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email2 Web Client
This is the most common way of accessing email2 messages. The email2 Web Client is a web based access tool. The email2 Web Client can be used to send and receive email2 messages, as well for accessing various types of metadata and extended content. The email2 Web Client can either be a companion application to the email2 Toolbar for Outlook, or it can be a replacement for the email2 Toolbar entirely. The email2 Web Client is specific to a Private Email Network (PEN). That is, every PEN has an independent (branded) email2 Web Client. The email2 Web Client is the easiest way for a user to view the entire list of messages stored for him or her on a PEN.
email2 Toolbar for Outlook
The email2 Toolbar is an add-in for Outlook that allows email2 power users to organize and manage email2 messages alongside basic email messages. Important information is displayed in the email2 Delivery Slip, an area next to the message that contains pertinent metadata. The email2 Toolbar is a flexible control that helps users to engage with the email2 processes however they would like. While the email2 Toolbar functions within the Outlook environment, it does not interfere in any way with the use of normal email. When it is installed, users can still send and receive basic email, just as easily as they ever did.
email2 Delivery Slip (Patent Pending)
The email2 Delivery Slip is an aspect of the email2 Toolbar. The Delivery Slip is a dynamic display area on the right hand side of the message area. If the selected message is an email2 message, the Delivery Slip displays pertinent metadata, including access to video messages and attachments. If you’re composing an email2 message, the Delivery Slip displays becomes the Delivery Options you can enable, including recording a video message directly in Outlook!
Private Email Network (PEN) (Patent Pending)
This is the server aspect, or platform, of the email2 system. There are many PENs, all independent of each other. An email2 user can belong to as many or as few PENs as he or she desires. These PENs are controlled by PEN administrators, and each PEN can provide a customized level of security or a suite of extended features. Certain PENs may be exclusive to domains or user groups, and certain PENs may charge a fee for access and usage privileges. The flexibility of the email2 PEN platform ensures that there is a specific PEN available that is custom tailored for just about every task or purpose imaginable. email2 messages, as well as related metadata available through the Delivery Slip, are stored in a secure state on the physical servers of a specific PEN.
Activation
Activation is an automatic process. When the email2 Toolbar attempts to retrieve the Delivery Slip for an email2 Notification message from a PEN that it has never encountered before, a process known as “PEN Discovery” takes place. The user is prompted to either allow or block further communication with the PEN, (identified by name and certification status). If a user allows communication, he or she ‘activates’ for the PEN. From a user’s perspective, activation is complete as soon as he or she allows communication.
Registration
The two types of registration, (active and passive), are not mutually exclusive. It depends on the PEN, but in most cases, users are automatically passively registered, and then complete a full, active registration at a later time. Passive registration happens automatically, as soon as the email2 toolbar contacts a PEN (i.e., after a successful activation). After a user becomes activated with a PEN, if he or she does not have a user key for the PEN, one is created. The creation of a user key is considered to be passive registration. Many PENs will allow passively registered users to retrieve email2 messages and reply to email2 messages. However, PENs with higher security will require that users become fully (actively) registered before even retrieving messages. Active registration refers to the somewhat more intensive process of fully registering. This process includes supplying a set of personal information that can be used to identify your email2 account. The following is a common list of information required for active registration, but because this is determinable on a per-PEN basis, specific PENs may ask for more or less information during active registration: Full name, Address, Phone number, Password, etc. If a PEN charges its members for access to the PEN, billing information is completed during the active registration process as well. Depending on the security settings of a PEN, registration may need to be validated by phone, email, or any other criteria a PEN specifies.
email2 Delivery Slip Metadata (Patent Pending)
Within the email2 platform, metadata can refer to any information about email2 messages or conversations that can be collected. Some metadata can be collected by standard email clients using basic email, (e.g., ‘To’ address, ‘From’ address, ‘CC’ address, subject line), but other types of metadata are specific to email2. Tracking information is an example of email2-specific metadata.
email2 Message ID
A unique identifier assigned to each and every email2 message. Message IDs are always unique per PEN. They are used by the email2 platform to identify messages as unique items.
email2 Parent Message ID
A non-unique identifier assigned to each derivative email2 message. Messages that are replies or forwards are considered derivative. All messages that are not brand new messages have an embedded Parent Message ID which describes the relationship between the parent and child message, enabling true threading of related email2 messages, independently of their subject line!
email2 Message Access Key
This is part of a unique email2 signature that is embedded in every email2 Notification Message. The message email2 Access Key is an obscured string of characters, describing to the email2 Toolbar the location of an email2 message. This generally entails the IP address of the specific PEN, the message ID, and when necessary, the parent message ID.
email2 Member Key
This is the unique identifier with which PENs interact with members. For all intents and purposes, a user key is synonymous to the member him or herself. A user key is created during the registration process, commonly during passive registration, transparent to the member. Since members can belong to multiple PENs, a member key is tied to a specific PEN identifier (the PEN’s SGUID). Member keys are generated from a member’s basic email address and a specific SGUID. For every PEN that a user is a member of, he or she has a member key specific to that PEN. Member keys can be stored on any type of local media, including removable media such as flash memory sticks or CDs/DVDs. However, many PENs simply store the user key in the user’s registry.
email2 Interchangeable Crypto Engine (ICE) (Patent Pending)
Just as email2 is a new way of utilizing the potential of network communication, the email2 ICE is a new way to make the most of existing security technologies. The ICE allows for the quick and easy integration of new encryption methods, giving PEN administrators the power to upgrade security solutions dynamically, in step with the industry, instead of perpetually behind them. The ICE is not a type of encryption, but an interface for using existing encryption methods. The ICE enables administrators with sufficient permissions to integrate existing encryption methods into PENs, allowing for truly customizable security solutions.
email2 Certification Authority
The email2 Certification Authority is an entity independent of any Private Email Networks (PENs), clients, or other interested parties. The job of the email2 Certification Authority is twofold: to provide PENs with certificates that can be used to verify identity and validity, and to digitally sign encryption methods to be used by the email2 Interchangeable Crypto Engine (ICE). The email2 Certification Authority ensures that PENs and encryption methods are legitimate and that they behave as they are reported to. Its purpose is to prevent mischievous or intentionally malicious people from taking advantage of email2 users by hosting unsafe PENs or providing potentially harmful encryption methods. Authorized administrative users are able to submit encryption methods, which can be manually inspected for malicious code, digitally signed and then returned for use with a specific PEN. The email2 Certification Authority protects against ‘phishing PENs’ (bogus PENs that exist only to illicitly gather user information) by issuing security certificates to PENs that investigation has determined to be legitimate and trustworthy. During the ‘PEN discovery’ process, users are able to see whether or not a PEN holds a security certificate, and integrate this information into the decision making process of whether or not to allow communication with the PEN.
// Edited July 2008