Secure Message Storage via Segmentation and Extraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Messaging applications face challenges in efficiently storing secure messages on communication devices with limited storage capacity, particularly when dealing with large attachments or repetitious data, as they require significant storage space and may not need to save entire messages.
Innovation Solution
A method where a communication device compiles a first portion of a message including at least one component and pointers to the remaining components, applies security encoding, and stores only this portion, allowing for reduced storage needs and efficient data transmission by referencing the full message when necessary.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If secure copies of all sent messages are stored, then message security and reference capability are improved, but storage capacity is significantly consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The message is divided into two portions: a first portion containing message header information, digital signature, and encryption keys; and a second portion containing the actual message body and attachments. Only the first portion is stored securely on the communication device, while the second portion is stored separately or deleted, reducing storage requirements while maintaining security through the preserved signature and keys.
Solution Approach 2:
The critical security elements (digital signature, encryption keys, message header) are extracted from the complete message and stored separately. The bulk of the message data (body and attachments) is excluded from secure storage on the device, yet the extracted security elements remain sufficient to verify and reconstruct the full message when needed.
2Loss of information
If complete messages with large attachments are stored, then message completeness is improved, but storage requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The message is segmented into essential metadata (header, signature, keys) and bulk content (body, attachments). The segmentation allows storing only the essential metadata locally while maintaining the ability to reconstruct or access the complete message through references to external storage or retransmission, thus preserving message completeness without storing the entire message locally.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of storing complete message copies locally, the system stores a compact representation (first portion with pointers and security elements) that enables reconstruction or retrieval of the full message from external sources when needed, reducing local storage requirements while maintaining access to complete message content.
3Reliability
If security encoding is applied to the entire message, then message security is improved, but processing time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
Security encoding operations are extracted from the entire message and applied only to the first portion containing critical elements (message header, digital signature, encryption keys). This extraction reduces the data volume requiring security processing while maintaining the security integrity of the message through preservation of cryptographic elements.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of applying security encoding to the complete message, the system applies security encoding partially—specifically to the first portion containing essential security elements. This partial action is sufficient to maintain message security and authenticity while significantly reducing computational overhead and processing time compared to encoding the entire message including large attachments.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and devices for storing sent message data are described. The sent message data corresponds to a message sent to a destination by a communication device via a server. The method includes compiling a first portion of the message which has a plurality of components; applying security encoding to the first portion; and storing the first portion. The first portion includes at least one but not all of the plurality of components in the message, and pointers to the components not included in the first portion. A method of verifying sent message data on a communication device is also described.