ELECTRONIC DATA COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A network apparatus operable to communicate with one or more remote network devices which are associated with a group of users, the network apparatus comprising:
- a request transmitter operable to transmit over the network to a remote server a request for cryptographic keys for the group of users; and
a key receiver operable to receive cryptographic keys for the group of users and to store the received cryptographic keys in a cryptographic keys data store.
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Accused Products
Abstract
There is described a key server which is connected to a local area network, and an encryption authority transfers private keys for clients of the local area network to the key server. In an embodiment, the key server encrypts outgoing emails using public keys for the recipients and decrypts internal emails using private keys for the recipients. In another embodiment, the clients of the local area network download their respective private keys from the key server so that encryption operations may be performed by client software.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A network apparatus operable to communicate with one or more remote network devices which are associated with a group of users, the network apparatus comprising:
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a request transmitter operable to transmit over the network to a remote server a request for cryptographic keys for the group of users; and a key receiver operable to receive cryptographic keys for the group of users and to store the received cryptographic keys in a cryptographic keys data store. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 27)
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23. A computer apparatus operable to communicate with remote network devices over a network, the computer apparatus comprising:
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a cryptography controller operable to control at least one of encryption of an electronic message and decryption of an electronic message using a cryptographic key; and a key retriever operable to retrieve the cryptographic key from a remote network device and store the retrieved cryptographic key in a cryptographic key data store, wherein the key retriever is operable to send a request to a server at a predetermined network address requesting a network address from which the cryptographic key is available, and to send a request to the network address identified by the server for the cryptographic key. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26)
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28. A network server comprising:
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a key provider operable to provide cryptographic keys; a data store operable to store data associating one or more network apparatuses with corresponding groups of users; and a request processor operable to process a request received from a network apparatus over the network for cryptographic keys associated with one or more users, wherein the network server is operable, in response to receiving a request for cryptographic keys, i) to determine using the data stored in the data store whether or not said one or more users are associated with the network apparatus sending the request, and ii) in the event that said one or more users are associated with the network apparatus sending the request, to transmit one or more cryptographic keys for said one or more users provided by the key provider to the network apparatus sending the request. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
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Specification