Multi-Key Encryption System for Secure Data Access Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional data encryption methods use a single key for encryption and decryption, which compromises all users if the key is compromised, leading to insecure access control.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a multi-key encryption system where each user has a unique key set, with the ability to revoke access permissions for compromised keys, using a key hierarchy that includes user-specific encryption keys and server keys, ensuring that compromising one user's key does not affect others.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a single encryption key is shared among multiple users, then ease of operation is improved, but security is worsened because compromise of one user's credentials compromises all users
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the single shared encryption key into multiple separate user-specific encryption keys. Each user receives their own unique encryption key instead of sharing a common key. This segmentation ensures that compromise of one user's key does not affect the security of other users' access to the encrypted data.
2Reliability
If multiple user-specific encryption keys are implemented, then security is improved, but device complexity is worsened due to key management overhead
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple user-specific encryption keys with a single decryption key that can decrypt data encrypted by any of the user keys. This merging approach allows the system to maintain multiple keys for security while using a unified decryption mechanism, reducing the complexity of key management compared to maintaining completely separate decryption processes for each key.
Data Source
AI summary
A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided for encrypting and decrypting data using multiple authority keys including receiving, from a first computing device, a data decrypt request to decrypt encrypted data, the data decrypt request comprising a user key, determining that the user key is associated with a key hierarchy that comprises a server key, decrypting the server key using the user key, decrypting the encrypted data using the decrypted server key and permitting access to the decrypted data by the first computing device.