Goodmail Systems Glossary of Industry Terms

Accreditation: The process of providing credentials that prove the sender is who they say they are and that they will likely follow the rules.
Authentication: The process by which a user proves her identity
Clear-signed message: A digitally signed S/MIME or PGP message in which the content of the message is readable even if the signature is not. Reference: RFC 1847
Clearinghouse: Clearinghouses serve as the business interface for MBSPs operating stamp filters. Clearinghouses receive stamp filter reports from MBSPs and interfaces with issuers in computing MBSP commissions, security checks, and any other business operations. Reference:Secure Stamp Specification
Client (email client): A program for viewing mail. Mail clients usually also retrieve mail from message stores using either the POP or IMAP protocols, although some mail clients read mail directly from disk (e.g., Web Mail clients). Mail clients are usually controlled by people, but some mail client programs are automated processes.
Cryptography: The study and practice of keeping data secure. Two common applications of cryptography are privacy (preventing unauthorized viewing of data) and authentication (proving one's identity to access data or as the source of a message). Source: www.counterpane.com
Digital Signature: A value computed with a cryptographic algorithm and appended to a data object in such a way that any recipient of the data can use the signature to verify the data's origin and integrity. Reference: RFC-2828
Envelope: The envelope is a header containing the originator and recipient mail addresses. It is prepended to each mail message by the post office, SNDMSG, or SSMTP, and it is used as the message travels through the system. The envelope consists of the internally-defined (in other words, to the SMTP routines) header fields, X-from: and X-to: that let the SMTP routines convey mail addresses to one another. Reference: Cisco Systems
ESMTP: Extended Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. An extension to SMTP that gives a framework for additional extensions. Reference: RFC-1869
ESP (Email Service Provider): Refers to a busines that does the actual sending of volume email messages as a service for other entities.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions): Usually, this is a document that lists frequently asked questions on a particular topic and gives answers to the questions.
From [address]: A field in the message headers that indicates whom the message is from.; The field in the mail client's GUI that is used to indicate whom the message is from. This field can show both the Sender and who the message is from, as in "From: sender@sender.com On Behalf Of client@client.com".
GMS: Goodmail Systems abbreviation
Hashing: Producing hash values for accessing data or for security. A hash value (or simply hash), also called a message digest, is a number generated from a string of text. The hash is substantially smaller than the text itself, and is generated by a formula in such a way that it is extremely unlikely that some other text will produce the same hash value.
Header: See Message Headers
Host Names: These are mnemonic name strings by which hosts are known on the network. Example: corp.goodmailsystems.com, corp is the host name.
i18N: Abbreviation for "internationalization". It's called i18N because there are 18 letters between "i" and "n" in the word internationalization.
IETF: Internet Engineering Task Force. The main organization that creates protocol standards for the Internet. Reference: http://www.ietf.org
IMAP, IMAP4: Internet Message Access Protocol. A method for mail clients to retrieve mail from a message store. IMAP is newer and has more features than the more popular POP protocol. Reference: RFC-2060
IMC (Internet Mail Consortium): The trade group for the Internet mail industry. http://www.imc.org
Imprinter: The Goodmail developed software that obtains stamp components from a Postage Meter and applies the stamp to the actual message.
Inbox: Refers to the primary folder/directory of a users Mailbox. Example: as opposed to a SPAM folder/directory.
Internet Draft: A document that is offered for review to the IETF.
ISOC: Internet Society. The longest-standing organization promoting the use of the Internet. http://www.isoc.org
ISP (Internet Service Provider): A company that provides access to the Internet, be it dial-up or broadband. Examples include Comcast. Note that AOL has not been considered an ISP in the past, but an online service.
Issuer: An issuer is a business entity managing the financial aspects of stamping email and controls the operations of stampers. Issuers provide the financial authorization for stampers to stamp email. Authorization is typically achieved by a sender executing a financial transaction before sending stamped email.
