Method for creating communities of trust in a secure communication system
US6215872A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 12, 2000 |
| Grant date | Apr 10, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 12, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L2463/102
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A method and apparatus for creating communities of trust within a secure communications system is accomplished by allowing end-users to obtain arbitrary lists of trusted public keys from other end-users and from associated authorities. Once an arbitrary list has been obtained by an end-user, the end-user determines whether it was obtained in a manner consistent with a security policy of the secured community. The security policy may enable an end-user to receive trusted public keys from other end-users, from associated authorities only, to receive public keys of associated authorities, other end users, or any combination thereof. When the arbitrary lists of trusted keys are obtained in a manner consistent with the security policy, the end-user adds keys of the arbitrary lists to a trusted key list. When a security-related operation is to be performed (e.g., verifying a signature of a received message or retrieving the encryption public key of a recipient for an outgoing message), any of the trusted keys contained within the trusted list may be used for authentication purposes.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.