DID-Signed Verifiable Credentials for Partner Security Compliance

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Solution Overview

Problem

Businesses face challenges in verifying the security posture of their partners without compromising their security infrastructure, as traditional methods are time-consuming and prone to fraud, and allowing access to security settings can expose vulnerabilities.

Innovation Solution

A trusted security endorsement entity provides a verifiable credential cryptographically signed with a decentralized identifier (DID) that confirms compliance with security policies, enabling secure verification without exposing sensitive information.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If traditional security verification methods are used to ensure business partners have required security levels, then security compliance is achieved, but time and resource consumption increases significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesecurity compliance verificationVSAvoidverification time

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

Security assessments are performed in advance by trusted endorsement entities, and results are stored as verifiable credentials. When business partnerships are initiated, these pre-assessed credentials are directly verified rather than conducting new assessments, eliminating redundant verification work and significantly reducing time consumption while maintaining security compliance.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

Instead of directly accessing and verifying original security settings and infrastructure, the system uses copied representations in the form of verifiable credentials that contain security assessment results. These credentials are cryptographically signed and can be verified without exposing actual security configurations, thus reducing verification time while ensuring compliance.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

2Reliability

If access to security settings is allowed for verification purposes, then security compliance can be confirmed, but security infrastructure vulnerabilities are exposed

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesecurity compliance confirmationVSAvoidvulnerability exposure

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The system extracts only the necessary security assessment results from the original security infrastructure and packages them into verifiable credentials. The actual security settings, configurations, and vulnerable infrastructure details remain private within the endorsing entity. Only the essential compliance information is extracted and shared, confirming security posture without exposing vulnerabilities.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

A trusted security endorsement entity acts as an intermediary between the entity with security settings and the entity requiring verification. The intermediary assesses security compliance independently and issues verifiable credentials that prove compliance without requiring direct access to the original security infrastructure. This mediator approach confirms security posture while preventing vulnerability exposure.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Measurement precision

If manual security verification processes are used, then detailed security assessment is possible, but resource consumption increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesecurity assessment detailVSAvoidverification resources

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The security endorsement system enables self-verification where entities can independently validate security compliance by verifying cryptographic signatures on credentials using public keys. This eliminates the need for resource-intensive manual review processes while maintaining detailed security assessment accuracy. The cryptographic verification is computationally efficient and can be automated.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

Manual security verification processes are replaced with cryptographic verification mechanisms. Instead of human experts manually reviewing security configurations, the system uses mathematical cryptography (digital signatures and public key infrastructure) to automatically verify security compliance. This substitution maintains measurement precision while dramatically reducing resource consumption in terms of human time and computational resources.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Data Source

PatentUS12463822B2Sharing security settings between entities using verifiable credentials

Publication Date: 2025.11.04 MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC

AI summary

A first verifiable credential is received at a second entity from a first entity. The first verifiable credential is cryptographically signed by the first entity using decentralized identifier (DID) of the first entity. The first verifiable credential includes a security indicator that specifies a security posture of the second entity based on security settings implemented by the second entity. A second verifiable credential is generated that embeds the first verifiable credential therein. The second verifiable credential is provided to a third entity. The second verifiable credential causes the third entity to verify the cryptographic signature of the first entity with a public key associated with the DID of the first entity to determine that the first verifiable credential is valid and that the security settings being implemented by the second entity are in compliance with security policies of the third entity.