Patent ID: 8145707

Claim:
A system, comprising: a PKI email account website displayed on a client computer and hosted on one or More computers in a network, wherein the client computer does not store or recall PKI keys and wherein the PKI email account website is dedicated to creating one or more PKI email accounts and is configured to: i) receive a PKI email account request from a user of the PKI email account website, wherein the PKI email account request is the only interaction required by the user to create the one or more PKI email accounts; ii) generate and send a certificate signing request to a certificate authority which does not interact with the user, wherein the certificate authority automatically trusts one or more certificate signing requests from the PKI email account website and wherein the certificate authority is hosted on the one or more computers hosting the PKI email account website; iii) receive and install a certificate issued and signed by the certificate authority; iv) create the one or more PKI email accounts, wherein the one or more PKI email accounts are configured to access one or more cryptographic functions, without transmitting PKI digital keys through the network, to securely receive and transmit email, wherein the one or more PKI email accounts are accessible to an email website displayed on the client computer or on any computer connected to the Internet and wherein the email website is configured to read and send email messages; and v) digitally sign email transmitted from the email website by accessing the one or more PKI email accounts, upon request of the user that the email messages be digitally signed.