public key is marked as pending a handle is also created in the catalog that points to the location on the key ring where the certificate is to be stored later when a certificate is delivered to the kro the kro performs a three way verification u2014 the public key in the certificate is compared with the public key in the catalog and the public key in the catalog is compared with the public key in the key ring additionally when the public key is stored in the key ring it is verified against the private key summarizing a kro has been described to manage and protect multiple certificates in an electronic business system using public key infrastructure with the kro private keys and certificates can be securely stored and managed in disk files smart cards and pc cards the kro can generate store and select keys for use in signing of digital information or authenticating the end user thereby enabling end user access to a host of secure client server applications the attached appendix 1 entitled u201c key ring organizer language specification krol u201d provides details on messaging between the kro and a client server while the invention has been described in a preferred embodiment various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims in which overview the key ring organizer kro uses a client server interface to receive.