On-line membership verification
OwnerRobert S. Cahninventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system and method of providing on-line verification of various credentials without requiring second site authentication utilizes protocols and cryptography to assure customers (generally referred to hereinafter as “users”) that they are dealing with a person (or organization) that can present multiple, non-repudiable proof of their identification. The system is launched directly from the user's browser such that certificate verification is performed “locally”, without needing to go out and obtain information from a second web site. The system is based upon the creation of a new MIME (i.e. Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) type that is employed by the user's browser and utilizes public keys associated with the credentialing organizations in combination with a public key of the verification organization.
Claims12
A system for verifying certificates appearing on a web site purporting to certify a membership of the web site owner with a particular organization, the system comprising
- a data base of public keys associated with a plurality of public organizations, each organization capable of creating a web-based certificate containing an electronic signature of the organization;
- an on-line membership verification platform for downloading a selected public key from the data base of public keys and, upon verifying the authenticity of the organization associated with the selected public key, signing the public key to create a signed public key and re-exporting the signed public key to a data base of signed public keys;
- a MIME type available as an add-on for a local browser that, when triggered, will verify the validity of an offered “certificate”, using as one input the data base of signed public keys, and provide a user with a graphical user interface (GUI) indication of either the validity or invalidity of the offered “certificate” without querying an additional site for validation.
A method of verifying an on-line membership certificate presented by a web site owner, the method performed by an on-line membership verification service and comprising the steps of:
- a) receiving an offered “certificate” for evaluation from a website purporting membership in a predefined organization;
- b) comparing a <website> tag contained in the offered “certificate” to the website purporting membership and, if not the same, issuing a “failure” message, otherwise;
- c) evaluating the validity of the offered “certificate” and, if invalid, issuing a “failure” message, otherwise;
- d) obtaining a public key associated with the predefined organization;
- e) determining if the public key is valid and signed by the on-line membership verification service and, if invalid or not signed, issuing a “failure” message, otherwise
- f) presenting a statement to a user that the offered “certificate” is valid.
A method of initiating a subscription to an on-line membership verification service certificate for an organization, the method comprising the steps of:
- receiving a subscription request for the on-line membership verification service from a requesting organization;
- reviewing verifying materials associated with the requested organization and assessing the validity of the organization and, if valid,
- downloading a public key associated with the organization from a public key data base;
- signing the public key with a private key associated with the on-line membership verification service to form a “signed” public key;
- and
- exporting the “signed” public key to a data base of signed public keys.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.