Patent ID: 7694232

Claim:
An electronic communications device comprising: a receiver for receiving secured electronic messages; a processor capable of processing said secured electronic messages and displaying said secured electronic messages; and program logic operable to generate a large status display having a first display size, in a first display mode; wherein the large status display comprises a plurality of security status icons each associated with a status of a secured electronic message, and, for each of the plurality of security status icons, text corresponding to the security status icon; wherein said program logic is further operable to generate a small status display having a second display size smaller than the first display size, in a second display mode; wherein said small status display comprises said plurality of security status icons, each associated with a status of said secured electronic message, and rearranged to reduce an amount of display area used to display said security status icons and, for exactly one of the plurality of security status icons, text corresponding to the exactly one of the plurality of security status icons in an abbreviated form to reduce an amount of display area used to display said text corresponding to the exactly one of the plurality of security status icons; wherein each of said plurality of security status icons is associated with a different status of said secured electronic message; wherein said program logic is further operable to, based on user input, switch between said first and second display modes for respectively displaying exactly one of said large status display having said first display size and said small status display having said second display size; and wherein the text corresponding to the exactly one of the plurality of security status icons of said small status display corresponds to a most important security status message, a priority of importance of said text corresponding to the exactly one of the plurality of security status icons being based on predetermined criteria associated with at least one status of said secured electronic message.