Email Authentication via Embedded Message Codes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Internet-based identity theft, particularly through phishing and spoofing, poses a significant threat to consumers and businesses, as existing technologies lack effective measures to authenticate the authenticity of emails and protect against fraudulent activities.
Innovation Solution
Embedding a message code in emails that can be verified by recipients, either message-specific or recipient-specific, to authenticate the email's authenticity, which can be generated and stored for each message or reused for multiple messages, and can be implemented using a system involving application and web servers for authentication.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If no authentication mechanism is implemented in emails, then emails can be sent freely and easily, but recipients cannot verify authenticity and are vulnerable to phishing and spoofing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by embedding authentication codes (watermarks) in emails before they are sent. The sender's system pre-generates and inserts unique message codes or recipient-specific watermarks into outgoing emails, storing them in a database for later verification. This advance preparation enables recipients to authenticate emails without adding complexity to the receiving end, resolving the contradiction between reliability and device complexity.
2Measurement precision
If message-specific codes are generated for each email, then authentication precision is improved, but the system requires more database storage and processing overhead
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by offering two authentication approaches: message-specific codes for high-security requirements and recipient-specific watermarks for lower-security scenarios. Message-specific codes provide unique authentication for each email (higher precision), while recipient-specific watermarks reuse the same code across multiple emails to a particular recipient (lower storage requirements). This localized quality adjustment allows systems to balance authentication precision against database storage based on specific security needs.
3Quantity of substance
If recipient-specific watermarks are used, then database storage is reduced, but authentication cannot verify individual message authenticity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the authentication system flexible and adaptable to different security requirements. The system can dynamically select between message-specific codes and recipient-specific watermarks based on the security needs of each communication scenario. This dynamic approach allows organizations to optimize the balance between database storage efficiency and authentication precision according to their specific use cases, such as using watermarks for routine communications and message-specific codes for sensitive transactions.
Data Source
AI summary
Method and apparatus for enabling authentication of e-mail messages. A message code is embedded in an e-mail, where the message code can be used by the recipient to verify the authenticity of the e-mail. In some embodiments, this code can be created for a particular e-mail message; in other embodiments, the code is created as a watermark for use in all e-mail to a specific recipient. The message code is associated with both the e-mail message and the recipient. In the case of a message-specific code, a recipient can verify the e-mail message by inputting the code via a Web server to be looked up in the database. The invention can be implemented in a system including a server which creates e-mail messages and injects message codes and a database for storing codes and recipient e-mail addresses.