LDAP: Lightweight Directory Access Protocol. A simpler protocol for directory access than X.500. Reference: RFC-2251
MAIL FROM:: A field used in the message envelope that is part of the MTA SMTP transaction. It is often the same as the Sender. However, the "Mail From" can differ from the "Sender" and "From" fields because the sending MTA may wish for bounce messages to be delivered to a mailbox other than the Sender and From addresses.
MP (Mailbox Provider): An organizational entity that operates an email system that can receive messages and write them to the appropriate user inbox. Examples: America Online (online service), Earthlink(ISP), Stanford University, Cisco. For joe@aol.com, aol is the mailbox operator.
Mailbox User: The person or organization that is the targeted recipient of the email message. Example: joe@aol.com, joe is the mailbox user.
Mailer: This term is synonymous with Sender. It can also be used to describe a software process that emails messages.
Mailing List: A system for distributing messages to many people at once. A simple mailing list is a set of names that a single message is distributed to. A typical mailing list processor is a program that allows people to subscribe and unsubscribe from a list as well as managing the sending of messages to the lists' subscribers.
MAPI: Messaging Applications Programming Interface. A proprietary interface to client mail servers.
Message: Everything other than the message "envelope" is simply part of the message. The message includes both the message headers and the message's body.
Message Digest: The representation of text in the form of a single string of digits, created using a formula called a one-way hash function. Encrypting a message digest with a private key creates a digital signature, which is an electronic means of authentication.
Message Envelope: An envelope contains both envelope information and a message. The envelope information, comprised of the "MAIL FROM" and the "RCPT TO," is used in the SMTP communication between the sending MTA and the receiving MTA. These envelope information fields are often 'thrown away' before a message is finally delivered to a recipient.
Message Header: An RFC 822 message consists of any number of header fields, optionally followed by message text. Typical header fields include: Date:, From:, To:, CC: (carbon copy), and Subject:. The RFC 822 message header refers to the collection of these header fields.
Message Store: The location where messages that are received by an SMTP server are held, waiting for mail clients to retrieve them. Message stores are usually just files on a hard disk, although some are databases.
MHTML: MIME-enhanced HTML. A method for sending aggregated HTML documents (such as ones with images) in a single MIME message. Reference: RFC-2110
MIME: Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions. A structured format for messages which allows a single message to contain many parts. Reference: RFC-2045
MDA: Mail Delivery Agent. A small program used by an MTA to write a message to the user?s mailbox.
MUA: Mail User Agent. See client, mail.
Multipart: A type of MIME message that contains more than one part. Reference: RFC-2046
On-Behalf-Of: The concept of someone sending messages on another's behalf; it is not a field in a message per se, but it can manifest in the GUI of an MUA.
OpenPGP: A newer version of PGP that was created in the IETF. Reference: RFC-2440
PEM: Privacy Enhanced Mail. A protocol for exchanging digitally signed and/or encrypted mail. that never gained much use. Reference: RFC-1421
PGP: Pretty Good Privacy. A protocol for exchanging digitally signed and/or encrypted mail.
PKI: Public Key Infrastructure. The mechanisms used both to allow a recipient of a signed message to trust the signature and to allow a sender to find the encryption key for a recipient.
PKIX: Internet X.509 Public Key Infrastructure. The name of the IETF working group creating standards for PKI on the Internet. Reference: http://www.imc.org/ietf-pkix/
POP, POP3: Post Office Protocol. A method for mail clients to retrieve mail from a message store. POP is more widely used than the IMAP protocol, which has more features. Reference: RFC-1939
Postage Meter: The Postage Meter (a.k.a. the Volume Stamping Service/System) is a server which provides signed stamp data upon request from the Imprinter.
Public Key Cryptography: A method for creating two keys (also called a key pair) that can be used to encrypt and decrypt messages. One of the two keys, the public key, is widely published, while the other key, the private key is kept secret. When you want to encrypt a message for a recipient, you use that recipient's public key; only someone with the private key can decrypt the message. When you want to digitally sign a message, you use your private key; anyone with your public key can then check the signature and verify that only you could have signed the message.
