Privacy-Protected Transparency Tree for Device Attestation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Device management systems lack privacy-protected attestation methods that provide non-refutable proofs of device credentials and attributes, as existing solutions are susceptible to manipulation, lack transparency, and fail to ensure privacy due to weak security and public nature of data storage.
Innovation Solution
A process utilizing a verifiable random function to calculate a device privacy-protected index within a binary tree, combined with zero-knowledge commitments, generates a privacy-protected attestation for computer devices, ensuring that device entity paths reveal no information about other devices and providing secure, tamper-evident, and publicly auditable global device directories.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a centralized database is used to store device specifications, then device information can be easily looked up by serial number, but the system lacks immutability and is susceptible to manipulation and attacks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the traditional centralized database (mechanical/system-based storage) with a blockchain system. The blockchain provides immutable storage through cryptographic hashing and distributed consensus, eliminating the manipulation vulnerabilities of centralized databases while maintaining efficient device information lookup capabilities through the distributed ledger structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms the data storage model by changing fundamental parameters: data is no longer stored in a mutable centralized format but is instead hashed and distributed across multiple nodes with cryptographic verification. This parameter change from centralized mutable storage to distributed immutable storage resolves the contradiction between ease of lookup and data reliability.
2Reliability
If blockchain technology is used for device attestation, then immutability and non-refutability are improved, but privacy protection is lost due to the public nature of blockchains
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts sensitive device information from the public blockchain ledger. Instead of storing raw device data on-chain, the system stores only cryptographic hashes and verification metadata. The actual device information remains private and is verified through zero-knowledge proofs, separating the immutable verification layer from the private data layer.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces cryptographic hash functions and zero-knowledge proof mechanisms as intermediaries between the device data and the blockchain ledger. These intermediaries enable verification of device attestation on the public blockchain without exposing the underlying sensitive information, thus maintaining both non-refutability and privacy.
3Reliability
If device information is stored in a public blockchain, then transparency and auditability are improved, but security is weakened due to exposure of internal information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates cryptographic copies (hashes) of device information and stores these copies on the public blockchain rather than the original sensitive data. These hash copies provide transparent verification and auditability while the original secure data remains stored privately. Any tampering would change the hash, making it detectable on the blockchain without exposing the actual device information.
Data Source
AI summary
A system includes a binary tree having leaf hashes. The leaf hashes include a device privacy protected index and a set of zero-knowledge commitments relating to a computer device. The system calculates the device privacy protected index using a verifiable random function such that a device entity path in the binary tree cannot reveal any information about any other device in the binary tree, and associates the set of zero-knowledge commitments with the device privacy protected index. The system then generates a privacy-protected attestation for the computer device using the device privacy protected index and the set of zero-knowledge commitments.