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User Emulation

Project iMprove Forum E-Mail Interface A Java based e-mail access channel for phpBB 3. User Emulation. Key. Digital Signing on E-Mail. Almir Kola (ak224) Jason Kezios (cjk22) Stephen Train (sdjt2). The Problem

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User Emulation

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  1. Project iMproveForum E-Mail InterfaceA Java based e-mail access channel for phpBB 3 User Emulation Key Digital Signing on E-Mail Almir Kola (ak224) Jason Kezios (cjk22) Stephen Train (sdjt2) The Problem Employees who are inside and outside of a company intranet need to have a common discussion board – even when they only have e-mail access. Employees also want to use an interface they are already familiar with. Our Solution A way for users to communicate with an existing discussion board using only e-mails. Internal User External User Company Intranet Internet Web Browser (eg.Firefox) E-Mail Client (eg.Outlook) E-Mail Client (eg.Outlook) T1 Presentation • E-Mail Functionality • E-Mail users can: • Browse the Board • Post New Topics • Reply to existing topics • Subscribe to / Unsubscribe from forum and topic update notifications Mail Server phpBB Board User Emulation To get information, and complete actions for e-mail users, the EOG logs into phpBB as if it were a person using a web browser, and performs any actions through the phpBB Board interface. E-Mail Only Gateway (EOG) T2 Business Logic phpBB / DB Messages EOG / DB Messages EOG / Database Interaction Writing data directly to the database carries security risks, and would be duplicating functionality that is already in phpBB, so the EOG can only read data. Database Interface (MySQL) phpBB Database T3 Data Requests of information from database, not writing Data • Example of browsing the board via E-Mail • Viewing the Index • A user sends an e-mail to the EOG Inbox stating that they want to see the index of the board • EOG Logs into the phpBB Board and retrieves the current Index Page, transforms it into basic HTML and e-mails it back to the user • Viewing a Forum • The User clicks on a forum mailto link in the index page e-mail to view a forum. This brings up a new e-mail in the E-Mail Client, with the subject line already completed with the necessary commands • The EOG logs into the phpBB board and retrieves the requested topic, transforms it, and e-mails it back to the user Browsing & Actions To browse, he EOG logs into the phpBB board and retrieves the page that the user wants. But phpBB page HTML is too complex to send in an e-mail, so we transform it into basic HTML using XSLT. We also change all links to work with the EOG. Web Browser E-Mail XSLT The user clicks mailto links, which bring up new e-mails, with the commands and required information already put in the subject. This data is then interpreted by the EOG to fulfil the actions required by the link the user clicked. Security By nature, e-mails are not a secure form of communication. This project is focused on proving the feasibility of an e-mail access channel, and not centred on maintaining security. Digital Signatures will be used to ensure that e-mails are from who they claim to be, reducing the risk of spoof e-mails.

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