Method for Certifying and Verifying Digital Web Content Using Public Cryptography

Abstract

There is provided a method of, computer programs for and apparatus for providing and accessing digital content such as a news item. A news provider generates a news item, creates a digitally signed version of the news item and packages them together with a digital certificate issued by a certificate authority containing the public key required to decrypt the digitally signed version. The package is posted to a server and is transmitted, or made available or transmission, over a public data network together with a computer program for verifying the news item. A receiving party receives, over the public data network, the package at a client device and is provided with means for launching, and if necessary first downloading, the verifying program. The verifying program uses the public key contained in the certificate to verify the digitally signed news item. Before being first used to verify a news item, the verifying program receives a shared secret from the receiving party which is stored locally to the client device and is used by the verifying program to confirm that it performed the verification process.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . One or more non-transitory computer readable storage media storing executable instructions that, when executed, cause a system to perform a method of verifying displayable digital content, said method comprising:
 receiving from a user, information corresponding to a shared secret between the user and a verification application;   subsequent to receiving the shared secret, receiving a request from the user to verify an item of displayable digital content;   verifying the item of displayable digital content; and   displaying a verification message to the user, said verification message comprising an indication of whether or not the item of displayable digital content was successfully verified, and further causing the shared secret to be displayed to the user to prove the message originated from the verification application.   
     
     
         2 . The one or more computer readable media of  claim 1 , wherein the shared secret comprises an image selected by the user. 
     
     
         3 . A method comprising:
 receiving by a verifying program executing on a client computer, at a first time, an item of displayable digital content from a server computer;   the verifying program performing verification of the item of displayable digital content;   the verifying program receiving user input, at a second time earlier than the first time, a shared secret data item, the shared secret data item including information that is a secret to and shared between a user and the verifying program;   the verifying program storing the shared secret data item;   the verifying program generating and displaying a message comprising the shared secret data item and indicating whether the item of displayable digital content is verified or not, said shared secret serving to prove the message originated from the verifying program.   
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 3 , wherein the verifying program is received over a public data network by the client computer and is executed on said client computer. 
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 4 , wherein the item of digital content is received over a public data network by the client computer together with a user interface component for commencing execution of the verifying program. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 4 , wherein the item of digital content is displayed by the client device using a browser, and the verifying program is a plug-in for said browser. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 4 , wherein the shared secret data item provided by the user is stored locally to the client device. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 3 , wherein the item of digital content comprises a news item. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 3 , wherein the verifying program is provided with an encrypted version of the item of displayable digital content and, to verify the item of displayable digital content, the verifying program decrypts the encrypted version and compares the result to the item of displayable digital content. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 3 , wherein the verifying program is provided with a digital signature of the item of displayable digital content and, to verify the item of displayable digital content, the verifying program decrypts the digital signature and compares the result to the item of displayable digital content. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 3 , wherein the item of displayable digital content is provided in encrypted form only and, to verify the item of displayable digital content, the verifying program decrypts the item of displayable digital content. 
     
     
         12 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by a processor at a client device, perform a method of verifying an item of displayable digital content, the instructions comprising:
 receiving, at a first time, an item of displayable digital content;   verifying the item of displayable digital content;   querying, at a second time earlier than the first time, a user for a shared secret data item, the shared secret data item including information that is a secret to and shared between the user and a verifying program;   storing the shared secret data item; and   generating a message comprising the shared secret data item and indicating to the user whether the item of displayable digital content is verified or not, said shared secret serving to prove the message originated from the verifying program.   
     
     
         13 . The computer-readable medium according to  claim 12 , wherein the computer-readable instructions are adapted to be receivable over a public data network by the client device and executable on the client device. 
     
     
         14 . The computer-readable medium according to  claim 13 , wherein the item of displayable digital content is configured to be received over a public data network by the client device together with a user interface component for commencing execution of the computer-readable instructions. 
     
     
         15 . The computer-readable medium according to  claim 13 , wherein the computer-readable instructions are configured to be a plug-in for a browser. 
     
     
         16 . The computer-readable medium according to  claim 13 , wherein the shared secret data item obtained from the user is stored locally to the client device. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-readable medium according to  claim 12 , wherein the item of displayable digital content comprises a news item. 
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable medium according to  claim 12 , arranged to receive an encrypted version of the item of displayable digital content and to verify the item of displayable digital content by decrypting the encrypted version and comparing the result with the item of displayable digital content. 
     
     
         19 . The computer-readable medium according to  claim 12 , arranged to receive a digital signature of the item of displayable digital content and to verify the item of displayable digital content by decrypting the digital signature and comparing the result with the item of displayable digital content. 
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable medium according to  claim 12 , arranged to receive the item of displayable digital content in encrypted form only and to verify the item of displayable digital content by decrypting the item of displayable digital content.