Patent ID: 8055780

Claim:
A method for managing a network, the method comprising the steps of: providing a first node with a digital certificate from a certificate authority; providing a second node with a certificate revocation list from the certificate authority, the list being used for confirming a revoked digital certificate; sending the digital certificate from the first node to the second node when a communication is conducted between the first node and the second node; verifying the digital certificate received from the first node by the second node by using the certificate revocation list and refusing the communication when the received digital certificate is indicated as a revoked digital certificate by the certificate revocation list; and causing the first node to notify the certificate authority and the second node of withdrawal of the first node from the network in order to update the certificate revocation list when the first node withdraws from the network; causing the second node to request and obtain the certificate revocation list from the certificate authority when the second node has received from the first node the notice of the withdrawal of the first node; and updating the certificate revocation list based on the obtained information about the digital certificate of the first node.