Wireless Email Attachment Forwarding via Selective Extraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wireless devices face challenges in forwarding encrypted e-mails with attachments, as they cannot decrypt message contents without decryption keys, leading to unaware forwarding of sensitive data and inefficient resource management due to incomplete attachment downloads.
Innovation Solution
A system and method where a wireless device identifies and requests only the attachments it has received, using an attachment indicator to the server, which then retrieves and forwards the identified attachments along with the e-mail body to recipients, ensuring only viewed attachments are shared, and providing options for decrypting encrypted messages.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If the device downloads all attachments before forwarding, then complete attachment information is available for forwarding, but bandwidth and memory resources are wasted and security risks increase from unknowing forwarding
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary attachment information (headers and filenames) from the email message, allowing the device to identify and forward attachments without downloading their complete content. This extraction approach provides sufficient information for forwarding decisions while conserving bandwidth and memory resources.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary scanning of attachment headers and filenames before the device downloads complete attachment content. This preliminary action allows the device to identify which attachments should be forwarded based on user preferences or security policies, preventing unnecessary downloads and resource consumption.
2Loss of energy
If the device forwards attachments without complete message download, then resource usage is optimized, but sensitive data may be unknowingly forwarded
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where the device receives confirmation about which attachments are present in the email message before forwarding. This feedback loop allows the device to verify attachment information and ensure that only intended attachments are forwarded, reducing security risks while maintaining resource efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary process that mediates between the email server and the device, providing attachment header information and filenames without requiring complete message download. This intermediary layer enables secure forwarding decisions by providing sufficient information about attachments without exposing the device to unnecessary data.
3Loss of information
If encrypted messages are scanned for attachment headers, then attachment information becomes available, but decryption keys are required which are not available to the server
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts attachment header information and filenames from encrypted email messages without requiring decryption of the message body. By taking out only the metadata portion that contains attachment information, the system makes attachment headers available while avoiding the complexity of key management and decryption processes.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method of forwarding an e-mail from a wireless device is provided. The wireless device receives the e-mail message in portions as needed, the portions having the attachments contained therein. The portions of the e-mail message containing only a subset of attachments associated with the e-mail message in the user mailbox. When a wireless device forwards the e-mail message to one or more recipients a message identifier and an attachment indicator is provided for identifying the number of attachments in the e-mail message to be forwarded. The identified e-mail message is retrieved and the attachments are extracted from the retrieved e-mail message based on the attachment indicator. The e-mail message is forwarded to the one or more recipients and the extracted attachments.