Email System Scanning for Sensitive Content

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Solution Overview

Problem

Confidential or proprietary information is frequently inadvertently transmitted via email due to misaddressing or oversight, leading to unintended disclosure to competitors or adverse parties.

Innovation Solution

A system that scans email content and attachments for sensitive markings and trigger words, prompting a user confirmation before sending, allowing revision or cancellation of the email to prevent unintended transmission.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If email transmission is performed without additional verification steps, then transmission speed and ease of operation are maintained, but the risk of inadvertent disclosure of proprietary information increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprevention of inadvertent disclosureVSAvoidemail sending process

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary scanning of email content and attachments for proprietary information markers before the email is sent. This advance detection allows the system to identify sensitive content and prompt the user for confirmation, preventing inadvertent disclosure while maintaining a streamlined process for non-sensitive emails.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The system provides feedback to the user by displaying a confirmation dialog when proprietary information is detected in the email or attachments. This feedback loop allows the user to review the detected content and confirm or cancel the transmission, ensuring intentional sending of sensitive information while maintaining normal operation for non-sensitive emails.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

2Measurement precision

If scanning for proprietary information is performed on all emails, then detection accuracy improves, but processing time and system complexity increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedetection of sensitive contentVSAvoidemail transmission time

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies scanning selectively rather than uniformly to all emails. It scans for specific markers and keywords associated with proprietary information, and only triggers confirmation dialogs when such markers are detected. This partial action approach maintains high detection accuracy for sensitive content while avoiding unnecessary processing time for routine non-sensitive emails.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Data Source

PatentUS9406048B2Email system for preventing inadvertant transmission of propriety message or documents to unintended recipient

Publication Date: 2016.08.02 JOLLY SEVEN SERIES 70 OF ALLIED SECURITY TRUST I

AI summary

A system that alerts a sender of an email message as to the addressees of the email when the email is determined to be sensitive, such as when it includes a word such a “confidential”. The user can allow the message to be sent or go back to a mail create/edit operation where the message or list of addresses can be revised. Trigger words can be stored in a table or database. The system also detects sensitive words in attachments. The sensitive words detected and their locations can be shown in a pop-up message.