Self-destructing document and e-mail messaging system

A method for creating a virtual container containing a digital object, comprising the steps of

• creating a virtual container, the virtual container residing in contiguous locations in an electronic storage media of a computer, the virtual container including a header portion and a digital object portion;
• selecting a digital object for insertion into the virtual container;
• applying an encryption technique to the digital object to create an encrypted digital object;
• writing the encrypted digital object into the digital object portion;
• selecting an expiration date for the digital object;
• writing information indicative of the expiration date into the header portion of the virtual container.

A method for extracting a document from a virtual container, comprising the steps of

• reading information indicative of an expiration date from a header portion of a virtual container, the virtual container residing in contiguous locations in an electronic storage media of a computer, the virtual container including the header portion and a digital object portion, the digital object portion containing an encrypted digital object;
• determining, based upon said information, if the electronic object is expired;
• overwriting the digital object portion of the virtual container with null data if the electronic object is expired;
• and
• reading the digital object from the digital object portion and applying a decryption technique to the digital object if the digital object is not expired.

A method for creating a virtual container and extracting a digital object from a virtual container, wherein the method of creating the virtual container comprises the steps of

• creating a virtual container, the virtual container residing in contiguous locations in an electronic storage media of a computer, the virtual container including a header portion and a digital object portion;
• selecting a digital object for insertion into the virtual container;
• applying an encryption technique to the digital object to create an encrypted digital object;
• writing the encrypted digital object into the digital object portion;
• selecting an expiration date for the digital object;
• and
• writing information indicative of the expiration date into the header portion of the virtual container;
• and wherein the method for extracting the document from the virtual container, comprises the steps of
• reading information indicative of an expiration date from a header portion of a virtual container,
• determining, based upon said information, if the electronic object is expired;
• overwriting the digital object portion of the virtual container with null data if the electronic object is expired;
• and
• reading the digital object from the digital object portion and applying a decryption technique to the digital object if the digital object is not expired.

A method for transmitting a destructible digital object to a recipient, comprising the steps of

• creating a virtual container, the virtual container residing in contiguous locations in an electronic storage media of a computer, the virtual container including a header portion and a digital object portion;
• selecting a digital object for insertion into the virtual container;
• applying an encryption technique to the digital object to create an encrypted digital object;
• writing the encrypted digital object into the digital object portion;
• selecting an expiration date for the digital object;
• writing information indicative of the expiration date into the header portion of the virtual container,
• transmitting the virtual container and a container opener utility to a recipient, wherein the container opener utility, when invoked by the recipient, reads the information indicative of the expiration date from the header portion of the virtual container, determines, based upon said information, if the electronic object is expired, overwrites the digital object portion of the virtual container with null data if the electronic object is expired, and reads the encrypted digital object from the digital object portion and applies a decryption technique to the digital object if the digital object is not expired.