Patent ID: 8683196

Claim:
A method, implemented by a computing system programmed to perform operations, comprising: receiving, by the computing system, a token renewal request for renewing an original digital certificate stored on a token, wherein the original digital certificate comprises an original key and an original expiration date; and renewing, by the computing system, the original digital certificate as a renewed certificate when the token renewal request is approved, wherein the renewed certificate comprises the original key and a new expiration date, wherein the renewed certificate is functionally identical to the original digital certificate, and wherein renewing the original digital certificate comprises: authenticating the token and a user associated with the token, determining whether a token policy allows renewal of the token, when the token policy allows token renewal, sending a certificate renewal request to obtain the renewed certificate, and when the token policy does not allow token renewal, sending a re-enrollment request to a certificate manager to issue a new certificate comprising a new key pair.