Patent ID: 6853988

Claim:
A method of performing remote requests for cryptographic functions on a secure server, the method comprising: associating a user from multiple users with one or more keys from a plurality of private cryptographic keys stored on a secure server; receiving a request for one or more cryptographic functions from an application executing on a remote computing device; accessing the one or more keys; and performing one or more cryptographic functions corresponding to the request using the one or more keys; wherein the step of accessing the one or more keys further comprises: selecting a type of certificate matching data provided in the request: and determining whether the user owns a certificate matching the type; when the user owns the certificate, accessing the one or more keys from the plurality of private cryptographic keys corresponding to the certificate; wherein the step of performing one or more cryptographic functions using the one or more keys includes using the one or more keys corresponding to the certificate; when the user does not own the certificate, determining whether the user owns a cross-certified-certificate cross-certified with the certificate; and when the user owns the cross-certified certificate, accessing the one or more keys from the plurality of private cryptographic keys corresponding to the cross-certified certificate.