Method and system to combine multiple digital certificates using the subject alternative name extension
View Patent ↗A method for forming a digital certificate includes receiving contact information associated with the digital certificate. The contact information includes at least a name, a mailing address, and an email address. The method also includes receiving billing information associated with the digital certificate and receiving a Certificate Signing Request (CSR) for the digital certificate. The method further includes receiving a first name for use in forming the digital certificate and receiving a second name for use in forming the digital certificate. Moreover, the method includes receiving an indication of a vendor of web server software, receiving an indication of a service period for the digital certificate, and forming the digital certificate. The first name is stored in a Subject field of the digital certificate and the second name is stored in the SubjectAltName extension of the digital certificate.
1. A computer-implemented method for combining a first certificate and a second certificate into a combined certificate, the method comprising:
receiving, at a certificate combining server, information from a user related to the first certificate having a Subject field including a first name;
receiving, at the certificate combining server, a request from the user to combine the first certificate into the combined certificate;
receiving, at the certificate combining server, information from the user related to the second certificate having a Subject field including a second name;
receiving, at the certificate combining server, a request from the user to combine the second certificate into the combined certificate; and
forming, at the certificate combining server, the combined certificate, wherein the first name is stored in the Subject field of the combined certificate and the second name is stored in a SubjectAltName extension of the combined certificate.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein a public key of the combined certificate comprises a public key of the first certificate.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the combined certificate complies with RFC 5280.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein the combined certificate is a X.509 certificate, version 3 or version newer than 3 that provides the SubjectAltName extension.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the first name is the common name of the Subject field.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
receiving an indication from the user to combine a third certificate, wherein the third certificate includes a third name stored in a Subject field of the third certificate; and
updating the combined certificate, wherein the third name is also stored in the SubjectAltName extension of the combined certificate.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein the first name comprises a domain name and the second name comprises a domain name.
8. A computer-implemented method of combining a plurality of digital certificates into a combined certificate, the method comprising:
receiving, at a certificate combining server, an indication to combine a first certificate;
receiving, at the certificate combining server, an indication to combine a second certificate;
providing, from the certificate combining server for display on a display device, a first set of one or more names associated with the Subject field or the SubjectAltName extension of the first certificate;
providing, from the certificate combining server for display on the display device, a second set of one or more names associated with the Subject field or the SubjectAltName extension of the second certificate;
receiving, at the certificate combining server, a selection of a master name from the first set of one or more names;
receiving, at the certificate combining server, a selection of an alternate name from at least one of the first set of one or more names or the second set of one or more names;
forming, at the certificate combining server, the combined certificate with the master name in the Subject field of the combined certificate and the alternate name in the SubjectAltName extension of the combined certificate.
9. The method of claim 8 wherein the indication to combine the first certificate is received from a user.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein the indication to combine the second certificate is received from the user.
11. The method of claim 8 wherein the first set of one or more names includes a domain name carried in the Subject field of the first certificate.
12. The method of claim 8 wherein the first set of one or more names includes a domain name carried in the SubjectAltName extension of the first certificate.
13. The method of claim 8 wherein the second set of one or more names includes a domain name carried in the Subject field of the second certificate.
14. The method of claim 8 wherein the second set of one or more names includes a domain name carried in the SubjectAltName extension of the second certificate.
15. The method of claim 8 further comprising:
receiving, at the certificate combining server, an indication to combine a third certificate;
providing, from the certificate combining server for display on the display device, a third set of one or more names associated with the Subject field or the SubjectAltName extension of the third certificate, wherein forming the combined certificate comprises forming the combined certificate with one or more of the third set of one or more names in the SubjectAltName extension of the combined certificate in addition to the alternate name.
16. The method of claim 8 wherein a public key of the combined certificate comprises a public key of the first certificate.