System and method of secure analysis for encrypted electronic mail attachments

A system for analyzing an attachment of an electronic mail (e-mail) from an external network, comprising:

• an extranet comprising an extranet server,
• an intranet comprising an intranet server,
• security controls coupled to the extranet and the intranet, and
• an attachment manager comprising a computer processor, coupled to the extranet and the intranet, wherein the attachment manager is configured to:
• intercept the e-mail intended for a recipient, the e-mail comprising the attachment;
• analyze the attachment for encryption to identify an encrypted attachment;
• determine whether the encrypted attachment has been received previously by the recipient by comparing a hash corresponding to the encrypted attachment against a plurality of hashes stored in an attachment repository;
• attempt to open the encrypted attachment using a password from a password repository comprising a plurality of known passwords;
• extract the encrypted attachment from the e-mail upon failing to open the encrypted attachment using the plurality of known passwords;
• and
• redirect the recipient to an interface configured to prompt the recipient for a new password that is associated with the encrypted attachment.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions executable by a computer processor, the instructions comprising functionality for:

• intercepting an e-mail intended for a recipient, the e-mail comprising an attachment;
• analyzing the attachment for encryption to identify an encrypted attachment;
• determining whether the encrypted attachment has been received previously by the recipient by comparing a hash corresponding to the encrypted attachment against a plurality of hashes stored in an attachment repository;
• attempting to open the encrypted attachment using a password from a password repository comprising a plurality of known passwords;
• extracting the encrypted attachment from the e-mail upon failing to open the encrypted attachment using the plurality of known passwords;
• and
• redirecting the recipient to an interface configured to prompt the recipient for a new password that is associated with the encrypted attachment.