Method and apparatus for use in determining validity of a certificate in a communication system employing trusted paths

A method for determining validity of a certificate in a communication system comprising:

• querying, by a requesting unit, to obtain compiled certificate chain data based on cross-certification data among trusted certificate issuing units in a community of interest;
• and
• receiving, by the requesting unit, the compiled certificate chain data to facilitate validity determination of the certificate to be validated.

An apparatus for use in determining validity of a certificate in a communication system employing trusted paths comprising:

• at least one storage medium having stored therein certificate chain data, compiled from at least certification authority trust data, representing trust relationships among a plurality of certificate issuing units in a community of interest;
• and
• at least one certificate chain data constructing unit, operatively coupled to the storage medium that constructs a preferred certificate chain associated with each of a plurality of different subscribers, based on the generated certificate chain data to facilitate validity determination of the certificate.

A method for determining validity of a certificate in a communication system employing trusted paths among certificate issuing units and among subscribers comprising:

• storing compiled certificate chain data associated with different subscribers based on compiled certification authority trust data to facilitate validity determination of certificates by multiple subscribers;
• and
• providing the stored compiled certificate chain data in response to a request by at least one of the multiple subscribers.

A storage medium for storing programming instructions that, when read by a processing unit, causes the processing unit to facilitate certificate chain data generation, the storage medium comprising:

• first means for storing programming instructions that facilitate compiling of certification authority trust data to generate certificate chain data associated with a plurality of different subscribers wherein the certificate chain data represents trust relationships among a plurality of certificate issuing units in a community of interest;
• and
• second storage means for storing the certificate chain data that is based on compiled certification authority trust data to facilitate validity determination of certificates by multiple subscribers.