Group Membership Token Handler for Distributed Application Security
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing distributed application systems face challenges in securing group membership verification, particularly in inter-enterprise collaborations, where the security of certificate revocation lists and message authentication protocols can be compromised, leading to potential malicious operations.
Innovation Solution
A computer network architecture with a separate execution environment for group membership token handling, including a group membership token store and a token authority interface, which intercepts and authenticates messages to ensure only authorized components include group membership tokens, enhancing secure group membership verification by isolating the local component from the group membership token handler and utilizing virtual machines with virtual cryptoprocessor functions for improved message security.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If certificate revocation lists and message authentication protocols are used for group membership verification, then authentication security is improved, but the security of the system becomes dependent on the security of the protocols used to store and transmit revocation lists
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the group membership verification function from the traditional certificate-based authentication system. Instead of relying on certificate revocation lists and complex authentication protocols, the invention introduces a separate group membership token that is independently verified. This token is issued by a group manager and contains cryptographic proof of membership, allowing verification without dependency on the security of certificate management protocols.
Solution Approach 2:
The group membership token acts as an intermediary credential between the group manager and group members. Rather than directly verifying certificates or managing revocation lists, the group manager issues tokens that serve as proof of membership. These tokens are verified by checking cryptographic signatures, eliminating the need for insecure protocol-based verification of revocation status.
2Reliability
If a separate execution environment is used for group membership token handling, then message security is improved through isolation, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the execution environment into distinct components: a group membership token handler that operates separately from the local component execution environment. This separation allows the token handler to verify group membership tokens independently without being affected by vulnerabilities in the main execution environment, thereby improving security through architectural segmentation.
Solution Approach 2:
The separate execution environment acts as an intermediary verification layer. It receives messages from the local component, verifies the group membership token independently, and then allows the message to proceed if verification succeeds. This intermediary layer provides security isolation without requiring complete system redesign.
Data Source
AI summary
A computer network is disclosed in which a group of computers co-operate to perform a distributed application. In order to ensure that only members of that group of computers are able to carry out certain operations, messages sent in the performance of the distributed application are checked by the recipient for the presence of a group membership token. The inclusion of a group membership token is controlled by one or more group membership handlers which intercept messages from local components and only include a group membership token with the message if they list the sending local component as being entitled to include the group membership token in the message. Furthermore, by operating the group membership token on a separate machine, or preferably a separate virtual machine from the local component, security is further improved. In the most preferred embodiments, the group token handler and/or the local component are hosted on virtual machines which provide virtualised cryptographic functionality.