References

Internet Information Systems, Inc.

Electronic mail has changed the whole concept of communication. Compared to "snail mail," it's incredibly fast and efficient. On the downside, it's not secure, and a sender never knows how many people besides the addressee have read their message. Moreover, sometimes a sender can't even be sure that the addressee has read the message at all because sending a return receipt is actually a matter of good will. Those were the reasons why Internet Information Systems, Inc. wanted to offer a service for tracking, monitoring, and controlling the usage of e-mail messages. The service was supposed to provide complete security and control over e-mail messages, as well as detailed documentation and accountability. Internet Information Systems, Inc. selected Web Space Station^® to develop E-mailSecure, a system that would make it possible to get instant notification when an e-mail message is opened and to control almost all aspects of the e-mail security.

We built E-mailSecure as a Web site and a set of background PHP scripts that let customers send e-mail messages using either a Web browser or an e-mail client program. We chose PHP not only because it had been created for the Web development, and it can be easily integrated into the HTML code, but also due to its ability to work both as an CGI application and a server module, which allows for saving server resources.

E-mailSecure lets customers track and control their e-mail messages sent through the company's secure server. The messages are encrypted with the powerful Blowfish algorithm and stored on the server for recipients to view them. When a recipient opens a message, E-mailSecure decrypts it, and then enforces the usage permissions set by the sender. At the same time, the system tracks and logs the usage data for the message. All messages are digitally signed and sequentially numbered providing further proof of when they were sent. In order to inform the sender exactly where and when their e-mail message was opened, we used proprietary e-mail tracking technology.

One of the problems we faced was notifying a customer when their e-mail has been read by the recipient. E-mail notification was easy to implement, but notification via ICQ required external software, so we employed Licq (www.licq.org) as it was the only program whose interface made it possible to use it from another application.

E-mailSecure is an innovative e-mail security system that offers reliable protection for those sending private or confidential information. It allows senders to track, control, and even edit e-mail messages after they have been sent. Moreover, senders can revoke recipient access to their e-mail at anytime. Messages can be password protected and prevented from unauthorized viewing, copying, printing, and forwarding. Using timestamps, PGP, and digital certificates, E-mailSecure creates encrypted certificates proving that e-mail messages were sent and opened. Senders can set a specific period of time before messages expire. Finally, E-mailSecure can notify senders via e-mail or ICQ when their messages have been read by the recipients.