Client/server protocol for proving authenticity
AssigneeRSA Security Inc.
InventorBurton S. Kaliski, Jr.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A protocol for establishing the authenticity of a client to a server in an electronic transaction by encrypting a certificate with a key known only to the client and the server. The trust of the server, if necessary, can be established by a public key protocol. The client generates and sends over a communications channel a message containing at least a part of a certificate encrypted with the server's public key or a secret session key. The server receives and processes the message to recover at least part of the certificate, verifies and accepts it as proof of the client's authenticity.
Claims17
A method for authenticating a client by a server, comprising the steps of:
- (a) receiving by the client from a credential issuer a digital credential;
- (b) transmitting credential verification information from the client to the server over an encrypted communications channel;
- and
- (c) authenticating the client based on the validity of the credential and in response to the credential verification information.
An authentication system, comprising:
- a credential issuer providing a digital credential;
- a client receiving the credential from the credential issuer and transmitting credential verification information over an encrypted communications channel;
- and
- a server receiving credential verification information over the encrypted communications channel and authenticating the client based on the validity of the credential and in response to the credential verification information.
A computer readable medium comprising instructions for execution on a processor, the instructions when executed direct the processor to receive credential verification information from a client over an encrypted communications channel, the client having received a digital credential from a credential issuer, and direct the processor to authenticate the client based on the validity of the digital credential and in response to the credential verification information.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.