Email Tracking Engine for Enterprise Data Security
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing email systems lack effective mechanisms to prevent sensitive information from being inadvertently or deliberately sent to unauthorized recipients outside an enterprise, despite policies like 'DO NOT FORWARD' or 'INTERNAL ONLY' markings.
Innovation Solution
An email tracking engine categorizes emails based on recipient groups, assigning them to categories like 'INTERNAL ONLY' or 'UNRESTRICTED', and prevents emails categorized as 'INTERNAL ONLY' from being sent to external recipients, while also assigning similar or subsequent emails to the same category, using checksums or fingerprints to ensure content matching.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If email forwarding and replying functions are enabled to improve communication efficiency, then productivity increases, but sensitive information may be inadvertently sent to unauthorized external recipients
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary categorization of emails into restricted and unrestricted groups before forwarding or replying occurs. Category information is embedded in email metadata, enabling automatic security control to be applied in advance, preventing sensitive information from being sent to unauthorized recipients while maintaining communication efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides feedback by generating alerts when users attempt to forward or reply to restricted emails. The alert mechanism informs users of the security implications before the action is completed, allowing them to make informed decisions while preventing accidental data leakage
2Object-affected harmful factors
If email categorization and tracking mechanisms are implemented to prevent unauthorized distribution, then data security improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The email server performs multiple functions using a unified categorization mechanism: it categorizes emails by recipient groups, tracks category information through email chains, controls distribution based on category, and generates alerts. This multi-functional approach achieves comprehensive security control without proportionally increasing system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically categorizes emails and applies security controls without requiring manual intervention. The email server self-manages the categorization process by analyzing recipient lists and automatically applying appropriate security policies, reducing the operational burden on users while maintaining security
3Reliability
If automatic category assignment for reply and forward emails is implemented to maintain security policies, then reliability of security control improves, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system assigns category information to emails in advance and embeds it in the email metadata. When reply or forward emails are generated, the category information is automatically inherited from the original email without requiring re-analysis, ensuring consistent security policy enforcement while minimizing processing time
Solution Approach 2:
The system copies category information from the original email to reply and forward emails. By replicating the category metadata rather than re-evaluating the email content and recipients, the system maintains security policy reliability while significantly reducing processing time for subsequent emails in the chain
Data Source
AI summary
A method may include assigning, to a category, a current email in response to a removal of one or more recipients of the current email, such that the remaining recipients of the current email are part of a same user group. The current email may be a response to a previous email having one or more recipients who are not part of the same user group. Furthermore, a subsequent email responding to the current email and/or is similar to the current email may also be assigned to the same category. One or more actions may be performed based on the current email and the subsequent email being assigned to the category. The actions may be performed to prevent the current email and the subsequent email from being sent to a recipient who is not part of the same user group. Related systems and computer program products are also provided.