Extrinsic Time Source for Digital Certificate Validation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing digital certificate validation methods rely on local date and time comparisons, which can be tampered with or inaccurate, leading to potential security risks and certificate validity determination issues.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that utilize one or more extrinsic sources for obtaining a current date and time value, which is then compared to the digital certificate's validity period, ensuring the integrity and accuracy of the certificate's expiration status by using trusted time sources like NIST or USNO, and allowing for multiple sources to be specified within the certificate.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If local date and time is used for certificate validation, then the validation process is simple and fast, but the security and accuracy are compromised due to potential tampering
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an extrinsic time source as an intermediary between the certificate and the validation process. Instead of directly trusting local time, the system retrieves time from an external trusted source (such as a time server or network time protocol source) and uses that as the basis for validation. This intermediary provides trusted time information without requiring the local system to generate or maintain accurate time itself, thus improving reliability while keeping the implementation relatively simple.
2Reliability
If multiple extrinsic sources are specified in the certificate, then the reliability of time verification is improved, but the device complexity and processing overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the time verification process by dividing it into multiple independent time source checks. Instead of relying on a single time source, the system is designed to check multiple extrinsic sources (such as multiple NTP servers or time authorities) and can validate the certificate against any one of them. This segmentation allows the system to improve reliability through redundancy while maintaining operational simplicity by processing each source independently and stopping at the first successful validation.
3Reliability
If extrinsic time sources are used instead of local time, then tamper-proof validation is achieved, but network dependency and validation time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by having the extrinsic time sources prepare and make their time information available before the actual certificate validation occurs. Time synchronization and source availability are established in advance, so that when validation is needed, the system can quickly retrieve pre-synchronized time information without requiring lengthy real-time synchronization processes. This reduces the time overhead during actual validation while maintaining the anti-tampering benefits of extrinsic sources.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer uses the information included within a digital certificate to obtain a current date and time value from a trusted extrinsic trusted source and the computer compares the obtained current date and time value to a validity period included in the digital certificate to determine if the digital certificate is expired. The information included within the digital certificate specifying an extrinsic source for the current date and time value can be included in an extension of the digital certificate, and the information can specify a plurality of extrinsic sources.