SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SEARCHING AND RETRIEVING CERTIFICATES

• US 20100100730A1
• Filed: 12/22/2009
• Published: 04/22/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/02/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Adams, Neil P., Brown, Michael S., Little, Herbert A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,209,530 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/156
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/80 Wireless network architectures or network communication protocols for wireless network security H04W12/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/04 for providing a confidential data exchange among entities communicating through data packet networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0823 using certificates cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3265 using certificate chains, trees or paths; Hierarchical trust model

Abstract

A system and method for searching and retrieving certificates, which may be used in the processing of encoded messages. In one broad aspect, a method is provided in which a certificate search request is received, a search of one or more certificate servers for certificates satisfying the request is performed, located certificates are retrieved and processed at a first computing device to determine data that uniquely identifies each located certificate, and search result data comprising the determined data is communicated to a second device (e.g. a mobile device) for use in determining whether each located certificate is already stored on the second device.

Claims

1. A method of searching and retrieving certificates performed by a first computing device, the method comprising:

receiving a certificate search request from an application executing on a second computing device, the second computing device comprising a mobile device;

performing a search on one or more certificate servers, wherein at least one query is submitted to the one or more certificate servers to request retrieval of certificates satisfying the certificate search request;

retrieving at least one certificate from the one or more certificate servers;

processing each retrieved certificate to determine search result data, wherein the search result data is not the entire certificate and comprises data that uniquely identifies the retrieved certificate;

for each retrieved certificate, communicating, to the mobile device, the search result data associated therewith, said search result data being for use in determining whether the retrieved certificate is stored on the mobile device so that the retrieved certificate is not required to be downloaded in its entirety to the mobile device to determine whether the retrieved certificate is stored on the mobile device; and

downloading retrieved certificates that have been designated for download by the application without user intervention after identifying which retrieved certificates are already stored on the mobile device, to the mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the search result data comprises serial number and issuer data for the retrieved certificate, and wherein the processing step comprises parsing each retrieved certificate to obtain the respective serial number and issuer data.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the search result data comprises a hash of at least a part of the retrieved certificate, and wherein the processing comprises applying a hash algorithm to each retrieved certificate to obtain the respective hash.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the hash obtained for each retrieved certificate is a hash of the entire retrieved certificate.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first computing device comprises a mobile data server.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising caching each retrieved certificate after said processing.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising temporarily storing each retrieved certificate until said communicating is performed, and then deleting each retrieved certificate after said communicating is performed.

8. A computer-readable medium comprising a plurality of instructions stored on a computer-readable medium, the instructions for performing a method of searching and retrieving certificates on a first computing device, the method comprising:

receiving a certificate search request from an application executing on a second computing device, the second computing device comprising a mobile device;

performing a search on one or more certificate servers, wherein at least one query is submitted to the one or more certificate servers to request retrieval of certificates satisfying the certificate search request;

retrieving at least one certificate from the one or more certificate servers;

processing each retrieved certificate to determine search result data, wherein the search result data is not the entire certificate and comprises data that uniquely identifies the retrieved certificate;

for each retrieved certificate, communicating, to the mobile device, the search result data associated therewith, said search result data being for use in determining whether the retrieved certificate is stored on the mobile device so that the retrieved certificate is not required to be downloaded in its entirety to the mobile device to determine whether the retrieved certificate is stored on the mobile device; and

downloading retrieved certificates that have been designated for download by the application without user intervention after identifying which retrieved certificates are already stored on the mobile device, to the mobile device.

9. The medium of claim 8, wherein the search result data comprises serial number and issuer data for the retrieved certificate, and wherein the processing comprises parsing each retrieved certificate to obtain the respective serial number and issuer data.

10. The medium of claim 8, wherein the search result data comprises a hash of at least a part of the retrieved certificate, and wherein the processing step comprises applying a hash algorithm to each retrieved certificate to obtain the respective hash.

11. The medium of claim 10, wherein the hash obtained for each retrieved certificate is a hash of the entire retrieved certificate.

12. The medium of claim 8, wherein the first computing device comprises a mobile data server.

13. The medium of claim 8, further comprising caching each retrieved certificate after said processing.

14. The medium of claim 8, further comprising temporarily storing each retrieved certificate until said communicating is performed, and then deleting each retrieved certificate after said communicating is performed.

15. A system for searching and retrieving certificates comprising at least a first computing device configured to:

receive a certificate search request from an application executing on a second computing device, the second computing device comprising a mobile device;

perform a search on one or more certificate servers by submitting at least one query thereto to request retrieval of certificates satisfying the certificate search request;

retrieve at least one certificate from the one or more certificate servers;

process each retrieved certificate to determine search result data, wherein the search result data is not the entire certificate and comprises data that uniquely identifies the retrieved certificate;

for each retrieved certificate, communicate, to the mobile device, the search result data associated therewith, said search result data being for use in determining whether the retrieved certificate is stored on the mobile device so that the retrieved certificate is not required to be downloaded in its entirety to the mobile device to determine whether retrieved certificate is stored on the mobile device; and

download retrieved certificates that have been designated for download by the application without user intervention after identifying which retrieved certificates are already stored on the mobile device, to the mobile device.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the search result data comprises serial number and issuer data for the retrieved certificate, and wherein in processing each retrieved certificate, the first computing device is configured to parse each retrieved certificate to obtain the respective serial number and issuer data.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the search result data comprises a hash of at least a part of the retrieved certificate, and wherein in processing each retrieved certificate, the first computing device is configured to apply a hash algorithm to each retrieved certificate to obtain the respective hash.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the hash obtained for each retrieved certificate is a hash of the entire retrieved certificate.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the first computing device comprises a mobile data server.

20. The system of claim 15, further comprising caching each retrieved certificate after said processing.

21. The system of claim 15, further comprising temporarily storing each retrieved certificate until said communicating is performed, and then deleting each retrieved certificate after said communicating is performed.

22. A system for searching and retrieving certificates comprising a first computing device, the first computing device comprising:

means for receiving a certificate search request from an application executing on a second computing device, the second computing device comprising a mobile device;

means for performing a search on one or more certificate servers, wherein at least one query is submitted to the one or more certificate servers to request retrieval of certificates satisfying the certificate search request;

means for retrieving at least one certificate from the one or more certificate servers;

means for processing each retrieved certificate to determine search result data, wherein the search result data is not the entire certificate and comprises data that uniquely identifies the retrieved certificate;

for each retrieved certificate, means for communicating, to the mobile device, the search result data associated therewith that is not the entire certificate and comprises data that uniquely identifies the retrieved certificate, said search result data that is not the entire certificate and comprises data that uniquely identifies the retrieved certificate for use in determining whether the retrieved certificate is stored on the mobile device so that the retrieved certificate is not required to be downloaded in its entirety to the mobile device to determine whether the retrieved certificate is stored on the mobile device; and

means for downloading retrieved certificates that have been designated for download by the application without user intervention after identifying which retrieved certificates are already stored on the mobile device, to the mobile device.