By asking the recipient of an encrypted received file to read aloud a check text, retrieved from a network
server, that address, or URL, is encoded within the file name of the encrypted received file, the
system of the invention automatically verifies the identity of the recipient, confirms that the file has been received by the intended recipient, and then decrypts the file. The utterances of text spoken by the recipient are processed by means of an
automatic speech recognition component. The
system determines whether the spoken text corresponds to the check text presented to the reader, in which case the
system applies an automatic speaker
recognition algorithm to determine whether the person reciting the check text has voice characteristics matching those of the intended recipient based on a previous enrollment of the intended recipient'
s voice to the system. When the system confirms the identity of the recipient, the decryption key is transmitted and the encrypted received file is automatically decrypted and displayed to the recipient. In a preferred embodiment, the system records and marks with a time-stamp the recipient's reciting of the voice check text, so that it can later be compared to the intended recipient'
s voice if the recipient repudiates reception.