Granted Patent B2

US 7,502,924 · App. 11/042,559 · Granted Mar 10, 2009

Abstract

Claims (61)

1. A method for certificate provisioning, comprising:

generating a keypair and a self-signed certificate;

requesting a certificate from a certification authority;

temporarily securing email using the self-signed certificate;

securing email using the requested certificate, after receipt of the requested certificate from the certification authority; and

displaying a secure email associated with the requested certificate.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

automatically performing the generating, requesting, and securing steps in response to a starting of a client system.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

automatically performing the generating, requesting, and securing steps in response to a user attempting to send secure email.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the request for the certificate is explicitly initiated by a user.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of temporarily securing email using the self-signed certificate is performed for a predetermined period of time.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the predetermined period of time corresponds to an expected length of time required to receive the requested certificate from the certification authority.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the predetermined period of time is set by an administrative policy.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining when the certificate is to be requested from the certification authority, based on an administrative policy.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving an email secured using the self-signed certificate.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

determining if the self-signed certificate in the received email is trusted; and

verifying a signature associated with the self-signed certificate if it is determined that the self-signed certificate is trusted.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

selectively marking the self-signed certificate as trusted for a period of time defined by an administrative policy.

12. The method of claim 9 , farther comprising:

receiving an email secured using the certificate received from the certification authority;

determining if the self-signed certificate and the certificate received from the certification authority are associated with a same key; and

purging the self-signed certificate if the self-signed certificate and the certificate received from the certification authority are associated with the same key.

13. Deploying an application for certificate provisioning, comprising:

providing a computer infrastructure being operable to perform the method of claim 1 .

14. Computer software embodied in a propagated signal for certificate provisioning, the computer software comprising instructions to cause a computer system to perform the method of claim 1 .

15. A system for certificate provisioning, comprising:

at least one computer comprising:

a system for generating a keypair and a self-signed certificate;

a system for requesting a certificate from a certification authority;

a system for temporarily securing email using the self-signed certificate; and

a system for securing email using the requested certificate, after receipt of the requested certificate from the certification authority.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the system for generating, system for requesting, and system for securing operate automatically in response to a starting of a client system.

17. The system of claim 15 , further comprising:

wherein the system for generating, system for requesting, and system for securing operate automatically in response to a user attempting to send secure email.

18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the request for the certificate is explicitly initiated by a user.

19. The system of claim 15 , wherein the system for temporarily securing email using the self-signed certificate secures email for a predetermined period of time.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the predetermined period of time corresponds to an expected length of time required to receive the requested certificate from the certification authority.

21. The system of claim 19 , wherein the predetermined period of time is set by an administrative policy.

22. The system of claim 15 , further comprising:

a system for determining when the certificate is to be requested from the certification authority, based on an administrative policy.

23. The system of claim 15 , further comprising:

a system for receiving an email secured using the self-signed certificate.

24. The system of claim 23 , further comprising:

a system for determining if the self-signed certificate in the received email is trusted; and

a system for verifying a signature associated with the self-signed certificate if it is determined that the self-signed certificate is trusted.

25. The system of claim 23 , further comprising:

a system for selectively marking the self-signed certificate as trusted for a period of time defined by an administrative policy.

26. The system of claim 23 , farther comprising:

a system for receiving an email secured using the certificate received from the certification authority;

a system for determining if the self-signed certificate and the certificate received from the certification authority are associated with a same key; and

a system for purging the self signed certificate if the self-signed certificate and the certificate received from the certification authority are associated with the same key.

27. A program product stored on a computer recordable medium for certificate provisioning, the computer readable medium comprising program code, which when executed by a computer, performs the following steps:

generating a keypair and a self-signed certificate;

requesting a certificate from a certification authority;

temporarily securing email using the self-signed certificate; and

securing email using the requested certificate, after receipt of the requested certificate from the certification authority.

Assignments (6)