Patent ID: 7496628

Claim:
A method for identifying content that is not authorized by a business or is deemed to be harmful to the business, in an unsent electronic message composed by a sender affiliated with the business, wherein the unsent electronic message is stored on at least one computer associated with the business, comprising the steps of: (a) prior to transmission of the unsent electronic message from a server associated with the business to a recipient and in response to a request of the sender to transmit the electronic message to the recipient, applying the unsent electronic message to an electronic screening tool programmed to identify content that is not authorized by the business or is deemed to be harmful to the business; (b) generating an output signal if the electronic screening tool determines that the unsent electronic message contains content that is not authorized by the business or is deemed to be harmful to the business, and (c) in response to said output signal: (i) automatically canceling the request of the sender to transmit the electronic message to the recipient and (ii) automatically expunging the unsent electronic message, wherein said expunging step results in the unsent electronic message being absent from the at least one computer associated with the business and the server if the unsent electronic message was previously stored on the server, and all references to the unsent electronic message being removed from one or more message stores associated with the at least one computer and the server.