Dynamic Digital Certificate Generation via Challenge-Response
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for generating digital certificates and managing digital identities face issues such as user manipulation, inadequate data protection, and high risk of misuse due to long-term validity and complex technical requirements, making them unsuitable for non-technical users and increasing the risk of abuse.
Innovation Solution
A method for generating a digital certificate and ID token that allows for flexible, event-related issuance and use, with limited validity for specific occasions, periods, or transactions, using asymmetric key pairs and secure storage to reduce misuse risks and simplify user interaction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a digital certificate is issued with long-term validity to enable legally binding electronic signatures, then the certificate provides sufficient benefit for electronic transactions, but the risk of misuse increases significantly if the private key falls into wrong hands
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic certificate validity by allowing certificates to be temporarily suspended or revoked through a challenge-response mechanism. When a user receives a challenge (e.g., suspicious activity detection), the certificate becomes invalid immediately, transforming the static long-term validity into a dynamic state that can change based on security conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system establishes a feedback loop where the certificate issuer monitors certificate usage and can send challenges to certificate holders. Based on the response to these challenges, the system adjusts certificate validity - either maintaining it or suspending it - thereby creating a closed-loop control system that responds to security conditions.
2Reliability
If a digital certificate system is designed with complex security requirements for key management and storage, then security against misuse is improved, but the system becomes too complex for non-technical users to operate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service mechanisms where the system automatically handles certificate issuance, suspension, and revocation based on challenge-response outcomes. Users simply need to respond to challenges (e.g., answering security questions or providing biometric verification) rather than manually managing complex cryptographic keys and certificates, thereby reducing operational complexity while maintaining security.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary challenge-response mechanism between the user and the certificate system. Instead of users directly managing complex cryptographic operations, they interact through simplified challenges (such as security questions, SMS verification, or biometric authentication) that the system translates into certificate validity decisions, shielding users from technical complexity.
3Productivity
If digital identities are stored centrally in a database to enable server-based authentication, then authentication efficiency is improved, but data protection is inadequate since user behavior can be recorded and identities can be manipulated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the centralized identity storage into distributed certificate instances issued to multiple certificate authorities. Instead of one central database containing all user identities, the system distributes authentication capabilities across multiple independent certificates, each valid for specific purposes and time periods, thereby reducing the risk of centralization while maintaining authentication efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by making each certificate tailored to specific users, purposes, and time periods rather than using uniform centralized identities. Each certificate has localized validity scope (specific services, time windows, purposes) and can be independently managed, providing both protection against centralization risks and efficient local authentication where needed.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The invention relates to a method for generating a certificate for signing electronic documents by means of an ID token (106), having the following steps: —sending (201) a transaction request for a user to carry out a transaction, —as a result of the sending of the transaction request, a check is carried out as to whether the certificate (519) is available and if this is not the case, carrying out the following steps: generating (206) an asymmetrical key pair consisting of a private key and a public key using an ID token, said ID token (106) being assigned to the user; storing (207) the generated asymmetrical key pair on the ID token, wherein at least the private key is stored in a protected memory region of the ID token; transmitting (208; 509) the generated public key (518) to a first computer system, and generating (209) the certificate (519) by means of the first computer system for the public key.