Device Onboarding Ownership Vouchers with Centralized Access Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing device onboarding protocols, such as the Fast Identification (FIDO) Device Onboarding (FDO) protocol, do not adequately protect ownership vouchers from unauthorized modifications, allowing intermediaries to illegitimately change device ownership by removing the last entry in the certificate chain, compromising device ownership security.
Innovation Solution
Implement a device discovery service as a central authority to manage and enforce access control over ownership vouchers, ensuring only authorized owners can modify or transfer ownership, using cryptographic technology and a chain of signed owner public keys, and validate ownership through a trusted third party.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If existing device onboarding protocols are used without centralized access control, then device onboarding can proceed without central authority intervention, but ownership vouchers become vulnerable to unauthorized modifications by intermediaries
Solution Approach 1:
A centralized device discovery service is introduced as a trusted intermediary between device owners and the onboarding system. This service verifies ownership voucher authenticity, enforces access control policies, and prevents unauthorized modifications by intermediaries. The mediator architecture resolves the contradiction by adding a security layer that protects ownership reliability while maintaining manageable system complexity through centralized coordination.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary verification of ownership vouchers at the device discovery service before allowing any ownership changes or onboarding operations. By validating the voucher's cryptographic signatures and checking access control policies in advance, the system prevents unauthorized modifications before they can occur, thereby ensuring ownership security without requiring complex continuous monitoring throughout the entire onboarding process.
2Ease of operation
If ownership vouchers allow flexible ownership transfer, then device ownership can be changed efficiently, but unauthorized ownership changes can occur through removal of certificate chain entries
Solution Approach 1:
The device discovery service implements a feedback mechanism that continuously monitors ownership voucher integrity and enforces access control policies. When an ownership transfer is requested, the service verifies the current owner's authority through cryptographic validation and policy checks before allowing the transfer. This feedback loop ensures that only authorized ownership changes are permitted, preventing unauthorized modifications while maintaining efficient transfer operations through automated verification.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies preliminary anti-action by implementing preventive access control measures that block unauthorized ownership changes before they can occur. The device discovery service validates each ownership transfer request against stored policies and cryptographic signatures, actively preventing attempts to illegally remove certificate chain entries or transfer ownership without proper authorization. This preemptive security approach protects against harmful factors while allowing legitimate transfers to proceed efficiently.
Data Source
AI summary
A system can receive a first ownership voucher for a device that identifies a first entity as being the owner. The system can receive a second ownership voucher indicative of the first entity changing the owner to a second entity. The system can determine that the first entity is the owner based on the first ownership voucher. The system can update the owner to be the second entity via storing the second ownership voucher. The system can, based on receiving second user input associated with the second entity, verify the second entity as the owner using the second ownership voucher. The system can, based on verifying the second entity as the owner, store an identifier of a device onboarding service used to perform the verifying. The system can direct the device to access the device onboarding service to provision the device using the identifier of the device onboarding service.