VeriSign, Inc.
Systems and methods for automating client-side synchronization of public keys of external contacts

Abstract:

Systems and methods for automating client-side synchronization and discovery of public keys and certificates of external contacts include a key synchronizer at a client device. The key synchronizer obtains, from the client device, an external contact associated with an external domain outside of a local domain of the client device and then identifies, based on the external domain, a public key registry outside of the local domain. The key synchronizer obtains, from the public key registry, a registry-supplied public key or digital certificate for the external contact and then stores the registry-supplied key as a locally-stored key in the local key store such that the client device can obtain and apply the locally-stored key to secure an email targeting the external contact as a recipient of the email.