Ephemeral Secret Tokens for Single-Use Secure Sharing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for sharing short-lived secrets, such as login information and encryption keys, often leave them exposed and vulnerable to unauthorized access, as recipients are responsible for deleting the secrets after use, and the secrets may remain accessible on the sender's system.
Innovation Solution
A secrets management system that encrypts secrets with ephemeral tokens, enforcing time-to-live constraints and recipient verification, ensuring single-use access and automatic deletion upon expiration, using a data vault and front-end orchestration for secure handling and tracking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If secrets are shared through email or messaging applications, then the secret can be transmitted to the recipient, but the secret may remain exposed and accessible beyond the expected timeframe
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically deleting the secret from the sender's system after transmission and setting a time-to-live constraint that automatically removes the secret from the recipient's system after a predetermined period. This eliminates the need for manual deletion and ensures the secret cannot be accessed beyond the expected timeframe.
Solution Approach 2:
The secret management system performs self-service by automatically managing the lifecycle of secrets through enforced time-to-live constraints and automatic deletion. The system monitors and executes deletion without requiring user intervention, ensuring secrets are removed according to their predetermined validity period.
2Device complexity
If the recipient is responsible for deleting the secret after use, then the sender does not need to manage deletion, but the secret may remain accessible on the sender's system
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary deletion actions by automatically removing the secret from the sender's system immediately after transmission and by setting automatic deletion schedules for the recipient's system. This eliminates the burden of manual deletion management while ensuring complete secret removal.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the secret is sent through a shared platform, then the secret can be accessed by multiple users, but the secret may remain visible for other computer system users to view
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary protective actions by setting time-to-live constraints that automatically expire and delete the secret from the shared platform before other users can access it. This prevents unintended exposure while maintaining the ability to share secrets with multiple users within the valid timeframe.
Solution Approach 2:
The system treats secrets as disposable objects with predetermined lifetimes. The time-to-live constraint ensures the secret automatically becomes invalid and is deleted after the expected timeframe, preventing prolonged exposure even on shared platforms.
Data Source
AI summary
A system includes a database, a plurality of memory resources, and a plurality of processor resources configured to access the memory resources and execute a plurality of instructions to perform a plurality of operations. The operations include generating a secret that encrypts a data value, wrapping the secret as an ephemeral token to store in the database under a multi-use token, deleting the input data value, and returning the multi-use token.