Displaying A Known Sender's Identifier To A Recipient Of A Joint Senders' Message

Abstract

An approach is provided in which a request is received from a requestor to send a new email message to one or more recipients on behalf of a selected joint sender group (JSG). The selected JSG includes multiple JSG members with one of the JSG members being the requestor. Permissions corresponding to the JSG are then retrieved and compared to the requestor and the contents of the new email message are identified. The new email message is then sent to the recipients in response to determining, based on the comparison, that the requestor has permission to send the new email message on behalf of the selected JSG. On the other hand, the sending of the new email message is inhibited in response to determining that the requestor lacks permission to send the new email message on behalf of the selected JSG.

1 . A method implemented by an information handling system comprising:
 receiving a request from a requestor to send a new email message to one or more recipients on behalf of a selected joint sender group (JSG), wherein the selected JSG includes a plurality of JSG members wherein one of the JSG members is the requestor;   retrieving one or more permissions corresponding to the JSG;   comparing the requestor to the retrieved permissions;   identifying a contents of the new email message; and   sending the new email message to the recipients in response to determining, based on the comparison, that the requestor has permission to send the new email message on behalf of the selected JSG, wherein the new email message includes the contents.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 including a JSG file corresponding to the selected JSG with the new email message, wherein the included JSG file includes one or more digital signatures corresponding to one or more of the JSG members. 
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  further comprising:
 prior to receiving the request from the requestor, configuring the selected JSG file by a JSG creator that is one of the JSG members, wherein the configuring further comprises:
 assigning a JSG name to the selected JSG; 
 selecting the plurality of JSG members; 
 assigning the permissions that correspond to each of the selected JSG members, wherein one of the permissions is the permission to send new email on behalf of the selected JSG; 
 storing the assigned JSG name, the selected JSG members, and the permissions assigned to the selected members in the JSG file; 
 signing the JSG file with the JSG creator's private key, the signing resulting in a signed JSG file; and 
 sending the signed JSG file to the JSG members. 
 
 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  further comprising:
 receiving the signed JSG file by each of the JSG members; 
 validating the signed JSG file using a public key corresponding to the creator; 
 in response to the signed JSG file being validated: 
 preparing, by each of the JSG members, a signed acknowledgement that is signed with the respective JSG member's private key; and 
 sending the signed acknowledgement from each of the JSG members back to the JSG creator. 
 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  further comprising:
 receiving the signed acknowledgements from each of the JSG members; 
 updating the JSG file by inserting the received signed acknowledgements in the JSG file; and 
 sending the updated JSG files to each of the JSG members in response to receiving the signed acknowledgements from each of the JSG members. 
 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3  further comprising:
 receiving the signed JSG file at a selected one of the JSG members that is the requestor; and 
 storing the received signed JSG file in a JSG library, wherein the receiving of the request to send the new message includes selecting the stored signed JSG file from the JSG library, and wherein the new email message includes a copy of the signed JSG file. 
 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 3  further comprising:
 installing a JSG plug-in email component at each of the JSG members and at each of the recipients, wherein the JSG plug-in email component includes one or more processes that validate and analyze a plurality of JSG files, including the JSG file included with the new email message. 
 
     
     
         8 . An information handling system comprising:
 one or more processors;   a memory coupled to at least one of the processors;   a network adapter that connects the information handling system to a computer network;   a set of instructions stored in the memory and executed by at least one of the processors in order to perform actions of:   receiving a request from a requestor to send a new email message to one or more recipients on behalf of a selected joint sender group (JSG), wherein the selected JSG includes a plurality of JSG members wherein one of the JSG members is the requestor;   retrieving one or more permissions corresponding to the JSG;   comparing the requestor to the retrieved permissions;   identifying a contents of the new email message; and   sending the new email message to the recipients in response to determining, based on the comparison, that the requestor has permission to send the new email message on behalf of the selected JSG, wherein the new email message includes the contents.   
     
     
         9 . The information handling system of  claim 8  wherein the processors perform further actions comprising:
 including a JSG file corresponding to the selected JSG with the new email message, wherein the included JSG file includes one or more digital signatures corresponding to one or more of the JSG members. 
 
     
     
         10 . The information handling system of  claim 9  wherein the processors perform further actions comprising:
 prior to receiving the request from the requestor, configuring the selected JSG file by a JSG creator that is one of the JSG members, wherein the configuring further comprises:
 assigning a JSG name to the selected JSG; 
 selecting the plurality of JSG members; 
 assigning the permissions that correspond to each of the selected JSG members, wherein one of the permissions is the permission to send new email on behalf of the selected JSG; 
 storing the assigned JSG name, the selected JSG members, and the permissions assigned to the selected members in the JSG file; 
 signing the JSG file with the JSG creator's private key, the signing resulting in a signed JSG file; and 
 sending the signed JSG file to the JSG members. 
 
 
     
     
         11 . The information handling system of  claim 10  wherein the processors perform further actions comprising:
 receiving the signed JSG file by each of the JSG members; 
 validating the signed JSG file using a public key corresponding to the creator; 
 in response to the signed JSG file being validated: 
 preparing, by each of the JSG members, a signed acknowledgement that is signed with the respective JSG member's private key; and 
 sending the signed acknowledgement from each of the JSG members back to the JSG creator. 
 
