System and method for electronic transmission storage and retrieval of

Abstract

A system and method is provided that implements digital encryption for the electronic transmission, storage and retrieval of authenticated documents and that enables the establishment of the identity of the originator of an electronic document and of the integrity of the information contained in such a document. Together these provide irrevocable proof of authenticity of the document. The system and method make it possible to provide 'paper-less' commercial transactions, such as real-estate transactions and the financial transactions secured by real estate. A Certification Authority provides tools for initializing and managing the cryptographic material required to sign and seal electronic documents. An Authentication Center provides 'third party' verification that a document is that executed and transmitted by the document's originator. The Certification Authority and the Authentication Center together provide for third-party assumption of the risk of the authenticity of documents, an audit trail of the documents, and storage and retrieval of the documents by authorized parties. The system and method eliminates the need for 'hard copies' of original documents as well as hard-copy storage. Retrieval of an authenticated document from the Authentication Center may be done by any number of authorized parties at any time by on-line capability.