Patent ID: 7065210

Claim:
A cryptographic communications method for communications of information between entities wherein a plurality of centers are provided, each of which generates secret keys peculiar to the entities using divided pieces of information resulting from division of information specifying each of the entities, the divided information used to generate the secret keys allowing diminished sizes of the secret keys; one entity generates a first common key using a first component contained in at least one secret key generated by at least one of the plurality of centers, the secret key being peculiar to the one entity, encrypts plaintext to ciphertext using the first common key and sends the ciphertext to another entity, the first component corresponding to one or more of the divided pieces of information specifying said another entity; and said another entity generates a second common key identical to the first common key using a second component contained in secret keys peculiar to the another entity sent from said centers, and decrypts said ciphertext to the original plaintext using the second common key, the second component corresponding to one or more of the divided pieces of information specifying the one entity.