Reliance server for electronic transaction system

In an electronic transaction system in which a certification authority issues electronic signals representing digital certificates to subscribers, a method of automatic replacement of a subscribers certificate, the method comprising the steps of, by a subscriber:

• (A) creating a standby application for certification of a new key pair;
• (B) digitally signing the standby application with a private key and then destroying the private key;
• (C) including electronic signals representing the public key corresponding to the private key in a transactional certificate valid only for the standby application and forwarding the transactional certificate to the certification authority;
• and, by the certification authority,
• (D) keeping electronic signals representing the transactional certificate;
• and subsequently,
• (E) the subscriber sending electronic signals representing the standby application to the certification authority;
• (F) the certification authority verifying the digital signature on the application by reference to the transactional certificate;
• and then
• (G) issuing electronic signals representing a new time-based certificate listing the public key indicated in the standby application.

A method of managing reliance in an electronic transaction system in which subscribers have digital time-based certificates issued by certification authorities, the method comprising the steps of, by a relying party:

• receiving electronic signals representing a transaction from a subscriber, the transaction including information regarding at least one time-based certificate of that subscriber;
• creating a message based on certificate information from the transaction, the message specifying an amount of the transaction upon which the relying party intends to rely;
• and
• sending electronic signals representing the message to a reliance server requesting a guarantee for the amount of the transaction upon which the relying party intends to rely.

A method of managing reliance in an electronic transaction system in which subscribers have digital time-based certificates issued by certification authorities, the method comprising the steps of, by a reliance server:

• receiving electronic signals representing a reliance request message from a party, the message specifying an amount of a transaction upon which the party intends to rely and requesting a guarantee for the amount of the transaction, the message including certificate information derived from the transaction;
• determining whether to provide a guarantee for the amount of the transaction;
• and
• sending electronic signals representing a voucher to the relying party, the voucher including an indication of whether the reliance server guarantees the amount of the transaction.

A method of managing reliance in an electronic transaction system in which subscribers have digital certificates, the method comprising the steps of, by a relying party:

• receiving electronic signals representing a transaction from a subscriber, the transaction including information regarding at least one certificate of that subscriber;
• creating electronic signals representing a message based on certificate information from the transaction, the message specifying an aspect of the transaction upon which the relying party intends to rely;
• and
• sending the electronic signals representing the message to a reliance server requesting a guarantee for the aspect of the transaction upon which the relying party intends to rely.

A method of managing reliance in an electronic transaction system in which subscribers have digital certificates, the method comprising the steps of, by a reliance server:

• receiving electronic signals representing a message from a party thereby requesting a guarantee for an aspect of the transaction, the message including certificate information derived from the transaction;
• validating information in the message to determine whether to provide the guarantee for the aspect of the transaction;
• and
• sending electronic signals representing a reply receipt to the relying party, the reply receipt including an indication of whether the reliance server guarantees the aspect of the transaction.

A method of managing reliance in an electronic transaction system, the method comprising the steps of:

• a certification authority issuing electronic signals representing a time-based certificate to a subscriber;
• forwarding, from the certification authority, electronic signals representing information about the certificate to a reliance server, the information including a unique identifier for the certificate and an actual reliance limit for the certificate;
• the subscriber forming electronic signals representing a transaction based on the certificate and forwarding the transaction to a relying party;
• the relying party sending electronic signals representing a reliance request message to the reliance server concerning the transaction;
• the reliance server checking information in the reliance request message, and, based on the checking;
• issuing electronic signals representing a transactional certificate as a voucher to the relying party.