Method and device for confirming authenticity of a public key infrastructure (PKI) transaction event

A method for confirming authenticity of a public key infrastructure (PKI) transaction event between a relying node and a subject node in a communication network, the method comprising:

• establishing at a PKI event logging (PEL) server a process to achieve secure communications with the relying node;
• processing at the PEL server reported PKI transaction event data received from the relying node, wherein the reported PKI transaction event data describe the PKI transaction event between the relying node and the subject node;
• establishing at the PKI event logging (PEL) server a process to achieve secure communications with the subject node;
• and
• confirming that a private key of the subject node has not been compromised by confirming the authenticity of the PKI transaction event at the PEL server, wherein confirming the authenticity of the PKI transaction event comprises comparing the reported PKI transaction event data and corresponding local PKI transaction event data received from the subject node.

A public key infrastructure (PKI) event logging (PEL) server for confirming authenticity of a PKI transaction event between a relying node and a subject node in a communication network, the PEL server comprising:

• a network interface to communicate with the relying node and the subject node;
• a memory to store reported PKI transaction event data that describe the PKI transaction event between the relying node and the subject node;
• and
• a processor coupled to the network interface and the memory, the processor configured to:
• establish a process to achieve secure communications with the relying node;
• process the reported PKI transaction event data received from the relying node;
• and
• cause the network interface to transmit the reported PKI transaction event data to the subject node, wherein one or more of:
• the reported PKI transaction event data are transmitted from the PEL server to the subject node in response to a query message received at the PEL server from the subject node;
• the reported PKI transaction event data are automatically transmitted from the PEL server to the subject node in response to processing at the PEL server the reported PKI transaction event data;
• and
• whereby the subject node can compare the reported PKI transaction event data with corresponding local PKI transaction event data to confirm the authenticity of the PKI transaction event.