Cryptographic Certificate Trust Verification via Segmented Client-Server Checks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Security failures in existing cryptographic systems for network transmissions, such as the Internet, hinder users' willingness to share information due to vulnerabilities in encryption algorithms that can be broken with sufficient resources, unless the decryption resources outweigh the potential reward.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a client device and a central verification server that perform checks on cryptographic certificates, where the client device initially verifies a first set of attributes and sends the certificate to the server for a more comprehensive analysis of a second set of attributes, with the server providing a notification on the certificate's trustworthiness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a comprehensive verification of cryptographic certificate attributes is performed, then the reliability of certificate trust assessment is improved, but the device complexity and computational resources required increase
Solution Approach 1:
The verification process is segmented into two distinct phases: a first check performed by the client device on a first set of attributes, and a second check performed by the central verification server on a second set of attributes. This segmentation distributes the computational burden and complexity across different system components, allowing comprehensive verification while managing device complexity through division of labor.
Solution Approach 2:
A central verification server is introduced as an intermediary between the client device and the certificate authority. This intermediary performs the second check on certificate attributes, relieving the client device of the burden of comprehensive verification while ensuring high reliability through centralized, resource-intensive checking that the client device alone could not perform.
2Reliability
If resource-intensive decryption protection is implemented, then the security against decryption attacks is improved, but the use of computational resources increases
Solution Approach 1:
The security verification is segmented between client device and central server, with the client performing lighter first checks and the server performing more resource-intensive second checks. This segmentation allows strong security protection through comprehensive verification while distributing computational resource consumption across the network infrastructure rather than requiring every client device to have high computational capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service security verification where the client device performs initial validation checks independently, and only requests server assistance when needed. This approach reduces overall computational resource usage by having each component perform only the verification tasks it is best suited for, rather than requiring all components to perform all verification functions.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the present invention include determining whether a cryptographic certificate can be trusted. A cryptographic certificate is received at a client device. The client device performs a first check on a first set of attributes of the cryptographic certificate. In addition, the client device sends the cryptographic certificate to a central verification server, which performs a second check on a second set of attributes of the cryptographic certificate. In the case that the first set of attributes passes the first check, and the second set of attributes passes the second check, the client device determines that the cryptographic certificate can be trusted.