An efficient scheme of merging multiple public key infrastructures in ERP

Abstract

The Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) can provide various secure services in E-commerce. Once the enterprise changes its collaborators, the multiple PKIs deployed by the enterprise and its new collaborators must be interoperated. Such things often happen especially in the enterprises adopting Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. Considering the specialties of such context, an efficient scheme based on hierarchy structure is proposed. Keeping the previous PKIs integrate and independent, the merging process is quick and low-cost. Furthermore, compared with the common ways like mesh certificate authority model and Bridge certificate authority model, the certificate verification in new PKI is more efficient. In order to precisely describe the scheme, some essential conceptions of PKI are formalized. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.