TRICERT: A Distributed Certified E-Mail Scheme
Giuseppe Ateniese, Breno de Medeiros, Michael T. Goodrich · 2001
In this paper we present protocols for distributed certified e-mail, which use encryption to ensure both confidentiality and fairness. As with other protocols for certified e-mail, ours achieve fairness by placing trust on an external entity, referred to as the Trusted Third Party (TTP). The TTP can become a bottleneck, however, and we explore scenarios that support a distributed TTP, in the context of both off-line and online protocols. With several servers dividing the TTP responsibilities, the level of confidence placed in individual servers can be reduced without compromising the TTP's overall trust. Keywords: Secure E-commerce, Fair Exchange, Certified E-mail, Semi-trusted TTP. 1