SECURED AND DOCUMENTED KEY ACCESS BY AN APPLICATION

The invention relates to a method for identifying an application (12) that is executed in an apparatus (10) to another communication participant, comprising: obtaining (200) a connection request for a secure connection between the application (12) and the other communication participant (30); forming (202) an information element (60) that comprises at least one item of information about the application (12); signing (204) the information element with a first secret key (52), which is part of a cryptographic asymmetric key pair that is certified by an information certificate (50) issued by an external trusted authority; incorporating the signed information element (60) into a connection request message (70), signing the connection request message with a secret device-specific key that is part of a cryptographic asymmetric key pair that is certified by a device-specific certificate of the apparatus, and transmitting the connection request message to the other communication participant. The invention furthermore relates to a method for authenticating an application with which a secure connection is intended to be set up.