Patent ID: 7478236
Filing Date: 2009-01-13
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method of validating a certificate by a certificate validation server using certificate policies and certificate policy mapping in a public key infrastructure in which a certification authority server issues the certificate and a client uses the certificate as an identifier, comprising the steps of: a certificate validation server receiving, from the client, an object certificate to be validated, a certificate of a certification authority which the client trusts, and a certificate policy which will be applied to validation of the object certificate, and the certificate validation server receiving a request for validation of the object certificate; the certificate validation server creating a certification path, which is a certificate chain ranging from the certificate of the certification authority which the client trusts to the object certificate, in response to the request for validation; the certificate validation server determining whether the validation of the object certificate is allowed or denied using a certificate policy table with respect to the created certification path and the certificate policy, wherein the certificate policy table is managed by the certificate validation server; if the validation of the object certificate is allowed, the certificate validation server validating all certificates of the created certification path using a certificate policy mapping table, wherein the certificate policy mapping table is managed by the certificate validation server; and if a validation result of the certification path is a success, the certificate validation server transmitting a success message to the client; otherwise if the validation result of the certification path is a failure or if the validation of the object certificate is denied, the certificate validation server transmitting a failure message to the client.