Microservice Attestation Handshake Using Secure Elements
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional systems struggle to efficiently establish and maintain trusted communication channels between microservices, particularly in microservice architectures, due to frequent updates and migrations, leading to performance setbacks and security vulnerabilities.
Innovation Solution
Offload attestation operations to secure elements correlated with microservices, using cryptographic keys and secure elements to generate and verify credentials, and implement policy checks to ensure trusted communication channels are maintained.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If microservices are frequently updated and migrated to improve adaptability, then system flexibility improves, but establishing and maintaining trusted communication channels becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary attestation operations by issuing handshake requests and verification requests before establishing communication channels. Secure elements generate and store credentials in advance, and policy checks are configured beforehand. This preliminary setup allows microservices to quickly establish trusted connections during updates without compromising security or requiring complex real-time verification during migrations.
2Reliability
If conventional attestation methods are used between microservices, then security verification is performed, but system performance deteriorates due to frequent updates and migrations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the attestation and credential verification operations from the main microservice execution flow and places them in dedicated secure elements. The secure elements handle credential generation, storage, and verification independently, allowing the microservices to maintain high performance while security verification occurs in isolated, optimized environments. This separation prevents attestation operations from becoming performance bottlenecks during frequent updates and migrations.
3Adaptability or versatility
If microservice architecture is implemented to improve deployment flexibility, then scalability improves, but establishing trusted communication channels becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal handshake protocol and verification mechanism that works across all microservice interactions regardless of their specific functions or deployment configurations. The secure elements use standardized cryptographic operations and policy check formats that can be applied uniformly across the entire microservice architecture. This universal approach simplifies the establishment of trusted communication channels while maintaining deployment flexibility, as the same attestation framework handles diverse microservice scenarios without requiring custom solutions for each service.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables efficient and secure establishment of trusted communication channels between microservices, allowing real-time adjustments to changes and maintaining system performance without compromising security.
Implementation Method 1
The first secure element signs the credentials using a cryptographic key assigned to the first microservice
Data Source
AI summary
A CIM, according to one approach, includes: issuing, from a first microservice, a handshake request to a second microservice. In response, a verification request is received at the first microservice from the second microservice. Moreover, in response to receiving the verification request, a first secure element correlated with the first microservice produces credentials associated with the first microservice. The first secure element signs the credentials using a cryptographic key assigned to the first microservice. Furthermore, the signed credentials are sent to the second microservice.