Autonomous Key Management Using HMAC Enclaves for Edge Node Security
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The existing Private Key Infrastructure (PKI) design is vulnerable to cyber-attacks, with a documented risk of 88-95% due to human errors in managing passwords, certificates, and tokens, leading to significant costs, operational inefficiencies, and increased breach impacts.
Innovation Solution
An autonomous key management (AKM) system that employs a network manager to establish secure data communications between edge nodes using unique hash message authentication codes (HMACs) and synchronized data sets (SDS), enabling self-managing security relationships without human intervention, ensuring data integrity and reducing human error.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional PKI design is used for key management, then security infrastructure is established, but human error in managing passwords, certificates, and tokens leads to 88-95% vulnerability to cyber-attacks
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables autonomous key management where the security infrastructure manages itself without human intervention. Edge nodes automatically generate, store, and manage cryptographic keys and certificates, eliminating the need for human operators to handle sensitive security credentials. The system self-provisions security relationships and automatically recovers from failures, making the operation error-free while maintaining high security reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an autonomous security manager as an intermediary between edge nodes and security infrastructure. This mediator automatically handles key generation, certificate management, and security policy enforcement, removing human operators from the key management process entirely. The security manager acts as a self-healing intermediary that maintains security relationships without human intervention, eliminating human error while preserving security reliability.
2Productivity
If manual key management processes are used, then security credentials can be managed, but operational efficiency decreases and costs increase due to human intervention requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements self-service automation where edge nodes autonomously generate cryptographic keys, obtain certificates, and manage security credentials without human intervention. The autonomous security manager automatically provisions security relationships, rotates keys, and handles certificate renewals. This eliminates manual key management processes entirely, dramatically improving operational efficiency while the standardized automated procedures actually reduce system complexity compared to manual processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary automated actions by pre-provisioning security credentials and establishing security relationships before they are needed. The autonomous security manager anticipates key rotation needs, certificate renewal requirements, and security relationship establishment in advance, automatically executing these actions before human intervention would be required. This preliminary automation improves operational efficiency by eliminating reactive manual management while the systematic approach reduces overall complexity.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If traditional security systems are used, then data protection is provided, but the impact of data breaches is significant due to 88-95% vulnerability rate
Solution Approach 1:
The autonomous key management system eliminates human error by implementing self-service security management. Edge nodes automatically generate and manage cryptographic credentials without human intervention, and the autonomous security manager continuously monitors and maintains security relationships. This automation reduces cyber-attack vulnerability from 88-95% to minimal levels while enhancing data security reliability through consistent, error-free security enforcement.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements continuous feedback loops where the autonomous security manager monitors security credentials, detects potential compromises, and automatically responds to threats. The system continuously verifies the integrity of cryptographic keys and certificates, and automatically rotates credentials or isolates compromised nodes. This real-time feedback mechanism dramatically reduces vulnerability to cyber-attacks while maintaining high data security reliability through automated threat response.
Data Source
AI summary
The secure data system and communicative method is deployed on first and second edge nodes (the 1st node may be a network manager (NM)). Each edge node has a processor, a data store (with a file), and a secure data enclave. A keyed hash message authentication code (HMAC) is separately run on each node's processor, data store, file, and the HMAC is stored in the respective enclave. The first node (or NM) generates and stores in each node's enclave a synchronized security data set (SDSet) which includes the 1st node/NM's HMAC, creating an Autonomous Key Management Security Relationship (ASR) in both nodes. Communications from NM to designated node are accessed and processed by designated node only if the SDSet and HMAC match the enclave-stored HMAC and SDSet.