Private Blockchain Credential Synchronization with Approval Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing credential management techniques for multi-device users fail to securely synchronize credentials across devices, leading to unauthorized changes and loss of access to user information, especially when updates are made from unknown sources.
Innovation Solution
A private blockchain network with a rule execution set is used to manage credentials, ensuring that only authorized devices can approve changes, thus preventing malicious modifications and maintaining user control over their information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If credentials are automatically synchronized across all devices when modified on one device, then convenience is improved, but security deteriorates because unauthorized changes cannot be detected
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements a feedback mechanism where credential modifications trigger notifications to other devices in the network. Each device can respond to the modification request, providing feedback on whether to accept or reject the change. This ensures that automatic synchronization only occurs when authorized by the user or system policies, resolving the security concern while maintaining convenience.
Solution Approach 2:
Before credentials are synchronized across devices, the system performs preliminary actions by sending modification requests to other devices for approval. This preliminary authorization step ensures that automatic synchronization only happens when permitted, preventing unauthorized changes while maintaining the convenience of automatic updates when authorized.
2Reliability
If email notifications are sent for credential changes, then security monitoring is improved, but reliability deteriorates because users may miss or not notice the notifications
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an intermediary notification mechanism that delivers credential modification alerts directly to other devices in the secure network, rather than relying solely on external email notifications. This intermediary system ensures that notifications are delivered through a controlled channel that users are more likely to notice and respond to, reducing the risk of missed alerts while maintaining security monitoring.
3Productivity
If a centralized system manages credentials across devices, then synchronization is improved, but security deteriorates because a single point of failure can be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments credential management into distributed components, where each device in the network maintains its own credential store and can independently validate modifications. This segmentation eliminates the single point of failure in centralized systems, as compromising one device does not give attackers access to credentials on other devices, while still enabling synchronization through the peer-to-peer notification and approval mechanism.
Data Source
AI summary
An access credential is modified at one device, wherein the device is part of a secure private network of multiple devices. Each other device in the secure private network receives notification of the modification. The credential modification is implemented when at least a subset of the other devices each accept the credential modification.