초록 ▼

A method and system are provided for secure document delivery over a wide area network, such as the Internet. A sender directs a Delivery Server to retrieve an intended recipient's public key. The Delivery Server dynamically queries a certificate authority and retrieves the public key. The public ke

A method and system are provided for secure document delivery over a wide area network, such as the Internet. A sender directs a Delivery Server to retrieve an intended recipient's public key. The Delivery Server dynamically queries a certificate authority and retrieves the public key. The public key is transmitted from the Delivery Server to the sender. The sender encrypts the document using a secret key and then encrypts the secret key using the public key. Both encrypted document and encrypted secret key are uploaded to the Delivery Server, and transmitted to the intended recipient. The intended recipient then uses the private key associated with the public key to decrypt the secret key, and uses the secret key to decrypt the document. In an alternative, equally preferred embodiment of the invention, the sender uses the public key to encrypt the document. In yet another embodiment, the server transmits the document to the Delivery Server for encryption.

대표청구항 ▼

[ We claim:] [1.] A method for secure document delivery from a sender over a wide area network, comprising the steps of:a sender encrypting a document using a secret key;the sender contacting a Delivery Server to query a public key associated with an intended recipient;the Delivery Server dynamicall

[ We claim:] [1.] A method for secure document delivery from a sender over a wide area network, comprising the steps of:a sender encrypting a document using a secret key;the sender contacting a Delivery Server to query a public key associated with an intended recipient;the Delivery Server dynamically retrieving the public key in real time from a certificate authority;the Delivery Server transmitting the public key back to the sender;the sender encrypting the secret key with the public key; andthe sender transmitting the encrypted document and the encrypted secret key to the Delivery Server for transmission to the recipient.