Multi-Party Secret Protection via Asynchronous Shard Accumulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing secret protection schemes in computer networks are vulnerable to hacking, particularly when split decryption keys are stored and accessed over the internet, and physical presence-based approaches require simultaneous approval from multiple parties, which can be inefficient and prone to conspiracies.
Innovation Solution
A system that accumulates encrypted shards from different timepoints, using a frontend component for authentication and authorization, and a backend component for decryption, ensuring that no single entity has access to the complete key, with a mechanism that allows multi-party approval without simultaneous presence and prevents stockpiling of approvals.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If split decryption keys are stored in storage devices accessible via the internet, then access to secrets can be enabled remotely, but the system becomes vulnerable to hacking and conspiracies among approvers
Solution Approach 1:
The decryption key is divided into multiple encrypted shards distributed across different storage devices. Each shard is encrypted with a unique key, and no single device contains the complete decryption key. This segmentation ensures that even if one or more devices are hacked, the attacker cannot access the secret without the other shards.
Solution Approach 2:
A trusted server acts as an intermediary to coordinate the key combination process. The server receives requests from multiple approvers, collects their encrypted shards, verifies their identities, and only then combines the shards to decrypt the secret. This intermediary prevents direct access to individual shards and ensures that combination occurs only with proper authorization.
2Reliability
If multiple approvers must simultaneously provide their keys to access a secret, then security is improved, but the process becomes inefficient and requires physical presence
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-splitting the decryption key into multiple shards and pre-distributing them to different storage devices before any access is needed. When a secret needs to be accessed, the system only needs to collect the current shards from the appropriate devices, rather than requiring simultaneous physical presence of multiple approvers. This enables asynchronous access while maintaining security.
3Extent of automation
If a trusted server maintains the complete decryption key, then secret access can be controlled centrally, but the server becomes a point of vulnerability for conspiracies
Solution Approach 1:
The centralized key management function is segmented across multiple distributed storage devices. Each device holds an encrypted shard that contributes to the complete key, but no single device contains the full key. This eliminates the single point of failure and prevents conspiracies among approvers who would need to compromise multiple independent devices simultaneously.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods herein are for protecting secrets with multi-party approval in a computer network. One or more processing units enable accumulation of a plurality of encrypted shards that are received at different timepoints and that are associated with a secret. A process that is remote from the server is enabled, upon accumulating a predetermined number of the plurality of encrypted shards, to cause, in communication with a trusted server, decryption and combination to be performed on the plurality of encrypted shards to provide access to the secret.