealed through attached public key certificates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the harmful element (other destination's public key certificate) from the email data before printing. The control unit identifies and excludes certificates belonging to destinations other than the self apparatus, thereby preventing transmission destination information from being revealed while maintaining the encryption security benefit
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the public key certificate information by distinguishing between the self apparatus's certificate and other destinations' certificates. This segmentation allows selective printing of only the relevant certificate information, resolving the contradiction between maintaining security proofs and protecting privacy
2Productivity
If mail data is deleted after printing in conventional IFAX systems, then storage space is saved and processing efficiency is improved, but users cannot verify the security status of the printed mail
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary verification of the public key certificate and security status before deleting the mail data. The control unit determines whether the mail has high security characteristics (digital signature, encryption, certificate verification) in advance, and this verification information is preserved in the print output, allowing users to verify security even after data deletion
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a copy of the essential security verification information (public key certificate and security status) that is printed and retained, while the original mail data can be deleted. This copying approach allows security verification without permanent storage of the full mail data
Data Source
AI summary
A communicating apparatus receives at least (i) email data which is encrypted by a content encryption key, (ii) the content encryption key which is encrypted by a public key of the communicating apparatus, and (iii) a public key certificate of the communicating apparatus. The communicating apparatus decrypts the encrypted content encryption key by a private key corresponding to the public key certificate of the communicating apparatus and decrypts the email data by the decrypted content encryption key. And the communicating apparatus prints at least the email data and the public key certificate of the communicating apparatus.