Method and system for authenticating a network user

The present invention is related generally to the use of encrypted information and data for authentication purposes and, in particular, to the authentication of a client of an Internet Service provider (ISP) in on-line applications. A method and system for creating a certificate for a client of a service provider of a communications network, wherein the client has a client private key and a client public key. The method includes the steps of establishing a communications link with the service provider through a dedicated communication channel; requesting a client certificate from the service provider; obtaining a caller-ID from an operator of the dedicated communication channel; and creating the requested client certificate using the caller-ID. Preferably, the method also includes the step of verifying that the caller-ID obtained from the operator of the dedicated communication channel is the same as client information provided by the client when requesting the client certificate. The certificate can be stored at a caller ID server or a client's storage.