Patent ID: 8395801

Claim:
A method for determining when a secured electronic file should be handled natively by a multifunction peripheral system (MFP) or preprocessed by an external service, comprising: receiving a user action request, including a file browse or a job request, for an electronic file having metadata defining a file security level; maintaining a list of file formats supported by the MFP and by an external service, an MFP security level and an external service security level; using the list for filtering in a file selection operation or file support verification in the user action request; if the clearance level of the MFP is the same or greater than the file clearance level defined by the file metadata, performing the user action request by the MFP; if the clearance level of the MFP is lower than the file clearance level defined by the file metadata, and the external service security level is the same as or higher than the file security level, transferring the file and appropriate credentials of the user to the external service for processing the file.