Printer Hardware Encryption for Secure Document Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Storing private data on personal computers or smartphones is risky due to the risk of infection by viruses and hacking, even when data is encrypted, as these devices can be compromised by rootkit applications and hacked to decrypt encrypted documents.
Innovation Solution
A multi-purpose printer system that encrypts documents by scanning and printing them in an encrypted form using a user-generated encryption key, allowing for secure storage and decryption as needed, ensuring that plain text data is never exposed to hackable environments by using a pseudo-random encryption scheme and hardware-based encryption and decryption processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If data is stored on personal computers or smartphones, then data accessibility and convenience are improved, but security and vulnerability to viruses and hacking worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the vulnerable software layer from the system by eliminating the need for external code execution on printing devices. By implementing hardware-based encryption and decryption capabilities directly in the printer firmware, the system removes the attack surface that exists on PCs and smartphones, allowing data to be accessed conveniently while maintaining security through hardware-level protection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a trusted intermediary system consisting of the printing device and its firmware that acts as a secure mediator between data storage and display. The firmware serves as a trusted environment that decrypts content for display on connected devices without exposing the decryption keys or vulnerable software, thus maintaining both accessibility and security.
2Reliability
If documents are encrypted and stored on PCs or smartphones, then data security is improved, but vulnerability to decryption by hackers worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces software-based encryption and decryption mechanisms with hardware-based implementations. By implementing encryption and decryption capabilities directly in the printer's hardware firmware, the system eliminates the vulnerability to software-based hacking and decryption attacks, as hardware-level cryptographic operations cannot be compromised by external code or viruses.
3Adaptability or versatility
If printers run external code for functionality, then device versatility is improved, but security risks from code execution worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the printing system into two distinct parts: a vulnerable external interface layer that handles user interaction and file transfer, and a secure internal firmware layer that performs encryption, decryption, and printing operations. This segmentation allows the printer to maintain versatility through its interface capabilities while protecting its core functions from external code execution risks by isolating them in a trusted firmware environment.
Data Source
AI summary
A printing apparatus can print an encrypted document. The printing apparatus includes a scanner to scan a print medium, an analog-to-digital converter coupled to the scanner to convert analog scan data digital scan data, a hardware pixelization circuit to generate a sequence of pixels from the digital scan data, an encryptor to encrypt the sequence of pixels to generate a sequence of encrypted pixels prior to storing of the digital scan data, a data storage device to temporarily store the sequence of the encrypted pixels, and a printing subsystem to print the stored sequence of the encrypted pixels.