Web site identity assurance

• US 20030023878A1
• Filed: 01/04/2002
• Published: 01/30/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DigiCert Incorporated
• Original Assignee: GeoTrust, Inc. (VeriSign, Inc.)
• Inventors: Creighton, Neal L. Jr., Remy, David L., Rosenberg, Jonathan B., Harrison, John C.
• Granted Patent: US 7,114,177 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/201
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/126 the source of the received data
• 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

Abstract

The present invention is a method and system for providing a user with confirmation of the origin of a Web site and related information including the steps of registering a Web site with an assuring 3^rd party, saving the registration on a registration server, entering in a database the Web site'"'"'s Internet domain name and cross-referencing it to the registration data, retrieving the Web site'"'"'s domain with an Internet browser, and either (1) using a client application tool to call for registration data for the domain name via a secure SSL connection with the registration server, determining if the domain has been registered, and returning and displaying registration data for the domain name as a confirmed identity, or (2) calling a program on the registration server in response to an HTML tag on the domain via a secure SSL connection and passing it the domain name, determining if the domain has been registered, determining if the domain name has been registered, and returning and displaying registration data for the domain name as a confirmed identity.

Claims

1. ) A method for providing a user with confirmation of the origin and identity of a Web site comprising the steps of:

registering a Web site with an assuring 3^rd party;

saving said registration on a registration server;

entering in a database an Internet domain for said Web site;

cross-referencing said Web site'"'"'s Internet domain to the origin and identity information;

retrieving said Web site'"'"'s Internet domain with an Internet browser;

browsing to the Web site for the Internet domain;

sending a query from a client application tool via a secure SSL connection to said registration server and passing it said Web site'"'"'s Internet domain name;

determining if said Web site'"'"'s Internet domain has been registered; and

returning the associated registration data to the client application tool for display.

2. ) A method for providing a user with confirmation of the origin and identity of a Web site comprising the steps of:

registering a Web site with an assuring 3^rd party;

saving said registration on a registration server;

entering in a database an Internet domain for said Web site;

cross-referencing said Web site'"'"'s Internet domain to the origin and identity information;

retrieving said Web site'"'"'s Internet domain with an Internet browser;

browsing to the Web site and receiving an HTML image tag, calling a program via a secure SSL connection on said registration server and passing it said Web site'"'"'s Internet domain name;

determining if said Web site'"'"'s Internet domain has been registered; and

returning an image to the browser for display containing registration data from the registration server associated with the domain name, together with date-and-time information and code that prevents the dynamic icon from being copied.

3. ) A system for providing a user with confirmation of the origin and identity of a Web site comprising:

a component for registering a Web site with an assuring 3^rd party;

a component for saving said registration on a registration server;

a component for entering in a database an Internet domain for said Web site;

a component for cross-referencing said Web site'"'"'s Internet domain to the origin and identity information;

a component for retrieving said Web site'"'"'s Internet domain with an Internet browser;

a component for browsing to the Web site for the Internet domain;

a component for sending a query from a client application tool via a secure SSL connection to said registration server and passing it said Web site'"'"'s Internet domain name;

a component for determining if said Web site'"'"'s Internet domain has been registered; and

a component for returning the associated registration data to the client application tool for display.

4. ) A system for providing a user with confirmation of the origin and identity of a Web site comprising the steps of:

a component for registering a Web site with an assuring 3^rd party;

a component for saving said registration on a registration server;

a component for entering in a database an Internet domain for said Web site;

a component for cross-referencing said Web site'"'"'s Internet domain to the origin and identity information;

a component for retrieving said Web site'"'"'s Internet domain with an Internet browser;

a component for browsing to the Web site and receiving an HTML image tag;

a component for calling a program via a secure SSL connection on said registration server and passing it said Web site'"'"'s Internet domain name;

a component for determining if said Web site'"'"'s Internet domain has been registered; and

a component for returning an image to the browser for display containing registration data from the registration server associated with the domain name, together with date-and-time information and code that prevents the dynamic icon from being copied.