Efficient certificate status handling within PKIs: an application to public administration services

Public administration has shown a strong interest in digital signature technology as a means for secure and authenticated document exchange, hoping that it will help reduce paper-based transactions with citizens. The main problem posed by this technology is the necessary public-key infrastructure, and in particular certificate status handling. This paper describes the definition and deployment of a Web-based environment suitable for offering administrative services to citizens and for accepting authenticated documents from citizens. The best features of two different certificate status handling schemes, namely CRL and OCSP, have been exploited within this environment to obtain a good balance between security, timeliness and efficiency