Patent ID: 6959381

Claim:
A method of maintaining a CKA computer database by a Central Key Authority (CKA) on behalf of a plurality of users having accounts linked with one or more public keys of the users (“PuK-linked accounts”) wherein one or more PuK-linked accounts are maintained by one or more respective third parties, comprising the steps of, for a respective user: (a) storing in the CKA computer database a public key of a public-private key pair, the public key associated with a user device of a respective user, the user device configured to generate digital signatures using a private key of the public-private key pair, the private key maintained securely within the user device; (b) associating in the CKA computer database a security profile of the user device with the public key; (c) associating in the CKA computer database one or more third-party account identifiers with the public key, each account identifier associated with a respective PuK-linked account of the respective user maintained by one of the respective third parties; (d) associating a unique CKA account identifier with each public key stored in the CKA computer database; and (e) updating PuK-linked accounts of the respective user with a new public-key of the respective user, wherein each PuK-linked account is maintained by different third parties, comprising the further steps of: (i) receiving a request Electronic Communication (“EC”), the request EC including one of the unique CKA account identifiers and a message including the new public key and a digital signature of the message; (ii) authenticating the message using the public key associated with the unique CKA account identifier from the request EC and obtained from the CKA computer database; and (iii) upon successful authentication of the message, sending a response EC to each of the different third parties, the response EC including the new public key and the third-party account identifier for the respective different third parties maintained in the CKA computer database and associated with the unique CKA account identifier.