Automated Digital Certificate Renewal System
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current public key infrastructure (PKI) systems face challenges in automating the installation, renewal, and management of digital certificates, leading to potential security breaches and downtime due to manual processes, expired certificates, and the lack of tools for surveying certificates in service.
Innovation Solution
The development of digital certificate discovery and management systems that automate the discovery, installation, and renewal of certificates, utilizing a certificate management system that includes a database for tracking certificate expiration dates, a certificate scanner for network discovery, and automated processes for installing and renewing certificates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manual certificate management processes are used, then device complexity is reduced, but reliability deteriorates due to expired certificates and security breaches
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables automated self-service certificate management where the certificate management system automatically discovers certificates on network devices, monitors expiration dates, and renews certificates without requiring manual intervention from administrators. This resolves the contradiction by implementing automation (improving reliability) while keeping the system self-managing rather than requiring complex manual processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by proactively discovering and monitoring certificate expiration dates before they occur. The automated system identifies certificates that will expire soon and initiates renewal processes in advance, preventing expiration issues before they impact security or service continuity.
2Productivity
If automated certificate renewal is implemented, then productivity is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The certificate management system is designed as a universal platform that can manage certificates across multiple network devices and environments. It provides multi-functional capabilities including discovery, monitoring, renewal, and expiration tracking within a single integrated system, improving productivity while consolidating complexity into one manageable platform rather than requiring separate tools for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces a centralized certificate management system as an intermediary between network devices and administrators. This intermediary automatically handles the complex tasks of certificate discovery, monitoring, and renewal, improving productivity by abstracting away the complexity from users while consolidating management functions in a dedicated system.
3Loss of time
If manual certificate monitoring is used, then device complexity is minimized, but loss of time increases due to expired certificates
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements continuous monitoring of certificate expiration dates across all network devices. The automated discovery and monitoring processes run continuously or at regular intervals to track certificate status, ensuring that expiration issues are identified immediately and response time is minimized without requiring complex manual monitoring procedures.
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosure relates to the management of PKI digital certificates, including certificate discovery, installation, verification and replacement for endpoints over an insecure network. A database of certificates may be maintained through discovery, replacement and other activities. Certificate discovery identifies certificates and associated information including network locations, methods of access, applications of use and non-use, and may produce logs and reports. Automated requests to certificate authorities for new certificates, renewals or certificate signing requests may precede the installation of issued certificates to servers using installation scripts directed to a particular application or product, which may provide notification or require approval or intervention. An administrator may be notified of expiring certificates, using a database or scanning or server agents. Interaction with certificate authorities may be by an abstractor providing a common interface for issuing signing requests to disparate certificate authorities. Digital certificate management may also be applied to network-connecting client devices.