Methods and systems for allocating and indicating trustworthiness of secure communications

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention enable allocating and indicating the trustworthiness of a message, especially messages that comprise content that has been digitally signed. In some embodiments, a provider of assurance services and assurance software provides trust attestations related to messages and may manipulate the user interface used to view these messages. The trust attestations may be computed by various methods. The trust attestations may then be presented when the message is displayed to the user using the assurance software. For example, the trust attestations may be displayed as user interface elements in a designated portion of the chrome of a messaging service, such as a webmail service. In one embodiment, the assurance software can run on the webmail service and the trust attestations in the chrome are served up via techniques for delivery of client-server presentation data. In another embodiment, the assurance software is implemented as software that runs on the client and may perform some computations on the client in order to manipulate the messaging service's chrome. In yet another embodiment, the assurance software may run as an extension to an e-mail client that runs on a user's machine. The assurance software is configured to work with the presenter of the message, but independently of the presenter.

1 . A device configured to present messages from a messaging system, said system comprising:
 a memory; and   a processor configured by executable instructions to receive a message having content that has been digitally signed, present the message via a user interface element under the control of a first source, determine a set of attestations about the message, and present information about the set of attestations in proximity to the first user interface element via a second user interface element under the control of a second source.   
   
   
       2 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to receive an e-mail message. 
   
   
       3 . The device of  claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured to receive an S/MIME e-mail message. 
   
   
       4 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to present a webmail message via a web page served by a webmail service. 
   
   
       5 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to present an e-mail message via an e-mail client running on the device. 
   
   
       6 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to present information about the set of attestations in a chrome portion of a web page, wherein the web page comprises at least a portion of the message, and wherein the chrome portion is controlled by a browser extension running on the device. 
   
   
       7 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to present information about the set of attestations via the second user interface element under the control of an entity that accepts responsibility for at least a portion of the information in the second user interface element. 
   
   
       8 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to receive the message via a loopback port. 
   
   
       9 . A method of indicating attestations about a message, said method comprising:
 receiving a message from a messaging system;   presenting the message via a user interface element;   identifying at least one attestation about the message; and   presenting information in proximity to the message about the identified at least one attestation via another user interface element under the control of an assurance service, wherein the other user interface element indicates a difference in the control by the assurance service.   
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein receiving the message comprises receiving an e-mail message having content that has been digitally signed. 
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein presenting the message via the user interface element controlled by the messaging system comprises presenting the message as a webpage served by the messaging system. 
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein presenting information in proximity to the message about the identified at least one attestation via another user interface element controlled by the assurance service comprises presenting the information in a chrome portion of the webpage, wherein the chrome portion is controlled by the assurance service. 
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein presenting information in proximity to the message about the identified at least one attestation via another user interface element controlled by the assurance service comprises presenting information that indicates liability for reliability of the attestation by an entity that is known, but not necessarily trusted by the assurance service. 
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein presenting information in proximity to the message about the identified at least one attestation via another user interface element controlled by the assurance service comprises presenting information that indicates liability for reliability of the attestation by a certification authority. 
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein presenting information in proximity to the message about the identified at least one attestation via another user interface element controlled by the assurance service comprises presenting information that indicates liability for reliability of the attestation by a certification authority that is known, but not necessarily trusted by the assurance service. 
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein presenting information in proximity to the message about the identified at least one attestation via another user interface element controlled by the assurance service comprises presenting information that indicates liability for reliability of the attestation by a certification authority that is known, but not necessarily trusted by a recipient of the message. 
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein presenting the message via the user interface element controlled by the messaging system comprises presenting the message via a messaging client. 
   
   
       18 . A system comprising means configured to perform the method of  claim 9 , said system comprising:
 means for receiving a message from a messaging system;   means for presenting the message via a user interface element controlled by the messaging system;   means for identifying at least one attestation about the message; and   means for presenting information in proximity to the message about the identified at least one attestation via another user interface element controlled by an assurance service.   
   
   
       19 . A method of indicating attestations about a message from a messaging system to be presented to a user, said method comprising:
 identifying when a message is to be presented to the user;   determining at least one attestation about the message;   presenting the message via a presentation interface that is at least partially under the control of the messaging system; and   presenting information in proximity to the message about the at least one attestation via a user interface element that is not under the control of the messaging system.   
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein presenting the information in proximity to the message about the at least one attestation comprises presenting the information in a chrome portion of a webmail web page. 
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein presenting the information in proximity to the message about the at least one attestation comprises presenting the information in a chrome portion of an e-mail displayed via an e-mail client.