Secure instant messaging system using instant messaging group policy certificates

摘要

A method and apparatus for facilitating instant messaging utilizes a secure instant message group policy certificate issued by an instant messaging public key infrastructure policy certificate issuing unit. The secure instant messaging group policy certificate is received, such as through a local instant messaging secure public key infrastructure proxy, and contains data defining the group members, references to other groups, security controls and relevant data such as allowed algorithms. The secure instant messaging group policy certificate defines a plurality of different instant messaging groups, each identified by an instant messaging group identifier. Each instant messaging group identifier is associated with a plurality of instant message group number identifiers. In one embodiment, an instant message subscriber called the state manager that has been designated by the instant messaging public key infrastructure policy certificate issuing unit utilizes their digital signing key to digitally sign a secure change state notification to effect a change in operational state of the instant messaging secure PKI proxy.