Patent ID: 7958348

Claim:
A method for securing and verifying an electronic certificate, the electronic certificate being stored in a memory of a user unit operated by an owner of the user unit, the method comprising: during an initialization phase: transmitting, by the user unit, data of the electronic certificate to a server managed by an authority; determining, by the authority, a network identifier corresponding to the user unit, the network identifier being calculated based on hardware configuration parameters received from the user unit; storing, by the authority, the electronic certificate and the network identifier in a database of the server, the network identifier being linked with the data of the electronic certificate, wherein the electronic certificate is coupled to a plurality of network identifiers based on a respective plurality of user units stored in the database of the server, and updating, by the owner of the user unit, the database of the server of the authority; and during a verification step carried out by a service supplier when the user unit requests a service from the service supplier: identifying the owner of the user unit by transmitting the electronic certificate to the service supplier; determining, by the service supplier, the network identifier based on the hardware configuration parameters of the user unit; transmitting a set including the electronic certificate and the network identifier to the authority; verifying, by the authority, the electronic certificate and the network identifier of the set transmitted by service supplier by comparing the electronic certificate and the network identifier of the set with the electronic certificate and the network identifier stored in the database during the initialization phase; and transmitting a result of the comparison to the service supplier, the service supplier authorizing the requested service to the owner based on the comparison result.