Patent ID: 9680655
Date: 2017-06-13
CPC Classifications: G06F,H04L

Claim:
1. A method for authenticating a digital certificate comprising the steps of: providing a database of digital certificates stored within a computer storage media accessible by a computer, wherein each of the digital certificates are stored using both a first data structure in which items are stored in chronological order and a second data structure which is ordered by certificate identifier; using the first data structure to establish a proof that a later snapshot of the database is an extension of an earlier snapshot of the database; and using the second data structure to establish a proof that a given digital certificate is currently valid; and wherein: the first data structure is arranged such that proofs of chronological extension of the data structure can be furnished in a time of the order of the logarithm of its size; and the second data structure is arranged such that proofs of a set of keys in the data structure corresponding to a given certificate identifier can be furnished in a time of the order of the logarithm of its size.