Abstract: A method and apparatus allows a session key for a encrypted message to be recovered even if the recipient loses or forgets his private key. A session key encrypted using the public key of a party other than the intended recipient of the message is transmitted to the third party such as a certificate authority, who uses an identifier to retrieve private information known to the intended recipient of the message. The third party can compare the private information with private information provided by the party claiming to be the intended recipient. If the private information retrieved matches or nearly matches the private information provided, the third party can decrypt the session key using the third party's private key and provide the session key to the intended recipient.

Abstract: A key such as a private key or key password of a private key is encrypted for storage, and may be decrypted if the private key becomes lost or unavailable. The key is encrypted by encoding, for example, by hashing, private information such as mother's maiden name and social security number, and the result is used as a key to encrypt the private key using DES or another symmetric encryption technique. The encrypted key is again encrypted, for example using asymmetric encryption, using the public key of a trusted party such as the certificate authority that generated the private key. The result may be stored as a key recovery file by the principal of the private key or another party. To decrypt the key recovery file, the private key corresponding to the public key used to encrypt the key recovery file is used to decrypt the key recovery file, for example by asymmetric decryption.

Abstract: A key such as a private key or key password of a private key is encrypted for storage, and may be decrypted if the private key becomes lost or unavailable. The key is encrypted by encoding, for example, by hashing, private information such as mother's maiden name and social security number, and the result is used as a key to encrypt the private key using DES or another symmetric encryption technique. The encrypted key is again encrypted, for example using asymmetric encryption, using the public key of a trusted party such as the certificate authority that generated the private key. The result may be stored as a key recovery file by the principal of the private key or another party. To decrypt the key recovery file, the private key corresponding to the public key used to encrypt the key recovery file is used to decrypt the key recovery file, for example by asymmetric decryption.