Anonymous Digital Asset Authentication Against MITM Attacks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing authentication techniques are susceptible to man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks, compromising user privacy and anonymity, and do not effectively protect against fraudulent access to electronic devices and digital assets.
Innovation Solution
An electronic device performs selective authentication by providing a vector of challenges secured with security information, including biological identifiers, to authenticate without compromising privacy, using a tunnel for token exchange and storing challenge subsets for subsequent authentications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional authentication techniques (barcode scanning, 2FA, MFA) are used, then user authentication is achieved, but user privacy and anonymity are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a challenge-response mechanism as an intermediary between the authentication server and the user device. The server sends challenges to the device, and the device responds with answers derived from stored credentials. This intermediary protocol allows authentication without transmitting or storing user identity information, thereby maintaining privacy while achieving secure authentication.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses cryptographic hash functions to create copies of user credentials stored in the device. Instead of storing actual user identity information, the system stores hashed versions that can be used for authentication comparisons. This copying approach enables authentication without exposing the original user identity data, thus protecting privacy.
2Ease of operation
If existing authentication techniques are used, then user identification is achieved, but susceptibility to MITM attacks increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary authentication setup where the device stores challenge-response pairs and cryptographic keys before actual authentication occurs. During authentication, the server sends new challenges that the device can respond to using pre-stored cryptographic material. This preliminary preparation ensures that even if MITM attacks occur during transmission, the authenticated sessions remain secure because the device can verify challenges independently.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the server sends challenges to the device, and the device responds with answers. The server then verifies the responses against expected values. This feedback loop allows continuous verification of authentication integrity without requiring transmission of sensitive user data, making the system resistant to MITM attacks while maintaining ease of operation.
3Reliability
If user identity-based authentication is used, then access control is achieved, but user anonymity is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the essential authentication function from user identity information. Instead of using user names, IDs, or other identifiable data for authentication, the system extracts and uses only the cryptographic challenge-response mechanism. This extraction allows access control to be achieved based on cryptographic proofs rather than user identities, thereby maintaining user anonymity while preserving reliable access control.
Data Source
AI summary
During operation, a digital asset (such as a digital file or a token) on an electronic device receives, from the electronic device, a vector of challenges, where the vector of challenges includes N challenges and N is a non-zero integer. Then, the digital asset selects a subset of the vector of challenges. Moreover, the digital asset compares the subset of the vector of challenges with a stored second subset of a second vector of challenges. When the subset of the vector challenges matches the stored second subset of the second vector of challenges: the digital asset deems the electronic device authenticated; the digital asset provides, to the electronic device, a third vector of challenges, where the third vector of challenges includes M challenges and M is a non-zero integer; and the electronic device selects and stores a third subset of the third vector of challenges.