Patent ID: 8875251

Claim:
A system for the exchange of secure messaging that associates a message sender's legal identity with all messages sent and a user's legal identity with a message inbox such that each party in a messaging transaction can identify the other party with a high level of assurance, the system comprising: a registration gateway comprised of a registration server and an Identification Authentication System (IAS); a Secure Mail Delivery Agent (SMDA) configured to provide a secure storage area for inbound secure messaging and provides for a secure encrypted connection path to a Secure Mail Transfer Agent (SMTA) when sending messages; the SMTA configured to authenticate senders prior to sending messages and establish secure encrypted channels for the transmission of messages securely over a public network; an User Record Server (URS) which comprises a database of registered users in a table of user records, each record containing identifying information about each user, including a certified legal identity for each user, an sMail address for each user to be identified to other users of the system when sending and receiving secure transactions, and authentication information for each user, wherein the SMTA authenticates senders based on records stored in the URS; a network which couples a client, the SMDA, the SMTA, the registration server and the URS together; wherein the SMTA and SMDA are configured so that any messages sent on the system must be from a registered account on the system and to a registered account on the system.