Offline Data Recovery Subsystem for Encrypted Sensitive Data
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Solution Overview
Problem
In high security systems, sensitive user data protected by a user's secret is at risk of being lost if the user forgets the password or loses the secret encryption key, leading to significant user experience implications, as existing methods for password recovery are inadequate for encrypted data.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for sensitive data recovery involving a client device generating a data recovery request key pair, signing it with an identity private key, and communicating with an offline data recovery subsystem (ODRS) to authenticate and re-encrypt the data recovery key pair, allowing secure retrieval of encrypted data without compromising the system even if the server is compromised.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If data is protected with a user's secret or password-derived key, then data security is improved and cannot be recovered by attackers, but data loss occurs when users forget passwords or lose secret keys
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a recovery key pair (public key and private key) as an intermediary mechanism. The public key is stored on the server alongside the encrypted data, while the private key is kept by the user. This intermediary allows data recovery without requiring the original password or secret key, thus resolving the contradiction between strong security protection and data recoverability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by generating and storing the recovery key pair before any data loss scenario occurs. The public key is pre-stored on the server, and the private key is pre-configured with the user, enabling future data recovery without needing to compromise security or rely on memory of passwords.
2Ease of operation
If traditional password recovery methods are used, then user access is restored, but encrypted data cannot be recovered
Solution Approach 1:
The recovery key pair acts as an intermediary that decouples password recovery from data recovery. When a user forgets their password, they can use the private key to decrypt the data encryption key, which then allows access to the encrypted data without needing to recover the original password.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments the authentication and decryption processes into separate components: the password/secret key for authentication, and the recovery key pair for data access. This segmentation allows password recovery through traditional methods while simultaneously enabling encrypted data recovery through the private key, resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and data recovery capability.
Data Source
AI summary
A system, method, and computer program product are provided for sensitive data recovery in high security systems. In operation, a client device receives a request by a user to initiate a data recovery process to recover data that is encrypted. The client device generates a new data recovery request key pair. The client device creates a data recovery request that includes a data recovery request public key. The client device signs the data recovery request using an identity private key that is associated with a certificate issued by a certification authority (CA). The client device sends the data recovery request to a server system storing the data. The server system accesses an offline data recovery subsystem (ODRS) storing a data recovery key pair to authenticate the user. The ODRS generates and stores a secret data recovery code. The client device receives the secret data recovery code that was communicated to the user. The client device sends the secret data recovery code along with the data recovery request to the server system. The server system verifies the received secret data recovery code against the stored secret data recovery code. The server system verifies a public key associated with the received data recovery request against a public key associated with a stored recovery request. The server system identifies the data recovery request as authenticated. The ODRS verifies a request signature associated with the data recovery request. The ODRS verifies the encrypted signature against encrypted and signed recovery data. The ODRS verifies that a user ID in a password reset request matches a user ID in a message encryption key signature. The ODRS decrypts the data recovery key pair and re-encrypts the data recovery key pair to the data recovery request public key. The ODRS stores the re-encrypted data recovery key pair associated with the data recovery request. The client device queries the server system to obtain the data. The server system returns the data to the client device. The client device decrypts the data using a data recovery private key.