VERIFYING AUTHENTICITY OF E-MAIL MESSAGES

摘要

A certificate registry system configured to issue authentication certificates to each one of a plurality of information providers and to maintain a root certificate corresponding to all of the authentication certificates, wherein each one of the authentication certificates links respective authentication information thereof to identification information of a corresponding one of the information providers, wherein each one of the authentication certificates is devoid of linkage between the corresponding one of the information providers and e-mail address information thereof, and wherein the authentication certificates of the certificate registry are associated in a manner at least partially dependent upon at least one of a particular type of information that the information providers provide, a particular organization that the information providers are associated with, a particular type profession in which the information providers are engaged and a particular geographical region in which the information providers are located.