A simulation study of over-issuing delta-CRLs with distribution points

Abstract

Digital certificates function as electronic credentials that allow secure communications between two parties. They can identify user privileges as well as encrypt electronic messages over networks like the Internet. Due to various circumstances, they are only valid within a specific time. Confronting many threats is an important reason why their validities must be terminated sooner than assigned. Therefore, a certificate revocation is essential. This paper presents a simulation study of a certificate revocation method called over-issuing delta-CRL with distribution points. The simulation results validate our previous analytical results. It demonstrates the performance advantages of the proposed method, e.g. request rate, bandwidth usage and processing overhead.