Alternative approach to deployment and payment for digital certificates

A method comprising:

• receiving a request to issue a digital certificate to a subscriber system;
• capturing, by a processor configured to perform digital certificate operations at a certificate authority system, and storing, in a memory at the certificate authority system, subscriber information of the subscriber system;
• performing, by the processor, a first authentication and verification of the subscriber information;
• issuing, by the processor, a long-lived digital certificate from the certificate authority system to the subscriber system over a network upon determining that the subscriber information in the first authentication and verification is authentic and valid, wherein the long-lived digital certificate is set to expire after an expiration period;
• performing, by the processor, additional authentications and verifications of the subscriber information at least once during an authentication period, wherein the expiration period is longer than the authentication period, wherein there are multiple occurrences of the authentication period within the expiration period, wherein the number of authentication periods within the expiration period is determined based at least in part on the length of the expiration period, and wherein the additional authentication and verifications of the subscriber information do not comprise receiving a new request to issue a digital certificate to a subscriber system;
• and
• causing, by the processor, revocation of the long-lived digital certificate at a revocation status database over a network upon determining that the subscriber information in any of the additional authentications and verifications is no longer valid, wherein the long-lived digital certificate is not reissued upon determining that the subscriber information in the additional authentications and verifications remains valid.

A system comprising:

• an interface at a certificate authority system configured to:
• receive a request to issue a digital certificate to a subscriber system;
• a processor configured to perform digital certificate operations at the certificate authority system, the operations configured to:
• capture and store, in a memory, subscriber information of the subscriber system;
• perform a first authentication and verification of the subscriber information;
• issue a long-lived digital certificate from the certificate authority system to the subscriber system over a network upon determination that the subscriber information in the first authentication and verification is authentic and valid, wherein the long-lived digital certificate is set to expire after an expiration period;
• perform additional authentications and verifications of the subscriber information at least once during an authentication period, wherein the expiration period is longer than the authentication period, wherein there are multiple occurrences of the authentication period within the expiration period, wherein the number of authentication periods within the expiration period is determined based at least in part on the length of the expiration period, and wherein the additional authentication and verifications of the subscriber information do not comprise receiving a new request to issue a digital certificate to a subscriber system;
• and
• cause revocation of the long-lived digital certificate at a revocation status database over a network upon determination that the subscriber information in any of the additional authentications and verifications is no longer valid, wherein the long-lived digital certificate is not reissued upon determination that the subscriber information in the additional authentications and verifications remains valid.

A non-transitory computer-readable memory having instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

• receive a request to issue a digital certificate to a subscriber system;
• capture, by a processor configured to perform digital certificate operations at a certificate authority system, and store, in a memory at the certificate authority system, subscriber information of the subscriber system;
• perform a first authentication and verification of the subscriber information;
• issue a long-lived digital certificate from the certificate authority system to the subscriber system over a network upon determination that the subscriber information in the first authentication and verification is authentic and valid, wherein the long-lived digital certificate is set to expire after an expiration period;
• perform additional authentications and verifications of the subscriber information at least once during an authentication period, wherein the expiration period is longer than the authentication period, wherein there are multiple occurrences of the authentication period within the expiration period, wherein the number of authentication periods within the expiration period is determined based at least in part on the length of the expiration period, and wherein the additional authentication and verifications of the subscriber information do not comprise receiving a new request to issue a digital certificate to a subscriber system;
• and
• cause, by the processor, revocation of the long-lived digital certificate at a revocation status database over a network upon determination that the subscriber information in any of the additional authentications and verifications is no longer valid, wherein the long-lived digital certificate is not reissued upon determination that the subscriber information in the additional authentications and verifications remains valid.