Method and apparatus for effecting secure document format conversion

A method for effecting secure document delivery in any of a plurality of document formats, comprising the steps of:

• encrypting said document;
• forwarding said encrypted document to a server within said firewall;
• decrypting said document with said server;
• converting said document to a new data representation;
• and
• forwarding said document to a recipient.

A method for effecting secure document format conversion, comprising the steps of:

• sending a document having a high level representation to a recipient;
• intercepting said document at a secure server and performing document format conversion in a secure environment established by said server;
• and
• forwarding said converted document to a recipient in a secure fashion, within any of said server's secure environment or via a secure delivery technique.

An apparatus for effecting secure document delivery in any of a plurality of document formats, comprising:

• means for encrypting said document with a public key of a server associated with a recipient of the document, wherein said server is located within a firewall;
• means for forwarding said encrypted document to said server within said firewall;
• means for decrypting said document with said server using said server's corresponding private key;
• means for converting said document to a new data representation;
• and
• means for forwarding said document to said recipient.

An apparatus for effecting secure document delivery in any of a plurality of document formats, comprising:

• means for encrypting said document;
• means for forwarding said encrypted document to a server within said firewall;
• means for decrypting said document with said server;
• means for converting said document to a new data representation;
• and
• means for forwarding said document to a recipient.

An apparatus for effecting secure document format conversion, comprising:

• means for sending a document having a high level representation to a recipient;
• means for intercepting said document at a secure server and performing document format conversion in a secure environment established by said server;
• and
• means for forwarding said converted document to a recipient in a secure fashion, within any of said server's secure environment or via a secure delivery mechanism.