Blockchain Key Segmentation for Joint Asset Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
In blockchain systems, shared ownership of assets by multiple parties poses a security risk as a single private key is typically used, allowing any party to control and transfer assets without others' knowledge, necessitating a more secure method for ensuring asset security.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that generate child keys based on the number of asset sharing parties, allowing the original key to be restored when all child keys are collected, ensuring that assets can only be operated with joint participation and maintaining security by deleting the original key.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a single private key is used for shared assets, then ease of operation is improved, but security deteriorates as any party can control assets without others' knowledge
Solution Approach 1:
The single private key is segmented into multiple child keys, one for each sharing party. Each party holds only their own child key and cannot operate assets alone. The original key is divided such that all child keys are needed to restore it, preventing any single party from unauthorized control while maintaining operational simplicity through automatic key management.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple parties share the same private key, then adaptability is improved for shared ownership, but security deteriorates as unauthorized transactions become possible
Solution Approach 1:
The private key is segmented into multiple child keys distributed to different parties. This enables adaptable shared ownership where any number of parties can be added or removed by generating or revoking child keys, while security is maintained because all child keys must be present to restore the original key and execute transactions.
Solution Approach 2:
The key management system transitions from a single-dimension model (one key for all) to a multi-dimensional model where keys are distributed across multiple parties in a hierarchical structure. Child keys exist in a different dimensional space than the original key, requiring aggregation across dimensions to restore the original key, thus enabling flexible sharing while preventing unauthorized access.
3Reliability
If the original key is deleted after generating child keys, then security is improved, but ease of repair deteriorates as key recovery becomes harder
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by establishing a secure key restoration mechanism before deleting the original key. Child keys are generated and distributed to parties with the predetermined capability to restore the original key when needed. This preliminary setup ensures that even though the original key is deleted, recovery is possible through the distributed child keys, maintaining both security and repairability.
Solution Approach 2:
The child keys act as intermediaries between the deleted original key and the need for key recovery. When the original key is lost or needs to be restored, the distributed child keys serve as mediating elements that can reconstruct the original key through the predetermined algorithm, thus enabling repair without compromising the security benefit of having deleted the original key.
Data Source
AI summary
A parent cryptographic key associated with a blockchain object is obtained. A number of parties (N) to share control over the blockchain object is obtained. N child cryptographic keys are generated based on the parent cryptographic key by applying a predetermined algorithm to the parent cryptographic key, wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 2, and wherein the N child cryptographic keys are collectively configured to enable reconstruction of the parent cryptographic key.