     
     
         12 . The information handling system of  claim 11  wherein the processors perform further actions comprising:
 receiving the signed acknowledgements from each of the JSG members; 
 updating the JSG file by inserting the received signed acknowledgements in the JSG file; and 
 sending the updated JSG files to each of the JSG members in response to receiving the signed acknowledgements from each of the JSG members. 
 
     
     
         13 . The information handling system of  claim 10  wherein the processors perform further actions comprising:
 receiving the signed JSG file at a selected one of the JSG members that is the requestor; and 
 storing the received signed JSG file in a JSG library, wherein the receiving of the request to send the new message includes selecting the stored signed JSG file from the JSG library, and wherein the new email message includes a copy of the signed JSG file. 
 
     
     
         14 . The information handling system of  claim 10  wherein the processors perform further actions comprising:
 installing a JSG plug-in email component at each of the JSG members and at each of the recipients, wherein the JSG plug-in email component includes one or more processes that validate and analyze a plurality of JSG files, including the JSG file included with the new email message. 
 
     
     
         15 . A computer program product stored in a computer readable medium, comprising functional descriptive material that, when executed by an information handling system, causes the information handling system to perform actions comprising:
 receiving a request from a requestor to send a new email message to one or more recipients on behalf of a selected joint sender group (JSG), wherein the selected JSG includes a plurality of JSG members wherein one of the JSG members is the requestor;   retrieving one or more permissions corresponding to the JSG;   comparing the requestor to the retrieved permissions;   identifying a contents of the new email message; and   sending the new email message to the recipients in response to determining, based on the comparison, that the requestor has permission to send the new email message on behalf of the selected JSG, wherein the new email message includes the contents.   
     
     
         16 . The computer program product of  claim 15  wherein the functional descriptive material, when executed by the information handling system, causes the information handling system to perform additional actions comprising:
 including a JSG file corresponding to the selected JSG with the new email message, wherein the included JSG file includes one or more digital signatures corresponding to one or more of the JSG members. 
 
     
     
         17 . The computer program product of  claim 16  wherein the functional descriptive material, when executed by the information handling system, causes the information handling system to perform additional actions comprising:
 prior to receiving the request from the requestor, configuring the selected JSG file by a JSG creator that is one of the JSG members, wherein the configuring further comprises:
 assigning a JSG name to the selected JSG; 
 selecting the plurality of JSG members; 
 assigning the permissions that correspond to each of the selected JSG members, wherein one of the permissions is the permission to send new email on behalf of the selected JSG; 
 storing the assigned JSG name, the selected JSG members, and the permissions assigned to the selected members in the JSG file; 
 signing the JSG file with the JSG creator's private key, the signing resulting in a signed JSG file; and 
 sending the signed JSG file to the JSG members. 
 
 
     
     
         18 . The computer program product of  claim 17  wherein the functional descriptive material, when executed by the information handling system, causes the information handling system to perform additional actions comprising:
 receiving the signed JSG file by each of the JSG members; 
 validating the signed JSG file using a public key corresponding to the creator; 
 in response to the signed JSG file being validated: 
 preparing, by each of the JSG members, a signed acknowledgement that is signed with the respective JSG member's private key; and 
 sending the signed acknowledgement from each of the JSG members back to the JSG creator. 
 
     
     
         19 . The computer program product of  claim 18  wherein the functional descriptive material, when executed by the information handling system, causes the information handling system to perform additional actions comprising:
 receiving the signed acknowledgements from each of the JSG members; 
 updating the JSG file by inserting the received signed acknowledgements in the JSG file; and 
 sending the updated JSG files to each of the JSG members in response to receiving the signed acknowledgements from each of the JSG members. 
 
     
     
         20 . The computer program product of  claim 17  wherein the functional descriptive material, when executed by the information handling system, causes the information handling system to perform additional actions comprising:
 receiving the signed JSG file at a selected one of the JSG members that is the requestor; and 
 storing the received signed JSG file in a JSG library, wherein the receiving of the request to send the new message includes selecting the stored signed JSG file from the JSG library, and wherein the new email message includes a copy of the signed JSG file. 
 
     
     
         21 . The computer program product of  claim 17  wherein the functional descriptive material, when executed by the information handling system, causes the information handling system to perform additional actions comprising:
 installing a JSG plug-in email component at each of the JSG members and at each of the recipients, wherein the JSG plug-in email component includes one or more processes that validate and analyze a plurality of JSG files, including the JSG file included with the new email message. 
 
     
     
         22 . A method implemented by an information handling system comprising:
 receiving, at a selected recipient, an email message from a member of a selected joint sender group (JSG), wherein the email message includes a signed JSG file;   validating the received email message using one or more public keys associated with the signed JSG file included with the email message;   in response to a successful validation by the selected recipient of the received new email message:
 displaying, at the selected recipient, a JSG name as a name of a sender of the new email message; and 
 displaying, at the selected recipient, the contents of the new email message. 
   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22  further comprising:
 receiving a reply request from the selected recipient, the reply request corresponding to the received email message; 
 identifying a reply contents in response to receiving the reply request; 
 receiving a send request after the identification of the reply contents; 
 retrieving one or more reply permissions associated with a plurality of JSG member identifiers stored in the signed JSG file; 
 creating a reply email that includes the reply contents; 
 sending the reply email to a selected group of one or more of the JSG members, wherein each of the JSG members in the selected group have sufficient reply permissions; and 
 inhibiting the sending of the reply email to JSG members that have insufficient reply permissions.