Patent ID: 6990504

Claim:
A method for securely transmitting an electronic submission to a receiver in a distributed management system, the method comprising the steps of: on a submission installation: generating a submission envelope; storing a file of information in the submission envelope; generating an envelope contents value using a predetermined envelope contents algorithm based on the contents of the submission envelope; digitally signing the envelope contents value thereby creating a resultant submission envelope contents digital signature; storing the submission envelope contents digital signature in the submission envelope; storing an installation identifier in the submission envelope, wherein the installation identifier uniquely identifies the submission installation to the receiver as an authorized submission installation recording to authorized installation information stored by the receiver regarding authorized submission installations; and submitting the submission envelope to the receiver; and at the receiver; comparing the installation identifier with in the submission envelope with the authorized installation information to determine whether the submission envelope is from an authorized submission installation; rejecting the submission envelope if the submission installation is not an authorized submission installation; generating a second envelope contents value using the predetermined envelope contents algorithm based on the contents of the submission envelope; processing the submission envelope contents digital signature recording to information in the authorized installation information that corresponds to the submission installation, thereby generating a validation value; comparing the second envelope contents value to the validation value to determine whether the submission envelope has been modified; if the submission envelope has been modified, rejecting the submission envelope; generating a receipt envelope including at least some portion of the submission envelope; generating a receipt envelope contents value using a predetermined receipt envelope contents algorithm based on the contents of the receipt envelope; digitally signing the receipt envelope contents value, thereby creating a resultant receipt envelope contents digital signature; storing the receipt envelope contents digital signature in the receipt envelope; and returning the receipt envelope to the submission installation as evidence to the submission installation that the submission envelope was received by the receiver.