System and method for generating a digital certificate

• US 8,312,528 B2
• Filed: 01/29/2010
• Issued: 11/13/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Guardtime SA
• Original Assignee: Guardtime IP Holdings Limited
• Inventors: Saarepera, Mart, Buldas, Ahto
• Primary Examiner(s): Zee, Edward
• Assistant Examiner(s): Paliwal, Yogesh
• Application Number:
  US12/696,623
• Publication Number:
  US 20100199342A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,019 Days
• Field of Search: 726/10
• US Class Current: 726/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3263 involving certificates, e.g. public key certificate [PKC] or attribute certificate [AC]; Public key infrastructure [PKI] arrangements network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using certificates in a packet data network H04L63/0823

Abstract

A system and method for generating a digital certificate is provided wherein a new digital record is received and is assigned a sequence value. A first composite digital value is generated by applying a first deterministic function to the digital records stored in a repository. The sequence value and first composite digital value are included in a first certificate. After the digital record is added to the repository, a second composite digital value is generated by applying a second deterministic function to the digital records in the repository. This second composite digital value, and a composite sequence value, are published. An interval digital value which is based upon the first and second composite digital values, and the sequence value, are included in a second certificate which thus verifies the authenticity and sequence value of the digital record.

Claims

1. A system for generating a digital certificate, the system comprising:

a server computer configured to;

receive from a client computer a digital record,

register the received digital record,

generate a digital certificate for the digital record, and

transmit the digital certificate to the client computer as verification of registration of the digital record,

wherein the digital certificate generated by the server computer comprises a sequence value, wherein the sequence value represents a total number of digital records stored in a server computer repository of digital records at a particular time; and

an interval digital value, wherein the interval digital value is a component of a composite digital value generated by an application of a deterministic function to at least a subset of the digital records stored in the repository at a particular time, the repository of digital records comprising a data structure based on a forest of binary hash trees.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the deterministic function is dependent upon the sequence value.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the composite digital value is generated by the application of the deterministic function to all of the digital records stored in the repository.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the digital certificate further comprises at least a portion of a digital record.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the sequence value represents the number of digital records stored in the repository when a digital record was added to the repository.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the digital certificate further comprises a composite sequence value representing the number of digital records stored in the repository at a particular time.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the composite sequence value is transmitted to a public forum.