Patent ID: 7257228

Claim:
In a system for performing an action, in response to an electronic communication regarding an account, which electronic communication is received from a sender by a receiver, a method comprising the steps of: (a) initially, associating by the receiver, sender identity information and a public key of a public-private key pair with the account such that the public key is retrievable based on the sender identity information, and wherein the public key is associated with the account in a computer database; and thereafter (b) receiving the electronic communication from the sender, (i) wherein the electronic communication was created after the association of the sender identity information and the public key with the account in step (a), (ii) wherein the electronic communication comprises, (A) the sender identity information, and (B) predetermined encoded information obtained by using the private key of the pair, and (iii) wherein the electronic communication is communicated electronically from the sender; and (c) validating the identity of the sender for the electronic communication by only performing the steps of, (i) utilizing the sender identity information received in the electronic communication to retrieve the public key based on the association of the sender identity information and the public key with the account performed in step (a), and (ii) comparing a function of the public key and the predetermined encoded information with a function of the electronic message, wherein the function comprises decrypting the predetermined encoded information using the public key, whereby a comparison resulting in a match validates the identity of the sender.