Importance

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Abstract

A protocol and system for securely communicating a financial transaction between a customer and a merchant and a distributed computer network employing the protocol or system. A central authority having a central authority private key K.sup.s.sub.ca assigns a customer account ('CACCT') to the customer and a merchant account ('MACCT') to the merchant. The customer has a customer public key K.sup.p.sub.c ; the merchant has a merchant public key K.sub.m. The protocol includes the steps of: (1) sending a quotation from the merchant to the customer, the quotation including the K.sup.p.sub.m, a K.sup.s.sub.ca -signed signature that is a function of the MACCT, an unsigned copy of a price and a K.sup.s.sub.m -signed signature that is a function of the MACCT and the price, (2) replying to the quotation by sending an order from the customer to the merchant, the order including the K.sup.p.sub.c, a K.sup.s.sub.ca, signed signature that is a function of the CACCT, an unsigned copy of the price and a K.sup.s.sub.c -signed signature that is a function of the CACCT, the MACCT and the price and (3) replying to the order by filling the order.

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First Claim