Patent ID: 8817986

Claim:
A system for cross enterprise communication, comprising: a plurality of enterprises including a first enterprise and a second enterprise; a first intermediary hardware communication component at the first enterprise that intermediates communication between the first enterprise and other enterprises of the plurality of enterprises, wherein the first intermediary communication component comprises: a receiving component at the first enterprise that receives, from a sender within the first enterprise, a message that is encrypted with a first enterprise public key and signed with a sender private key, wherein the first enterprise public key is associated with the first enterprise, and wherein the sender private key is associated with the sender; a validation component at the first enterprise that validates the message using a sender public key, wherein the sender public key is associated with the sender; a decryption component at the first enterprise that decrypts the message using a first enterprise private key, wherein the first enterprise private key is associated with the first enterprise; an encryption component at the first enterprise that encrypts the message using a second enterprise public key for receipt by a recipient within the second enterprise of the plurality of enterprises, wherein the second enterprise public key is associated with the second enterprise and the second enterprise comprises a second intermediary communication component that includes: a second data storage that contains a list of authorized recipients within the second enterprise and a list of other enterprises the second enterprise communicates with; a signing component at the first enterprise that signs the message using the first enterprise private key to create a re-signed and re-encrypted message; and a sending component at the first enterprise that sends the re-signed and re-encrypted message to the recipient.