Method and apparatus for authenticating messages
US5142577A · kind A · utility
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 17, 1990 |
| Grant date | Aug 25, 1992 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 17, 2010 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L2209/56
- WIPO fieldControl
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A method and system for authenication of communications. More particularly the subject application discloses a method and apparatus whereby a third party may validate that a communication is an authentic communication from a second party sent with the authorization of a first party. For example, the third party may be a postal service, the second party may be a mailer, and the communication may be a postal indicia showing that a mail piece has been properly franked. The first party and the second party share an encryption key, or a series of keys. The first party also has a second encryption key which the third party has the ability to decrypted. In the subject invention the first party encrypts a key shared with the second party with the first party's second key and transmits this to the second party. The second party then uses its copy of the key to encrypt information and appends its encrypted information to the message received from the first party and transmits all this to the third party. The third party may then decrypt the copy of the key encrypted by the first party and use this information to decrypt the information encrypted by the second party. The known technique of el…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.