Trusted third party assisted public key distribution

A method of providing a public key of a second party to a first party by a third party, the method comprising:

• enabling a system of the first party to authenticate the third party,
• after authentication of the third party, establishing a secure connection between the system of the first party and a system of the third party,
• receiving a request to receive the public key of the second party from the system of the first party at the system of the third party over the secure connection, the request comprising an identifier of the second party,
• identifying the second party based on the identifier of the second party,
• authenticating the second party at the system of the third party,
• after authenticating the second party, establishing a further secure connection between the system of the third party and a system of the second party,
• transmitting a further request to receive the public key of the second party from the system of the third party to the system of the second party over the further secure connection,
• receiving the public key of the second party from the system of the second party at the system of the third party over the further secure connection, and
• transmitting the public key of the second party from the system of the third party to the system of the first party over the secure connection.

A method of providing a public key of a second party to a system of a third party, the method comprising:

• enabling the system of the third party to authenticate the second party,
• after authentication of the second party, establishing a secure connection between a system of the second party and the system of the third party,
• receiving, after authentication of the second party by the system of the third party, at the system of the second party, a request to receive a public key of the second party from the system of the third party over the secure connection, the request comprising at least one of an identifier of a first party and an identifier of the second party,
• selecting the public key of the second party from a plurality of public keys of the second party based on at least one of the identifier of the first party and the identifier of the second party, and
• transmitting the selected public key of the second party from the system of the second party to the system of the third party over the secure connection.

A system for obtaining a public key of a second party by a first party, the system comprising at least one processor configured to:

• authenticate a third party,
• after authenticating the third party, establish a secure connection with a system of the third party,
• transmit a request to receive the public key of the second party to the system of the third party over the secure connection, the request comprising an identifier of the second party, and
• receive the public key of the second party from the system of the third party over the secure connection, the public key of the second party being associated with the identifier of the second party.

A system for providing a public key of a second party to a first party by a third party, the system comprising at least one processor configured to:

• enable a system of the first party to authenticate the third party,
• after authentication of the third party, establish a secure connection with the system of the first party,
• receive a request to receive the public key of the second party from the system of the first party over the secure connection, the request comprising an identifier of the second party,
• identify the second party based on the identifier of the second party,
• authenticate the second party,
• after authenticating the second party, establish a further secure connection with a system of the second party,
• transmit a further request to receive the public key of the second party to the system of the second party over the further secure connection,
• receive the public key of the second party from the system of the second party over the further secure connection, and
• transmit the public key of the second party to the system of the first party over the secure connection.

A system for providing a public key of a second party to a system of a third party, the system comprising at least one processor configured to:

• enable the system of the third party to authenticate the second party,
• after authentication of the second party, establish a secure connection with the system of the third party,
• receive, after authentication of the second party by the system of the third party, a request to receive a public key of the second party from the system of the third party over the secure connection, the request comprising at least one of an identifier of a first party and an identifier of the second party,
• select the public key of the second party from a plurality of public keys of the second party based on at least one of the identifier of the first party and the identifier of the second party, and
• transmit the selected public key of the second party to the system of the third party over the secure connection.