Patent ID: 8291216

Claim:
A method of processing certificates located in a certificate search, wherein the method is performed at a data server coupled to a computing device, the method comprising: receiving a certificate search request from the computing device, wherein the computing device comprises a wireless communication device; initiating a certificate search on one or more certificate servers remote from the computing device, wherein at least one query is submitted to the one or more certificate servers to request retrieval of certificates satisfying the certificate search request; retrieving one or more certificates from the one or more certificate servers; for each of the one or more certificates retrieved at the retrieving, processing the certificate to determine data comprising certificate data identifying the certificate, and status data by verifying at least one status property of the certificate selected from a group consisting of certificate validity, revocation status, encryption key strength, and trust status; for at least one of the one or more certificates retrieved at the retrieving, transmitting data comprising the certificate data and the status data determined at the processing to the computing device; maintaining, on the data server, a copy of at least one certificate stored on the computing device; automatically re-verifying, periodically according to a defined period, the at least one status property of the at least one certificate stored on the computing device for which a copy is maintained on the data server, to determine updated status data for the at least one certificate stored on the computing device for which a copy is maintained on the data server, wherein the re-verifying is not initiated by the computing device; transmitting the updated status data to the computing device for each of the at least one certificate stored on the computing device for which a copy is maintained on the data server, wherein the transmitting of the updated status data is not initiated by the computing device; and for each of the at least one certificate stored on the computing device for which a copy is maintained on the data server, maintaining a copy, on the data server, of the status data determined at the processing for the certificate stored on the computing device, comparing the updated status data for the certificate to the copy of the status data maintained on the data server for the certificate, and transmitting the updated status data for the certificate to the computing device if the updated status data for the certificate differs from the copy of the status data maintained on the data server for the certificate.