Methods and systems for automated authentication, processing and issuance of digital certificates

• US 8,028,162 B2
• Filed: 11/14/2008
• Issued: 09/27/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/12/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: DigiCert Incorporated
• Original Assignee: GeoTrust, Inc. (VeriSign, Inc.)
• Inventors: Beattie, Douglas D., Bailey, Christopher T. M., Creighton, Neal Lewis Jr., Hamandi, Hani, Remy, David L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lipman; Jacob
• Application Number:
  US12/271,649
• Publication Number:
  US 20090133118A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,047 Days
• Field of Search: 713/156, 726/17
• US Class Current: 713/156
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6218 to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2119 Authenticating web pages, e.g. with suspicious links
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0442 wherein the sending and receiving network entities apply asymmetric encryption, i.e. different keys for encryption and decryption cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for public-key encryption H04L9/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0823 using certificates cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/166 at the transport layer

Abstract

A computer system and process for issuing digital certificates use domain-control vetting to issue certificates. A requestor requests a certificate from a certificate authority, which identifies at least one approver to approve issuance of the digital certificate. If approved, the certificate authority accepts the request, creates and signs the certificate, and the signed certificate is sent to the requester.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, from a requestor, a certificate signing request (CSR) for a digital certificate;

requesting from the requestor an approver e-mail address;

receiving from the requestor an approver e-mail address;

determining if the approver e-mail address is of the form title@domain_name, where “

domain_name”

is a domain name of an entity for which the digital certificate is requested, and “

title”

is a name selected from a group of titles consisting of “

admin”

, “

administrator”

, “

support”

, “

webmaster”

, hostmaster”

, “

info”

, “

ssladmin”

, and “

sysadmin”

; and

providing certificate information to the approver at the approver e-mail address if the address has the said form.

2. A server for performing the process of claim 1.

3. A computer readable medium having a program for performing the process of claim 1.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the requestor is a web server administrator, the method further including automatically vetting the web server name, including accessing information from a registrar database.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the CSR is for a website, the method further comprises automatically vetting the web site where the digital certificate is to be used.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving payment information from the requestor.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the payment information includes credit card information.

8. The method of claim 6, further comprising comparing the payment information provided by the requestor to information in the CSR.