Patent ID: 6847719

Claim:
A method for communicating between a sender and a receiver over a computer network, comprising the steps of: defining a plurality of parameters for a secure message, at least one of the plurality of parameters accessible to a management module for controlling receiver access to a decryption key; sending the secure message from the sender to the receiver over a network; receiving the secure message at the receiver; sending a request from the receiver to a management module for the decryption key; processing the request at the management module to determine whether the receiver is permitted to decrypt the message based on said at least one of the plurality of parameters; when not permitted, sending a denial message to the receiver; when permitted, sending the decryption key to the receiver; and when the decryption key is sent to the receiver, decrypting the message at the receiver into a source format, reformatting the decrypted message into a prescribed format, deleting the decryption key and preventing access to the decrypted message in the source format after said reformatting by deleting the source-formatted decrypted message.