Electronic Message Link Integrity Verification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electronic messaging systems fail to verify the intended contents of URL links, which can change after the message is sent, potentially leading to unintended and offensive content being received by recipients, compromising relationships or causing broader offense.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that computes and compares checksum values for the intended data source before and after message transmission, alerting the recipient if the contents have changed, ensuring transparency and allowing recipients to take necessary actions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If URL links are sent in electronic messages without verification, then message transmission is simple and fast, but the contents of the linked data source may change after the message is sent, leading to unintended and offensive content being received by recipients
Solution Approach 1:
The system computes a digest value of the data source content before the message is sent and includes this digest in the message. This preliminary action allows the recipient to later verify that the content has not changed, preventing the problem of unintended content without requiring complex real-time verification systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides a feedback mechanism where the recipient can compute the digest value of the current data source content and compare it with the digest value included in the message. If the digests do not match, the recipient is alerted that the content has changed since the message was sent.
2Reliability
If checksum verification is implemented for all links, then content integrity is ensured, but message transmission time and processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The digest value is computed and included in the message at the time of sending, so no additional verification time is needed during transmission. The verification occurs later when the recipient accesses the data source, only adding time when content changes are detected.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of transmitting the entire data source content, the system transmits only the digest value (a copy of the content's cryptographic hash). This significantly reduces the data transmission volume and processing requirements while maintaining content integrity verification capability.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the present invention include a method and system for verifying intended contents of an electronic message comprising: accessing an electronic message destined for a recipient comprising a link to an intended data source. The method further includes accessing the intended data source and computing a first message digest value associated with the intended data source. Additionally, the method includes sending the electronic message and the first message digest value to the recipient. The recipient side may check the message digest value against a recently generated value and alert the recipient of any digest mismatch that represents a recent change in the intended data source.