Patent ID: 8219815

Claim:
An information management system comprising: one or more workstations connected to a computer network, each workstation having a memory; an application stored in said memory of each workstation for transmitting outbound messages to said network and receiving inbound messages from said network; policy data containing rules for determining one or more particulars of the outbound message, and for controlling the transmission of said outbound message in dependence on those particulars, wherein the one or more particulars include a plurality of certificates available to sign the message, a particular one of the plurality of certificates to be used in signing the message if the message is marked for signature, and whether the message contains one or more words in a pre-determined list of keywords; and an analyzer, said analyzer determining, in conjunction with said policy data, one or more particulars of the outbound message and selecting, based on the policy data and the one or more particulars determined, a particular action for controlling the transmission of said outbound message from a plurality of actions comprising requiring that the message be digitally signed before transmission, notifying the sender of the message that digitally signing is recommended, requiring that a digitally signed message be transmitted without signature, and notifying the sender of the message digitally signing is not recommended.