Distributed Data Object Attestation Across Trusted Secure Clusters
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems face challenges in providing cryptographic attestations for data objects stored in secure environments due to single points of failure, uneven resource loads, and increased risk of data breaches, leading to latency, unavailability, and increased costs.
Innovation Solution
A distributed system architecture is implemented, where clusters of secure environments are enrolled and provisioned as data object attestation authorities, enabling them to share loads and maintain trustworthiness by encrypting and signing certificates, thus allowing secure data object management and attestation across multiple clusters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single secure environment issues cryptographic attestations, then the system is simple to manage, but it creates a single point of failure and increases latency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the attestation authority into multiple distributed secure environments (clusters), where each secure environment can issue attestations independently. This segmentation eliminates the single point of failure while maintaining manageable complexity through standardized enrollment and provisioning mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a single centralized secure environment to a distributed multi-cluster architecture, adding the dimension of spatial distribution. This allows attestations to be issued from multiple locations simultaneously, reducing latency and increasing availability without proportionally increasing management complexity.
2Device complexity
If a single secure environment manages all data objects, then device complexity is low, but resource load becomes uneven and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the workload across multiple secure environments by enabling clusters to issue attestations independently. This distributes resource load more evenly across the system while maintaining a relatively simple management structure through standardized enrollment and certificate sharing mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables clusters to share data object attestation authority certificates, allowing multiple secure environments to perform the same attestation function. This copying of authority distributes computational workload and improves resource utilization efficiency without requiring complex centralized coordination.
3Device complexity
If a single secure environment issues all attestations, then the system is simple, but security risk increases due to centralized exposure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the attestation issuance function across multiple distributed secure environments. This limits the impact of any single compromise, as attackers cannot access all data objects through one breached environment. The standardized certificate sharing mechanism maintains security while distributing risk.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent adds spatial distribution to the system architecture, moving from a single centralized secure environment to multiple geographically or logically distributed clusters. This dimensional change reduces security exposure by ensuring that compromise of one location does not affect others, while maintaining system simplicity through standardized protocols.
Data Source
AI summary
A request to provide a data object attestation authority certificate to a second cluster of secure environments is received at a first cluster of secure environments. The request comprises a cluster certificate of the second cluster issued by a cluster enrollment certificate authority (CA). The cluster certificate is validated using a public key of the enrollment CA. An encrypted message comprising the attestation authority certificate and a digital signature of the first cluster is generated. The encrypted message is encrypted using a public key indicated in the cluster certificate of the second cluster. The digital signature is associated with a cluster certificate of the first cluster issued by the enrollment CA. The encrypted message is provided to the second cluster to be decrypted using a private key associated with the cluster certificate of the second cluster, and to be validated using at least the public key of the enrollment CA.