Security systems and services to provide identity and uniform resource identifier verification

• US 20060015722A1
• Filed: 07/18/2005
• Published: 01/19/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/16/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GeoTrust, Inc. (VeriSign, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: GeoTrust, Inc. (VeriSign, Inc.)
• Inventors: Creighton, Neal, Rowan, Michael J., Chen, Kefeng, Bailey, Christopher T.M.
• Granted Patent: US 7,694,135 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/166
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0823 using certificates cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/101 Access control lists [ACL]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1441 Countermeasures against malicious traffic countermeasures against attacks on cryptographic mechanisms H04L9/002
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1483 service impersonation, e.g. phishing, pharming or web spoofing detection of rogue wireless access points H04W12/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3268 using certificate validation, registration, distribution or revocation, e.g. certificate revocation list [CRL]

Abstract

A service is provided to allow a user, such as an API or web service, Internet input, or software or hardware client to perform a search on any one or multiple Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) and/or other protocol addresses accessible via a public or private network to establish a report in a summary and/or detailed format on the trustworthiness of the address.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining the trustworthiness of a location on the Internet and identifying for that location a numerical trust rating over a numerical range, and

providing trustworthiness information based on the trust rating to a user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining includes searching for a certificate that is directly or indirectly related to that location.

3. The method of claim 2, comprising identifying a certificate indirectly related to a location on the Internet by first determining a second level domain name of that location, and then prepending one or more predetermined prefixes to the second level domain name.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the certificate is an X.509 certificate.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining includes checking for the presence of predetermined strings within the name of the Internet location.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining includes using as factors properties of a certificate related to the location.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the properties include one or more of the following:

the location'"'"'s certificate type, certificate validity date, subject name match, certificate revocation status, and the ubiquity of the certificate'"'"'s root.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the properties all of the following:

the location'"'"'s certificate type, certificate validity date, subject name match, certificate revocation status, and the ubiquity of the certificate'"'"'s root.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the property includes using determining the formula B=Σ

(Ci*Vi+K)*CAQ*NMM*CRL, where C represents a coefficient, K is a constant, V relates to a validity value or a wildcard value, NMM relates to a subject name match, CRL relates to certificate revocation status, and CAQ relates to a certificate authority'"'"'s quality.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining includes first comparing the location on the Internet to one or more lists.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the lists include a black list of locations known to be untrustworthy.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the lists include and a white list of locations known to be trustworthy.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the lists include a cached list of previously accessed locations and previously determined trustworthy values.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the lists include a list of strings used to match against the name of a location.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising caching a certificate trust rating, and periodically refreshing that trust rating at defined time periods.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the time periods for different are different depending on the reliability of the location.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining is done automatically for at least some sites.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining is done only when a user requests a trust rating.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the location is an email address.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the trust ratings are organized in ranges and the ranges are associated with colors.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining includes first accessing one or more lists of known trustworthy or untrustworthy sites, and if a definitive determination is not made that a location is trustworthy or not trustworthy, determining trustworthiness based on a certificate related directly and/or indirectly to the location.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining includes a combination of accessing one or more lists of known trustworthy or untrustworthy sites, and making calculations based on a certificate related to the location.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining and providing are performed automatically for each Internet location listed on a page in response to a search.

44. A storage medium having a software program for implementing the method of claim 1.

24. A method comprising:

determining the trustworthiness of a location accessed by a user on the Internet including comparing the location on the Internet to one or more lists of known trustworthy or untrustworthy sites, and if a definitive determination is not made that a location is trustworthy or not trustworthy, identifying a certificate that is directly or indirectly related to that location and determining trustworthiness based on the certificate, and providing trustworthiness information based on the trust rating to a user.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein identifying a certificate includes identifying a certificate indirectly related to a location on the Internet by first determining a second level domain name of that location, and then prepending one or more predetermined prefixes to the second level domain name.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein the certificate is an X.509 certificate.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein the determining includes checking for the presence of predetermined strings within the name of the Internet location.

28. The method of claim 24, wherein the determining includes using as factors properties of a certificate related to the location.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the properties include one or more of the following:

the location'"'"'s certificate type, certificate validity date, subject name match, certificate revocation status, and the ubiquity of the certificate'"'"'s root.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein the properties all of the following:

the location'"'"'s certificate type, certificate validity date, subject name match, certificate revocation status, and the ubiquity of the certificate'"'"'s root.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the property includes using determining the formula B=Σ

(Ci*Vi+K)*CAQ*NMM*CRL, where C represents a coefficient, K is a constant, V relates to a validity value or a wildcard value, NMM relates to a subject name match, CRL relates to certificate revocation status, and CAQ relates to a certificate authority'"'"'s quality.

32. The method of claim 24, wherein the lists include a cached list of previously accessed locations and previously determined trustworthy values.

33. The method of claim 24, wherein the lists include a list of strings used to match against the name of a location.

34. The method of claim 24, further comprising caching a certificate trust rating, and periodically refreshing that trust rating at defined time periods.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the time periods for different are different depending on the reliability of the location.

36. The method of claim 24, wherein the determining is done automatically for at least some sites.

37. The method of claim 24, wherein the determining is done only when a user requests a trust rating.

38. The method of claim 24, wherein the location is an email address.

45. A storage medium having a software program for implementing the method of claim 24.

39. A method comprising:

a search engine responding to a user entered keyword query for providing a list of links for sites with the keyword, and for a plurality of the links, providing an indication of the trustworthiness of the site.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the indication of trustworthiness is provided automatically for all of the links.

41. The method of claim 39, further comprising providing a site report including security information and privacy information for each of the sites without the user accessing the sites.

42. The method of claim 39, wherein the indication of trustworthiness is one of a number of icons indicating that the site is trusted, not trusted, or questionable.

43. A system comprising a processor for determining the trustworthiness of a location on the Internet and for identifying for that location a numerical trust rating over a numerical range, and for providing through an interface trustworthiness information based on the trust rating to a user.