Message distribution control

Abstract

A method of controlling distribution of content in a message sent by a message sender comprises receiving an indication from the message sender that the message is to be protected, identifying content in the message to be protected, adding the identified content to a database of protected content, and determining whether subsequently received content in a subsequently received message is associated with the identified content. A system for controlling distribution of content in a message sent by a message sender comprises a processor configured to receive an indication from the message sender that the message is to be protected, identify content in the message to be protected, add the identified content to a database of protected content, and determine whether subsequently received content in a subsequently received message is associated with the identified content.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of controlling distribution of protected content electronic message, the method comprising:
 receiving information, wherein at least a portion of the received information includes the protected content;   receiving a selection identifying the protected content included in the received information;   storing information corresponding to the protected content in a database;   receiving the electronic message;   comparing information in the received electronic message with the stored information corresponding to the protected content;   identifying that information in the received electronic message is similar to the stored information corresponding to the protected content when the information in the received electronic message is consistent with the at least portion of the received information; and   sending an electronic message to an external computing device based on identifying that the received electronic message is similar to the stored information corresponding to the protected content.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein one or more indicators are added to the identified protected content before the information corresponding to the protected content is stored in the database, wherein the one or more indicators specifically identify the protected content. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the one or more indicators are headers. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving over the user interface a distribution control option, wherein the distribution control option identifies a recipient that authorized to receive the protected content;   identifying that an addressee of the received electronic message corresponds to the authorized recipient, wherein the message sent to the external computing device includes the protected content.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving over the user interface a distribution control option, wherein the distribution control option identifies a recipient that authorized to receive the protected content; and   identifying that an addressee of the received electronic message does not correspond to the authorized recipient, wherein the message sent to the external computing device includes an alert identifying that the received electronic message includes the protected content.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the external computing device is inside a corporate network. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 generating one or more variations of the protected content; and   storing the one or more variation of the protected content in the database.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the one or more variations of the protected content include at least one of:
 a first word or phrase that is a synonym of a primary word or phrase associated with the protected content;   one or more words associated with the protected content are organized in a different order than one or more primary words associated with the protected content;   one or more letters that have been substituted for one or more letters associated with the protected content;   a token that replaces a portion of the protected content; and   a special character added to the protected content.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the special character added to the protected content or the token that replaces a portion of the protected content includes at least one of a punctuation mark, a space, a non-standard letter, and a non-standard number. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the received information is received over a user interface. 
     
     
         11 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having embodied thereon a program executable by a processor for performing a method of controlling distribution of protected content in an electronic message, the method comprising:
 receiving information, wherein at least a portion of the received information includes the protected content;   receiving a selection identifying the protected content included in the received information;   storing information corresponding to the protected content in a database;   receiving the electronic message;   comparing information in the received electronic message with the stored information corresponding to the protected content;   identifying that information in the received electronic message is similar to the stored information corresponding to the protected content when the information in the received electronic message is consistent with the at least portion of the received information; and   sending an electronic message to an external computing device based on identifying that the received electronic message is similar to the stored information corresponding to the protected content.   
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 11 , wherein one or more indicators are added to the identified protected content before the information corresponding to the protected content is stored in the database, wherein the one or more indicators specifically identify the protected content. 
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 12 , wherein the one or more indicators are headers. 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 11 , the program further executable to:
 receive over the user interface a distribution control option, wherein the distribution control option identifies a recipient that authorized to receive the protected content; and   identify that an addressee of the received electronic message corresponds to the authorized recipient, wherein the message sent to the external computing device includes the protected content.   
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 11 , the program further executable to:
 receive over the user interface a distribution control option, wherein the distribution control option identifies a recipient that authorized to receive the protected content; and   identify that an addressee of the received electronic message does not correspond to the authorized recipient, wherein the message sent to the external computing device includes an alert identifying that the received electronic message includes the protected content.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 11 , wherein the external computing device is inside a corporate network. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 generating one or more variations of the protected content; and   storing the one or more variation of the protected content in the database.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the one or more variations of the protected content include at least one of:
 a first word or phrase that is a synonym of a primary word or phrase associated with the protected content;   one or more words associated with the protected content are organized in a different order than one or more primary words associated with the protected content;   one or more letters that have been substituted for one or more letters associated with the protected content;   a token that replaces a portion of the protected content; and   a special character added to the protected content.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the special character added to the protected content or the token that replaces a portion of the protected content includes at least one of a punctuation mark, a space, a non-standard letter, and a non-standard number. 
     
     
         20 . An apparatus for controlling distribution of protected content in an electronic message, the apparatus comprising:
 a network interface that receives information and that receives a selection identifying the protected content in the received information, wherein at least a portion of the received information includes the protected content;   a database for storing information corresponding to the protected content, wherein the received information is stored in the database after it is received, wherein the network interface receives the electronic message;   a memory; and   a processor, wherein the processor:
 compares information in the received electronic message with the stored information corresponding to the protected content; 
 identifies that information in the received electronic message is similar to the stored information corresponding to the protected content when the information in the received electronic message is consistent with the at least portion of the received information; and 
 prepares an electronic message to be sent to an external computing device based on identifying that the received electronic message is similar to the stored information corresponding to the protected content, wherein the electronic message is sent to the external computing device over the network interface.