Claims
- 1. A method for securing electronic transactions between a business owner and a plurality of business partners in a limited access electronic network comprising:
determining if a visiting business partner is a certified business partner; directing the visiting business partner to a certification authority, if the visiting business partner is not a certified business partner, the certification authority being an entity capable of issuing digital certificates; receiving identification information from the visiting business partner, if the visiting business partner is a certified business partner, the identification information includes a digital certificate issued by the certification authority; verifying the identification information of the visiting business partner against a database; and granting access to the limited access electronic network, if the identification information of the visiting business partner is verified.
- 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising
signing a service contract between the business owner and the certification authority, wherein the business owner authorizes the certification authority to certify information provided by non-certified business partners.
- 3. The method of claim 1 further comprises
receiving database updates from the certification authority, and updating the database with the database updates.
- 4. The method of claim further comprises
sending a list of business partners to the certification authority, wherein the digital certificates for the business partners in the list are to be deleted.
- 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the certification authority is a credit bureau.
- 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital certificate includes credit related information.
- 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital certificate includes a level of permission granted.
- 8. A method for providing secure transactions between a business owner and a plurality of business partners in a limited access electronic network, wherein the access to the limited access electronic network is granted to business partners who have been certified, said method comprising:
providing a certification authority, wherein the certification authority is capable of issuing digital certificates; receiving identification information from a business partner; creating an entry in a database for the business partner, if the business partner has not been certified; receiving corporate information from the business partner, if the business partner has not been certified; verifying the corporate information received from the business partner, wherein the verification includes consulting credit database maintained by the certification authority; issuing a digital certificate to the business partner, if the corporate information is verified; and sending a database update to the business owner, wherein the database update includes information on the digital certificate issued to the business partner.
- 9. The method of claim 8 further comprises:
receiving a list of business partners from the business owner, wherein the business partners on the list are to be denied digital certificates; and invalidating the digital certificate of the business partners on the list.
- 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the digital certificate includes at least some of the corporate information.
- 11. The method of claim 8, wherein the identification information includes article of incorporation.
- 12. The method of claim 8, wherein the identification information includes a letter of authorization.
- 13. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of verifying the corporate information further includes consulting commercial database.
- 14. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of verifying the corporate information further includes consulting government records.
- 15. The method of claim 8, wherein the digital certificate has a level of permission attached to it.
- 16. The method of claim 8, wherein the certification authority is a credit bureau.
- 17. The method of claim 8, wherein the digital certificate includes credit related information.
- 18. A system for providing secure transactions on a limited access network between a business owner and a plurality of business partners, the system comprising:
a plurality of business partners having access to the limited access network, wherein the limited access network is connected to a communication network; an extranet server accessible through the communication network, wherein the extranet server is part of the limited access network; and a certification authority accessible through the communication network, wherein the certification authority is capable of issuing digital certificates.
- 19. The system of claim 18, wherein the certification authority is a credit bureau.
- 20. The system of claim 18, wherein the certification authority consults a credit bureau database before issuing a digital certificate.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/218,527, entitled “System and Method for Secure Electronic Transactions with Extensible Interface” filed on Jul. 17, 2000.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60218527 |
Jul 2000 |
US |