Secure electronic mail

We present a modular, secure electronic mail system, tailored for the needs of user groups that desire quick assembly and disassembly of large networks (“dynamic coalition”). Among the requirements from this system: (1) decentralized control of user privileges and access permissions; (2) resistance to eavesdropping; (3) quick, decentralized access revocation; (4) modularity; (5) optimal revocation of unread messages; (6) false repudiation countermeasures; and (7) compatibility with commercial off the shelf electronic mail software. We present the architecture of the system, based on local Verification and Authentication Agents (VAA), and compare performance and capabilities to several popular commercially available alternatives.