Sender verification for encrypted electronic messaging

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12262197-B2
Application number	US-202117316664-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 10, 2021
Priority date	May 11, 2020
Publication date	Mar 25, 2025
Grant date	Mar 25, 2025

Abstract

The subject disclosure provides systems and methods for sender verification for encrypted electronic messaging. The discloses systems and methods may facilitate reducing or preventing spam messages between electronic devices. An electronic device may determine, prior to sending an electronic message to another device with a first level of encryption that is higher than a second level of encryption, whether the electronic device is eligible to send the message with the first level of encryption. If an electronic device determines that it is ineligible to send the message with the first level of encryption to another electronic device, a first message from the electronic device to the other electronic device may be sent with the second level of encryption as part of an unencrypted or low encryption handshake between the devices.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
determining, by a first device and based on (1) an identifier of the first device or (2) an identifier of a second device, whether the first device is eligible to send a message to the second device with a first strength of encryption that is higher than a second strength of encryption;
in accordance with a determination that the first device is eligible to send the message to the second device with the first strength of encryption, sending, by the first device, the message with the first strength of encryption via a first network; and
in accordance with a determination that the first device is not eligible to send the message to the second device with the first strength of encryption, sending, by the first device, the message with the second strength of encryption via a second network that differs from the first network.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the first device is eligible comprises determining whether the first device is eligible based on both the identifier of the first device and the identifier of the second device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the first device is eligible further comprises determining whether the first device is eligible based on whether the second device has sent a previous message to the first device.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein determining whether the first device is eligible based on whether the second device has sent the previous message to the first device is based on message data stored at the first device.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifier of the first device comprises at least a portion of a phone number associated with the first device.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the portion of the phone number includes at least one of a country code, an area code, or a regional code.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein sending the message with the second strength of encryption comprises sending a short-message service (SMS) message via an SMS server, and wherein sending the message with the first strength of encryption comprises sending an encrypted message via a server other than the SMS server.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, after sending the message with the second strength of encryption by the first device:
receiving a message from the second device at the first device; and
sending a subsequent message, by the first device to the second device, with the first strength of encryption based on receiving the message.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the first device is eligible further comprises determining whether the first device is eligible based on a locally determined trustworthiness score for the first device.

10. A non-transitory machine-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations that include:
determining, by a first device and based on (1) an identifier of the first device or (2) an identifier of a second device, whether the first device is eligible to send a message to the second device with a first strength of encryption that is higher than a second strength of encryption;
in accordance with a determination that the first device is eligible to send the message to the second device with the first strength of encryption, sending, by the first device, the message with the first strength of encryption via a first network; and
in accordance with a determination that the first device is not eligible to send the message to the second device with the first strength of encryption, sending, by the first device, the message with the second strength of encryption via a second network that is distinct from the first network.

11. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein determining whether the first device is eligible comprises determining whether the first device is eligible based on both the identifier of the first device and the identifier of the second device.

12. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein determining whether the first device is eligible further comprises determining whether the first device is eligible based on whether the second device has sent a previous message to the first device.

13. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 12 , wherein determining whether the first device is eligible based on whether the second device has sent the previous message to the first device is based on message data stored at the first device.

14. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the identifier of the first device comprises at least a portion of a phone number associated with the first device.

15. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the portion of the phone number includes at least one of a country code, an area code, or a regional code.

16. An electronic device, comprising:
memory; and
one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors are configured to:
determine, based on (1) an identifier of the electronic device or (2) an identifier of a second device, whether the electronic device is eligible to send a message to the second device with a first strength of encryption that is higher than a second strength of encryption;
in accordance with a determination that the electronic device is eligible to send the message to the second device with the first strength of encryption, send the message with the first strength of encryption via a first network; and
in accordance with a determination that the electronic device is not eligible to send the message to the second device with the first strength of encryption, send the message with the second strength of encryption via a second network that differs from the first network.

17. The electronic device of claim 16 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to send the message with the second strength of encryption by sending a short-message service (SMS) message via an SMS server, and to send the message with the first strength of encryption by sending an encrypted message via a server other than the SMS server.

18. The electronic device of claim 16 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to, after sending the message with the second strength of encryption:
receive a message from the second device; and
send a subsequent message, to the second device, with the first strength of encryption based on receiving the message from the second device.

19. The electronic device of claim 16 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine whether the electronic device is eligible based on a locally determined trustworthiness score for the electronic device.

20. The electronic device of claim 16 , wherein the identifier of the electronic device comprises at least a portion of a phone number associated with the electronic device.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Barer Elliot A
• Defilippis Pierre J
• Garcia Roberto
• Shaw Timothy
• Federighi Craig M
• Adler Darin B
• Sodos Jonathon

Classifications

• H04W4/14

  Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD] · CPC title

• H04W12/69

  Identity-dependent · CPC title

• H04L51/58

  Message adaptation for wireless communication · CPC title

• H04L51/212

  using filtering or selective blocking · CPC title

• H04L9/3215

  using a plurality of channels (network architectures or network communication protocols using different networks H04L63/18) · CPC title