Patent ID: 8032751

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of operating a service to generate a result for an electronic mail (“e-mail”) message, comprising: by the service, receiving a request from a sender via a network, the request comprising meta-data information regarding the e-mail message, wherein the meta-data information includes at least an e-mail address of the sender and an e-mail address of a recipient of the e-mail message, by the service, processing at least a portion of the request to determine the result using a service private key, the service private key kept secret by the service; and by the service, providing the result back to the sender via the network, for incorporation of the result into the e-mail message prior to the e-mail message being transmitted to the recipient of the e-mail message, as a result-incorporated e-mail message, via an e-mail system, whereby the recipient may process the result-incorporated e-mail message using a service public key to assess the integrity of the e-mail message.