John D Garber

US Patent:

58253009, Oct 20, 1998

Filed:

Sep 12, 1995

Appl. No.:

8/527308

Inventors:

Erwin W. Bathrick - Brea CA
John W. Garber - Davidsonville MD
Cheng-Chi Huang - Irvine CA
Kenneth C. Kung - Cerritos CA
Todd E. Matthews - Santa Ana CA
James E. Zmuda - Lake Forest CA
Regina L. Matthews - Yorba Linda CA

Assignee:

Hughes Aircraft Company - Los Angeles CA

International Classification:

G07D 700

US Classification:

34082533

Abstract:

A computer system and a method for the protected distribution of certificate and keying material between a certification authority and at least one entity in the certification authority's domain, including the steps of sending keying material, including a password, generated by the Certifying Authority to the entity via a secure medium; generating and protecting, by the entity, a public and a private key pair using the keying material provided it by the certifying authority; generating, protecting and sending a request for a certificate to the certifying authority using the keying material provided it by the certifying authority; requesting, by the certifying authority, that the public key and address of the entity be sent to the certifying authority; protecting and sending the public key and address of the entity to the certifying authority using the keying material provided it by the certifying authority; assembling and issuing the certificate to the entity from the certifying authority and recording the public key of the entity at the certifying authority for public use within the domain of the certifying authority.