example a web server can generate a container object including a request for a certificate and a recipient 39 s web browser can execute computer program 105 165 to process the container object the request for a certificate can be processed as described above in reference to fig5 alternatively the request for a certificate can specify a particular network protocol for a direct response that contains the recipient 39 s certificate the computer program 165 could for example transmit the recipient 39 s certificate back to the web server using hypertext transfer protocol for illustrative purposes the following example describes an instance when a web server is the sender of a request for a certificate a bank providing online banking services allows the bank 39 s customers to receive their banking statements electronically over http from a web server for security purposes the bank requires a customer 39 s public key certificate to encrypt the customer 39 s banking statements before transmitting them to the customer electronically accordingly if the bank does not have a customer 39 s certificate in a certificate database the bank generates a container object including a request for a certificate a customer 39 s web browser associates the container object with an application program such as computer program 105 165 to process the container object and respond to the request for a certificate included in the container.