Patent ID: 6981141

Claim:
A method of encrypting an electronic file in an application program running in a suitable environment for operating the program, comprising the steps of: a) issuing a change document command to act upon the file; b) intercepting the change document command; c) acquiring an encryption key value; d) encrypting the file using the encryption key value to create an encrypted file; e) completing the change document command by performing the change document command upon the encrypted file instead of the file; and f) invoking an option to initiate a virus scan program; wherein steps c) and d) further comprise the steps of: selecting an algorithm to use with the file from one of a plurality of encryption algorithms; selecting an encryption key with a key value; generating a file identifier from the encryption key, an algorithm identifier associated with the selected algorithm and a data identifier associated with the file; adding the file identifier to the file; and using the key value and the selected algorithm to encrypt the file.