Certificate Orchestration System for Secure Key Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current approaches to digital certificate and encryption key management in network computing environments are insecure, leading to potential unauthorized access due to insecure handling and sharing of private keys.
Innovation Solution
A certificate orchestration system that generates and manages digital certificates and keys by acting as an intermediary between client devices and third-party certificate authorities, storing the digital certificates and keys in a database not directly connected to the client device, thereby reducing the risk of unauthorized access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If digital certificates and private keys are stored directly on client devices for easy access, then ease of operation is improved, but security is worsened due to increased risk of unauthorized access
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a certificate orchestration server as an intermediary between client devices and the certificate authority. This server acts as a mediator that stores digital certificates and private keys in secure storage, allowing client devices to access certificates without directly holding private keys. The intermediary architecture enables ease of operation for certificate access while maintaining security by preventing private key exposure on client devices.
2Ease of operation
If private keys are shared and collaborated on across multiple devices, then ease of operation is improved, but security is worsened due to increased attack surface
Solution Approach 1:
The certificate orchestration server serves as a centralized intermediary that manages private key access for multiple users and devices. Instead of sharing private keys across devices, the server provides controlled access to the private key storage, allowing collaboration on certificate deployment while maintaining security. The intermediary architecture eliminates the need for key sharing by providing authenticated access paths to the secured private key repository.
3Device complexity
If digital certificates are manually managed and deployed across multiple servers, then device complexity is reduced, but productivity is worsened due to time-consuming deployment processes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements automated certificate deployment functionality where the certificate orchestration server can automatically deploy digital certificates to multiple target servers without requiring manual intervention. The system provides self-service capabilities including automated certificate requests, retrieval from certificate authorities, and distribution to designated servers. This automation significantly improves productivity while the centralized management approach keeps overall system complexity manageable.
Solution Approach 2:
The certificate orchestration server performs preliminary actions by pre-configuring certificate deployment targets and establishing deployment rules before actual certificate issuance. The system can pre-stage certificates and automatically distribute them when ready, eliminating the need for manual deployment processes. This preliminary preparation accelerates the overall certificate deployment productivity while maintaining simple device configurations.
Data Source
AI summary
A certificate orchestration system for digital certificate and encryption key management is provided herein along with associated methods. The system includes a certificate orchestration server having a processing device in communication with a coupled storage system that is coupled to the certificate orchestration server. The system further includes an interface provided by the certificate orchestration server to a client device; and a database to store digital certificates and keys. The certificate orchestration server is configured to receive a request from the client device to generate a public key, receive the public key from a third-party certificate authority system over an external network, store the public key in the coupled storage system. The coupled storage system is not directly connected to the client device.