Distributed Data Access Controls With Hash-Based Integrity Checks
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Solution Overview
Problem
In distributed networks, existing solutions lack meaningful controls for data access and protection, allowing nodes to alter confidential data before sharing, and owners have limited control over their data's security and integrity.
Innovation Solution
A system generates an identifier and hashes for confidential data, encrypts the data and hashes using different keys, and validates the hashes against an array to ensure authenticity and integrity, enabling secure and controllable data sharing among nodes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If data is shared across distributed nodes without centralized governance, then data accessibility and network autonomy are improved, but data security and integrity control deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments data into multiple shares using secret sharing schemes, distributing them across different nodes. Each share alone is insufficient to reconstruct the original data, ensuring that even if some nodes are compromised, data security is maintained while accessibility is preserved through authorized node combinations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces cryptographic hash functions and commitment schemes as intermediaries between data owners and distributed nodes. These mechanisms enable verification of data integrity without requiring centralized governance, allowing nodes to autonomously verify data authenticity while maintaining security.
2Ease of operation
If password protection is used to limit data access, then basic access control is improved, but control over further sharing and data integrity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where data owners can monitor and control subsequent sharing of their data. The system provides visibility into which nodes have accessed or shared data, enabling owners to revoke permissions or take corrective actions, thus maintaining both access control and data integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent establishes preliminary controls by embedding cryptographic commitments and integrity verification mechanisms into the data sharing process before any actual sharing occurs. This ensures that data integrity is protected from the outset and that unauthorized alterations can be detected.
3Device complexity
If data is stored in centralized cloud services, then data management simplicity is improved, but owner control and security safeguards deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional centralized model by placing cryptographic control mechanisms directly at the distributed nodes rather than relying on centralized cloud services. Data owners maintain control through cryptographic keys and verification mechanisms embedded in the distributed system, achieving both simplicity and owner control.
Data Source
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AI summary
Methods, systems, apparatuses, and computer program products are provided for controlling data access and/or accessing data in a distributed network. An identifier may be generated for confidential data. A hash generator may generate a first hash of the confidential data, and generate a second hash based on the first hash and the identifier. A data packet set that includes the confidential data, the identifier, and the second hash may be encrypted and transmitted between nodes of the distributed network. A receiving node may decrypt the packet set using one or more appropriate encryption keys and regenerate the second hash from the confidential data and the identifier. The regenerated hash may be compared against the decrypted hash to authenticate the received confidential data and/or validated against a revocable hash stored in an array of the owning node that is accessible by any receiving node.