Systems and methods for automating certification authority practices

1. A method for generating a digital certificate of an entity, comprising:

generating, at the entity, a certificate signing request, the certificate signing request having at least public key information of the entity and identification information of the entity;

combining verification information with the generated certificate signing request;

transmitting, from the entity, the combination of the certificate signing request and the verification information;

receiving, at a certification authority, the combination of the certificate signing request and the verification information from the entity;

transmitting the combination of the certificate signing request and the verification information to a registration authority;

extracting, at the registration authority, the verification information from the combination of the certificate signing request and the verification information;

processing, at the registration authority, the information of the certificate signing request and the extracted verification information;

determining whether to approve the certificate signing request based on a result of the processing;

transmitting an approval to the certification authority when the certificate signing request is approved;

generating a certificate associated with the entity when the approval is received by the certification authority; and

transmitting the certificate to the entity,

wherein the verification information includes at least one of shared secret information, network address information, device identification information, or location information,

wherein the combining the verification information with the generated certificate signing request is performed by embedding at least one of said shared secret information, network address information, device identification information, or location information within a network transmission protocol wrapper of the certificate signing request before the transmitting the combination of the certificate signing request and the verification information to the certificate authority, and

wherein the verification information is selected based on a determination of sufficiency of the verification information in accordance with a predetermined criteria.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identification information of the entity includes at least one of name information of the entity, address information of the entity, telephone number information of the entity, electronic mail address information of the entity, or biometric information of the entity.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generating includes embedding the public key information and the identification information in the certificate.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the processing includes comparing the verification information with stored verification information.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the shared secret information includes at least one of password information, passphrase information, biometric information, or random number information.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information embedded in the network transmission protocol wrapper includes at least one of UDP IP network information, Rendezvous network information, IPv6 network information, Bluetooth communication information, IR communication information, RFID communication information, X.25 address information, cellular phone number information, USB device information, or peripheral device information.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the network address information includes at least one of information of a network address of the entity used to transmit the certificate signing request or domain name information retrieved through reverse lookup of the network address information.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the device identification information includes identification information of at least one of a device, a firewall, or a software application used by the entity to transmit the certificate signing request.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the location information includes information of a location of the entity used to transmit the certificate signing request.

10. A method for generating a digital certificate, comprising:

generating, at the entity, a certificate signing request, the certificate signing request having at least public key information of the entity and identification information of the entity;

combining verification information with the generated certificate signing request;

transmitting, from the entity, the combination of the certificate signing request and the verification information;

receiving, at a certification authority, the combination of the certificate signing request and the verification information from an entity;

transmitting the combination of the certificate signing request and the verification information to a registration authority;

extracting, at the registration authority, the verification information from the combination of the certificate signing request and the verification information;

receiving an approval from the registration authority based on processing the information of the certificate signing request and the extracted verification information;

generating a certificate associated with the entity when the approval is received; and

transmitting the generated certificate to the entity,

wherein the verification information includes at least one of shared secret information, network address information, device identification information, or location information,

wherein the combining the verification information with the generated certificate signing request is performed by embedding at least one of said shared secret information, network address information, device identification information, or location information within a network transmission protocol wrapper of the certificate signing request before the transmitting the combination of the certificate signing request and the verification information to the certificate authority, and

wherein the verification information is selected based on a determination of sufficiency of the verification information in accordance with a predetermined criteria.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the identification information of the entity includes at least one of name information of the entity, address information of the entity, telephone number information of the entity, electronic mail address information of the entity, or biometric information of the entity.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the generating includes embedding the public key information and the identification information into the certificate.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the shared secret information includes at least one of password information, passphrase information, biometric information, or random number information.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the information embedded in the network transmission protocol wrapper includes at least one of UDP IP network information, Rendezvous network information, IPv6 network information, Bluetooth communication information, IR communication information, RFID communication information, X.25 address information, cellular phone number information, USB device information, or peripheral device information.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the network address information includes at least one of information of a network address of the entity used to transmit the certificate signing request or domain name information retrieved through reverse lookup of the network address information.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein the device identification information includes identification information of at least one of a device, a firewall, or a software application used by the entity to transmit the certificate signing request.

17. The method of claim 10 , wherein the location information includes information of a location of the entity used to transmit the certificate signing request.

