I want to send email using SMTP client uiing microsft.net with C# as programming language. But for the emails sent through SMTP client, can we add security features like "no forwarding" or "no copying" etc. I dont want recipients of the email to forward or copy the content of the email.
views:
106answers:
3
+1
Q:
How do I prevent Lotus Notes users from forwarding or copying a message sent via System.Net.Mail?
+5
A:
Simple answer: no. You can't keep people from copying something that's reached their machine.
If you explain why you're trying to do this, maybe we could offer a practical alternative. For example, if you don't want your text to be read by a robot, it could be in an image. If you have a binary attachment you don't want distributed, there are various kinds of DRM that may work for you.
Edit
A proprietary client (such as Lotus Notes) can disable itself based on metadata that comes with the message; but that's still voluntary. You could probably write a non-compliant Notes client that ignores such restrictions.
Edit
It didn't occur to me that your users might all be using the Notes client. In that case, @Peter J's solution may be what you need.
egrunin
2010-10-18 19:36:31
Thought so. You can do it using Lotus Notes Domino COM Object. You can attach "Keep Private" string along with the other email parameters like subject, body, etc. Just wanted to know whether there is the same kind of feature using SMTP client.
Naveen
2010-10-18 19:43:12
i want to send an email and it should be confidential. I dont want the recipients to give the feature of forwarding or copying. And i am using Lotus Notes.
Naveen
2010-10-18 19:48:19
Even though Lotus Notes has this feature...there is nothing stopping someone from taking a screenshot of the email. There is absolutely no way to prevent someone from "forwarding" the information altogether. If you don't trust the people that you are sending the information to, then you shouldn't be sending it to them.
Dismissile
2010-10-18 19:53:34
If all of the users are using Lotus Notes, and this application is intended for use in an intranet, there is a way. Of course it's an easily circumvented "security" feature, but the feature definitely exists in Lotus Notes.
Peter J
2010-10-18 21:01:44
Yes. Peter solution works perfect for me.
Naveen
2010-10-18 21:21:49
+1
A:
Email them a link that requires them to login. Or, if all of your users are on the same Exchange server, you could implement Exchange's Information Rights management. Otherwise you could look into sending encrypted emails. But there is still nothing to prevent them from copying it, be it by taking a screenshot, a picture with a camera, etc.
thekaido
2010-10-18 19:41:01
+2
A:
Lotus Notes (the mail client) looks at the "Sensitivity" header. Using System.Net.Mail, you can accomplish the same thing (ONLY if your users are all using Lotus Notes) by using the following:
mail.Headers.Add("Sensitivity", "Company-Confidential");
The Lotus Notes email client will disallow forwarding or copying, just as if you had used the Lotus Notes COM object.
Peter J
2010-10-18 19:56:51