Patent ID: 8010795

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for a server, comprising: receiving, by a computer system executing an information packet generation server, a request for a digital certificate associated with an article of information; obtaining the article of information; generating a first public key pair for the article of information, the first public key pair having a first public key and a first private key; digitally signing the article of information with the first private key to form a first signature layer, wherein the first public key pair is used for authenticating a holder of the article of information; and generating the digital certificate for the article of information by the computer system, wherein generating the digital certificate comprises: combining the first public key with the digitally signed article of information to form an information packet; and digitally signing the information packet with a second private key of a second public key pair to form a second signature layer that binds together the information packet, wherein the second public key pair is used for authenticating the article of information and is associated with the information packet generation server.