18. A method for approving a digital certificate signing request of an entity, comprising:

generating, at the entity, a certificate signing request, the certificate signing request having at least public key information of the entity and identification information of the entity;

combining verification information with the generated certificate signing request;

transmitting, from the entity, the combination of the certificate signing request and the verification information;

receiving, at a registration authority, the combination of the certificate signing request and the verification information of the entity from a certification authority;

extracting, at the registration authority, the verification information from the combination of the certificate signing request and the verification information;

processing the information of the certificate signing request and the extracted verification information;

determining whether to approve the certificate signing request based on a result of the processing; and

transmitting an approval to the certification authority when the certificate signing request is approved,

wherein the verification information includes at least one of shared secret information, network address information, device identification information, or location information,

wherein the combining the verification information with the generated certificate signing request is performed by embedding at least one of said shared secret information, network address information, device identification information, or location information within a network transmission protocol wrapper of the certificate signing request before the transmitting the combination of the certificate signing request and the verification information, and

wherein the verification information is selected based on a determination of sufficiency of the verification information in accordance with a predetermined criteria.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the identification information of the entity includes at least one of name information of the entity, address information of the entity, telephone number information of the entity, electronic mail address information of the entity, or biometric information of the entity.

20. The method of claim 18 , wherein the processing includes comparing the verification information with stored verification information.

21. The method of claim 18 , wherein the shared secret information includes at least one of password information, passphrase information, biometric information, or random number information.

22. The method of claim 18 , wherein the information embedded in the network transmission protocol wrapper includes at least one of UDP IP network information, Rendezvous network information, IPv6 network information, Bluetooth communication information, IR communication information, RFID communication information, X.25 address information, cellular phone number information, USB device information, or peripheral device information.

23. The method of claim 18 , wherein the network address information includes at least one of information of a network address of the entity used to transmit the certificate signing request or domain name information retrieved through reverse lookup of the network address information.

24. The method of claim 18 , wherein the device identification information includes identification information of at least one of a device, a firewall, or a software application used by the entity to transmit the certificate signing request.

25. The method of claim 18 , wherein the location information includes information of a location of the entity used to transmit the certificate signing request.

26. A method for obtaining a certificate associated with an entity, comprising:

providing identification information of the entity;

generating key information, the key information including private key information and public key information;

storing the private key information;

generating a certificate signing request, the certificate signing request including at least the public key information and the identification information of the entity;

combining verification information with the generated certificate signing request;

transmitting the combination of the verification information and the generated certificate request to a certificate authority;

extracting the verification information from the combination of the certificate signing request and the verification information; and

receiving a signed certificate,

wherein the verification information includes at least one of shared secret information, network address information, device identification information, or location information,

wherein the combining the verification information with the generated certificate signing request is performed by embedding at least one of said shared secret information, network address information, device identification information, or location information within a network transmission protocol wrapper of the certificate signing request before the transmitting the combination of the verification information and the generated certificate signing request, and

wherein the verification information is selected based on a determination of sufficiency of the verification information in accordance with a predetermined criteria.

27. The method of claim 26 , wherein the identification information of the entity includes at least one of name information of the entity, address information of the entity, telephone number information of the entity, electronic mail address information of the entity, or biometric information of the entity.

28. The method of claim 26 , wherein the generating key information includes generating random number information; and processing the random number information using a key pair generation function.

29. The method of claim 26 , wherein the shared secret information includes at least one of password information, passphrase information, biometric information, or random number information.

30. The method of claim 26 , wherein the information embedded in the network transmission protocol wrapper includes at least one of UDP IP network information, Rendezvous network information, IPv6 network information, Bluetooth communication information, IR communication information, RFID communication information, X.25 address information, cellular phone number information, USB device information, or peripheral device information.

31. The method of claim 26 , wherein the network address information includes at least one of information of a network address of the entity used to transmit the certificate signing request or domain name information retrieved through reverse lookup of the network address information.

32. The method of claim 26 , wherein the device identification information includes identification information of at least one of a device, a firewall, or a software application used by the entity to transmit the certificate signing request.

33. The method of claim 26 , wherein the location information includes information of a location of the entity used to transmit the certificate signing request.