Abstract: An apparatus and method provides arbitration among a plurality of subscribers and also provides access isolation between a requester, such as a subscriber or other entity, and a security-related information source, such as a repository containing certificates and certificate revocation lists (CRLs) or other security-related information. The system and method isolates the requester from the source by generating separate security information release-data to obtain the security-related information from the source based on analyzed request criteria-data. The arbitration module generates a separate security-information release request to the repository to retrieve appropriate data from the internal repository in response to the externally generated request without allowing the request to filter directly through to the security-related information source.

Abstract: A certificate issuing apparatus and method creates a new certificate of a differing format from an existing certificate format to facilitate certificate conversion. A certificate converting unit receives first certificate data in a first format and desired certificate format criteria data, such as data representing the format of a certificate to which the first certificate is to be converted. The apparatus and method then generates second certificate data in a second format in response to the desired certificate format criteria data. In one embodiment, this is done using certificate format template data, such as templates representing the format and/or syntax of a plurality of differing certificate formats. The format template data is then mapped so that information from one certificate can be suitably mapped and then placed in a proper format and syntax for a different certificate format.