Virtual smart card system and method
AssigneeAladdin Knowledge Systems Ltd.
InventorsLawrence Smith, Richard Levenberg
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Abstract
A public key authentication system and method for use in a computer system having a plurality of users. The system includes a virtual smart card server, storage connected to the virtual smart card server, and a virtual smart card agent connected to the virtual smart card server. The storage includes a plurality of virtual smart cards, wherein each virtual smart card is associated with a user and wherein each smart card includes a private key. The virtual smart card agent authenticates the user and accesses the authenticated user's virtual smart card to obtain the user's private key.
Claims13
A public key authentication system for use is a computer system having a plurality of users, the system comprising:
- a virtual smart card agent;
- storage including a plurality of virtual smart cards, wherein each virtual smart card includes a private key associated with a corresponding user;
- and
- a virtual smart card server communicatively coupled to the virtual smart card agent and the storage, wherein the virtual smart card server authenticates a user in response to an authentication request received from the virtual smart card agent and accesses from the storage the virtual smart card of a successfully authenticated user to obtain the authenticated user's private key.
In a system having a plurality of users, including a first user, a method of encrypting data, comprising:
- assigning first and second keys to each user located at a client, wherein the first and second key form a public/private key pair;
- issuing a digital certificate to the first user, wherein the digital certificate is associated with the second key assigned to the first user;
- entering a one-time password;
- encrypting the one-time password with the first key assigned to the first user to form an encrypted one-time password;
- verifying that the digital certificate issued to the first user was signed by a recognized certificate authority;
- accessing, via the digital certificate, the second key assigned to the first user;
- decrypting the encrypted one-time password with the second key associated with the digital certificate to recover the one-time password;
- authenticating the first user by comparing the decrypted one-time password to an expected one-time password;
- and
- once authenticated, encrypting the data with the first key.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.