Multi-Party Digital Signature Key Segmentation and Distribution

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing digital signature systems in cryptocurrency transactions face vulnerabilities due to key management issues, including loss, hacking, and exposure of individual private keys, leading to potential security breaches.

Innovation Solution

A multi-party computation-based digital signature apparatus that breaks individual private keys into pieces, shares some of these pieces to generate distribution keys, and encrypts them with a separate key, making it impossible for leakage of individual or common private keys to occur, even if user terminals are hacked.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If individual private keys are managed centrally by each user, then key management is simple and direct, but security is vulnerable to hacking, loss, and exposure of keys

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvekey management simplicityVSAvoidsecurity vulnerability

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The individual private key is divided into multiple key pieces using Shamir secret sharing algorithm. Each user's private key is segmented into N pieces, where M pieces are sufficient to reconstruct the key. This segmentation prevents any single point of failure and eliminates the need for centralized key management, as each piece is distributed to different storage locations or users.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements a hierarchical key structure where individual private keys are nested within distribution keys, which are in turn nested within common private keys. Each layer provides an additional security barrier, creating a nested defense mechanism where compromise of one layer does not expose the underlying layers.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #7Nested doll (Nesting)

2Reliability

If individual private keys are distributed to multiple users, then security is improved through distribution, but the complexity of key management increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesecurity through distributionVSAvoidkey management complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent creates a universal key management system that handles multiple functions: generating individual private keys, dividing them into pieces, creating distribution keys, and enabling reconstruction. This multi-functional approach consolidates what would otherwise be separate complex processes into a unified system with standardized procedures.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The system performs preliminary key preparation by pre-dividing individual private keys into pieces and pre-generating distribution keys before actual transactions occur. This preliminary action ensures that when transactions need to occur, the complex key management operations have already been completed, reducing real-time complexity.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Reliability

If distribution keys are encrypted with separate encryption keys, then security against terminal hacking is improved, but the complexity of encryption operations increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprotection against terminal hackingVSAvoidencryption operation complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces separate encryption keys as intermediaries between the distribution keys and the storage medium. These encryption keys act as a protective layer that mediates access to the actual cryptographic keys, adding security without requiring changes to the core key management logic.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

4Object-affected harmful factors

If all user terminals are compromised, then key exposure risk increases, but with the patent's encryption approach, distribution keys remain protected

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveterminal compromise impactVSAvoidkey exposure vulnerability

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies preliminary protective measures by encrypting distribution keys with separate encryption keys before storage. This preliminary anti-action ensures that even if terminals are compromised later, the keys remain protected because the encryption keys are stored separately and never exposed in plaintext on the terminals.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #9Preliminary anti-action

Data Source

PatentUS20240146542A1Apparatus of making digital signature based on multi-party computation and method thereof

Publication Date: 2024.05.02 DSRV LABS CO LTD

AI summary

The present disclosure relates to a multi-party computation based digital signature apparatus, which includes at least: an individual private key generation unit generating an individual private key corresponding to a user; an individual private key pieces generation unit dividing the generated individual private key and generating pieces; an individual distribution key generation unit generating an individual distribution key corresponding to the user by using some of shared individual private key pieces of other users and some of the generated individual private key pieces; and a common public key generation unit generating a common public key by using the individual distribution keys of one or more other users and the individual distribution key of the user, and the individual private key of each user is broken to pieces, and then some of the broken individual private keys are shared for each user again to generate the individual distribution key.