Recipient: The mailbox owner.? Usually the value defined in the SMTP RCPT command, which may vary from the value in the ?To:? field of a message
RFC: Request For Comments. The primary mechanism used by the IETF to publish documents, including standards.
RFC-822: The specification for the format of Internet mail messages. This term is mostly used to describe the message headers. Reference: RFC-0822
RSA: Rivest-Shamir-Adelman. The name of a cryptographic key-exchange algorithm popular in many security protocols. Also the name of the company which controls the US patent on the algorithm. Reference: RFC-2313
S/MIME: Secure MIME. A protocol for exchanging digitally signed and/or encrypted mail.
Sender: A person or entity that emails the message.
Sender:: A field inserted into the message header part of an email message to indicate who sent the message. This occurs with some mailing lists MTAs (e.g., press-ml@genesis.estips.com), and with some clients. For example, Outlook will insert this when someone uses the 'From' field in the GUI to say that they are sending on behalf of someone else. This field is optional and not always inserted into the message. When this field is included, it affects the appearance of the 'From:' field in the GUI of Outlook: it says "From: sender@sender.com On Behalf Of client@client.com"
Server (mail): There are many definitions for "mail server". It can be a host computer that uses the SMTP protocol, or simply software that uses the SMTP protocol. In some cases, it refers to a host system that holds a message store.

SMTP: Simple Mail Transport Protocol. The standard for servers that move mail over the Internet. Reference: RFC-0821
Spam: Slang for unsolicited bulk email (UBE).
Stamp: A stamp is cryptographically signed object attached to an email message. A stamp is unique for each message and contains information like value and expiration
Stamp Certificate Authority (SCA): The stamp certificate authority (SCA) serves as the root of secure stamp trust model. The SCA issues stamp certificates for each entity operating a stamper, and stamp filters use the SCA public key to verify stamp certificates when filtering stamped email. Entities operating stamp filters trust that the SCA has executed a formal accreditation process for all entities issued a stamp certificate.

Stamp Filter: A stamp filter verifies stamped email. Stamp filters are run by mailbox service providers (MBSP) to verify stamped mail before delivery. If a stamped message passes verification, the message will be delivered directly into the recipient's mailbox, bypassing any spam filters.
Stamper: A stamper stamps email. A stamper must have a stamper private key and an associated stamp certificate issued by a stamp certificate authority (SCA) to stamp email. A stamper can be operated directly by individual senders or it can be operating by a party that provides stamping services for multiple senders.
TLS: Transport Layer Security. The standardized version of SSL. Reference: RFC-2246
Triple DES: A cryptographic algorithm for repeated DES operations that have the effect of increasing the security of the encrypted message. Reference: American National Standards Institute, ANSI X9.52-1998, "Triple Data Encryption Algorithm Modes of Operation"
Type: Refers to a stamp or message type. The type of message may be used to determine the cost of the stamp. It may also be used for automated processing according to the preferences of the end user. Example: Adult Content messages may cost more and end users may automatically reject messages of that type.
UBE: Unsolicited bulk email.
Unicode: An encoding of the scripts of essentially all of the world's human languages. Reference: http://www.unicode.org/
URI: Uniform Resource Identifier. See URL.
URL: Uniform Resource Locator. A method for specifying the location of a resource on the Internet. Reference: RFC-1738
URN: Uniform Resource Name. URNs serve as persistent, location-independent, resource identifiers. Reference: RFC-2141
Volume Stamping Service: See Postage Meter
WG (Working Group): Usually used with reference to the IETF.
X-Header: A programmer defined custom header that is invisible to the normal user but available for automated processing and ignored by the usual SMTP/email transport mechanisms. The "X-" is a naming convention to differentiate these custom headers.