Email Location Control via Decoupled Security Server
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current email technologies lack reliable recall functions and insufficient security measures for location and access control, allowing sensitive information to be vulnerable to unauthorized access and storage.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a control mechanism within emails that allows senders to recall or cancel emails at any time, using a security server that encrypts emails with public and private keys while keeping them separate, ensuring that even if the security server is hacked, the emails themselves remain secure, and only the encryption records are accessible.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the security server stores emails, then access control can be implemented, but the storage load of the security server increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the email content from the security server's storage responsibilities. The security server only stores control mechanisms (encryption records, location data, access rules) while the actual email content is stored locally on recipient devices or transmitted directly. This separation reduces the security server's storage load while maintaining access control capabilities through the stored control mechanisms.
2Ease of operation
If the security server stores both emails and private keys, then decryption can be performed, but the security server becomes vulnerable to hacking
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the security server's stored data into control mechanisms (metadata, encryption records, location data) separate from actual email content and private keys. The private keys remain exclusively on recipient devices, never stored on the security server. This segmentation ensures that even if the security server is compromised, attackers cannot obtain private keys or email content, only control mechanism data.
3Ease of operation
If the recipient device stores the private key, then email decryption is possible, but the device is vulnerable to hacking
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic key management where private keys are temporarily generated or retrieved for decryption operations and then automatically destroyed or invalidated after use. The keys exist in an active state only when needed for decryption, not in a persistent stored state. This dynamic approach allows email decryption functionality while minimizing the window of vulnerability to device hacking.
4Reliability
If location control is implemented, then email access can be restricted to designated areas, but the control mechanism complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-configuring location control parameters and geofence boundaries in the control mechanisms before email transmission. The security server stores predefined geographic areas and access rules that are automatically evaluated when emails are accessed. This preliminary setup simplifies the actual access control execution, as the system only needs to compare current location against pre-defined boundaries rather than performing complex real-time location analysis.
Data Source
AI summary
A sender device includes a non-transitory memory storage comprising instructions and a location control policy, and a processor coupled to the memory. The processor executes the instructions to generate an email, generate a control mechanism for the email, wherein the control mechanism instructs a security server to implement the location control policy and wherein the location control policy affects a recipient device's use of the email, and integrate the control mechanism into the email to generate an integrated email. The sender device further includes a transmitter coupled to the processor and configured to transmit the integrated email to the security server for the security server to implement the control mechanism.