Stand-alone, Encrypted, Self-destructing E-mail

Security system promises to transmit sensitive e-mails without using mail servers and be resistant to e-mail sniffing applications.

by Wayne Kawamoto [September 29, 2000]

AbsoluteFuture.com announced that it has begun marketing SafeMessage, a patent-pending, peer-to-peer-capable messaging system designed from the ground up for secure communications.

An adjunct to existing e-mail programs, SafeMessage may make it easy for users to exchange highly sensitive e-mails that expire, or self-destruct, after a period of time that the sender sets. The company says that SafeMessage ensures data security through multiple layers of encryption and by preventing recipients from copying, saving, forwarding or printing SafeMessages that they receive.

According to AbsoluteFuture.com, SafeMessage gives corporations, ISPs, and professional service firms the ability to take control and ownership of their sensitive data transmissions. The company claims that SafeMessages may be sent from one user directly to another without having e-mails route through mail servers, which prevents messages from leaving a data trail.

"SafeMessage is the electronic answer to the shredding machine," said Graham Andrews, chief executive officer of AbsoluteFuture. "It is the first industrial strength secure messaging product of its kind for not only large corporations, but also individuals. It provides more security than other secure messaging products because of its unique ability to work separately from a user's e-mail application and by working in a peer-to-peer mode that avoids mail servers, which are inherently insecure."

Key SafeMessage features include:

• The ability to send self-destructing messages. Senders determine when their SafeMessages will self-destruct so as to leave no persistent copies of the message with either the sender or the recipient.
• Multi-layered encryption that combines asymmetric and symmetric ciphers.
• Non-transferable messages that prevent recipients from copying, forwarding, cutting and pasting, or printing sensitive messages.
• Resistance to e-mail sniffing programs.
• Guaranteed delivery status that alerts a sender that a message has been received.

Pricing and availability
SafeMessage is available now. Pricing is determined by site-license size, feature-set, and other contractual issues. Pricing for individuals will be set by a third party license, such as an ISP, or via a monthly subscription directly from AbsoluteFuture.

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