Digital Certificate Amendment Enforcement via Hash Verification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional digital certificate management systems require revoking entire certificates when only a portion of the permissions need to be changed, leading to invalidation of other permissions and increased complexity, especially in long-lived operations, and fail to apply amendments when endpoint devices are offline.
Innovation Solution
The system uses hash values to confirm the correct version of a digital certificate before applying amendments, allowing for specific changes or revocations to be made without revoking the entire certificate, and enforces rules to ensure amendments are applied even when endpoint devices are not connected to the Internet, using atomic operations to update the certificate.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If entire certificates are revoked when permissions need to be changed, then security is maintained, but other valid permissions are invalidated and complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the certificate management process by introducing separate amendment records that target specific permissions within a certificate rather than revoking the entire certificate. This allows individual permissions to be modified or revoked independently, maintaining other valid permissions while reducing management complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the permission modification function from the certificate revocation process. By creating a separate amendment mechanism that operates on individual permissions rather than the entire certificate, the system can modify specific permissions without invalidating the whole certificate, thus avoiding the trade-off between security and complexity.
2Productivity
If amendments are applied without version verification, then processing is faster, but incorrect versions may be modified leading to security issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by verifying the certificate version hash before applying amendments. The system calculates the hash of the current certificate version and compares it against the expected hash from the amendment record. This pre-verification ensures that amendments are only applied to the correct version, preventing security issues while maintaining efficient processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback through hash verification, where the system continuously checks the current certificate state against expected states before applying changes. This feedback mechanism ensures that amendments are applied only when the certificate is in the correct state, maintaining reliability without significantly impacting processing speed.
3Ease of operation
If amendments are not enforced when devices are offline, then devices can operate independently, but security updates are not applied consistently across the network
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by queueing amendments for offline devices and applying them automatically when the device comes online. The system stores amendment records locally and applies them deterministically when the opportunity arises, ensuring that security updates are eventually applied to all devices regardless of their online/offline status.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables self-service by allowing offline devices to automatically apply queued amendments when they come online without requiring manual intervention or continuous network connectivity. The deterministic application process ensures that amendments are applied consistently across all devices, maintaining security reliability while preserving offline operational capability.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus comprises at least one processing device configured to receive a hash value for a digital certificate and an amendment for a portion of the digital certificate, and to determine whether the hash value corresponds to a last version of the digital certificate on the at least one processing device. The at least one processing device is further configured to incorporate the amendment into a new version of the digital certificate in response to determining that the hash value corresponds to the last version of the digital certificate on the at least one processing device.