Automatic Credential Rotation via Key Stretching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing credential management systems face challenges in securely managing and rotating credentials, particularly in cloud-based environments, where unauthorized access can occur due to compromised credentials, and manual password rotation is cumbersome and insecure.
Innovation Solution
Implementing an automatic credential rotation system using a key stretching algorithm that modifies credentials before transmission and storage, ensuring that even if credentials are intercepted, the original plaintext password cannot be easily recovered, and rotating the password effectively without requiring users to change their remembered password.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If credentials are given a limited lifetime to minimize unauthorized access risk, then security is improved, but user convenience deteriorates due to frequent credential expiration
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically generates and rotates credentials without requiring user intervention. The credential rotation is performed by the system itself, eliminating the need for users to manually change credentials while still maintaining security through frequent rotation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary credential that acts as a temporary substitute for the original credentials. This intermediary credential can be automatically generated and rotated, protecting the original credentials while maintaining system access, thus resolving the conflict between security and user convenience.
2Reliability
If manual password rotation is implemented frequently to maintain security, then security is improved, but system complexity and user burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs automatic credential rotation without requiring manual user intervention or complex administrative overhead. The credential management becomes self-service, where the system automatically generates, distributes, and rotates credentials based on predefined policies, reducing both user burden and operational complexity.
3Ease of operation
If credentials are transmitted and stored in plaintext for ease of use, then ease of operation is improved, but security deteriorates due to potential interception and recovery
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses an intermediary credential mechanism where the actual plaintext password is never transmitted or stored. Instead, an intermediary credential derived from the password through key stretching is used for authentication, eliminating the security risk of plaintext exposure while maintaining authentication functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies key stretching algorithms that transform the original password into a derived credential through computational processing. This parameter change from plaintext to stretched credential maintains ease of use while dramatically improving security by making intercepted credentials computationally infeasible to reverse.
Data Source
AI summary
Credentials and other sensitive strings can undergo automatic rotation before each transmission or storage of those credentials. String modification, which can utilize a key stretching algorithm, can be used to modify the credential before transmission. This can be for an initial sign up, a subsequent login, or another such action. A random number can be generated to determine the number of iterations for the key stretching algorithm to be applied. For subsequent actions, a new random number can be added to the prior iteration number in order to create a new string that can be generated using the previously utilized iteration number and the new random number, with only the new random number being transmitted with the modified credential string. This increases security, as the transmission itself cannot be used to recover the original plaintext credential if recovered.