Reference Token Service for Cross-Application Data Sharing

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional crypto management services face challenges in managing encrypted data across multiple applications, including compatibility issues due to different encryption technologies, performance degradation from decrypting and re-encrypting data, and vulnerability to data corruption when stored alongside unencrypted data.

Innovation Solution

A centralized crypto system that performs cryptography operations and stores encrypted data, using a reference token service to facilitate secure data sharing and retrieval among applications, with tokenization and key rotation to ensure compatibility and security.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If data is encrypted using different encryption technologies in separate applications, then each application can maintain its own security standards, but the applications cannot share encrypted data directly and must use unencrypted form

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata securityVSAvoiddata sharing capability
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a centralized crypto management service as an intermediary between separate applications. This service receives encrypted data from one application, decrypts it using the first application's encryption key, re-encrypts it using the second application's encryption key, and delivers it to the second application. This mediator resolves the incompatibility between different encryption technologies while maintaining security standards in both applications.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Adaptability or versatility

If crypto management service performs decrypting and re-encrypting operations, then data can be shared between applications with different encryption technologies, but system load increases and performance decreases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecross-application data sharingVSAvoidapplication performance
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements preliminary action by pre-generating and storing multiple encryption keys for each data item in the centralized crypto management service. When data needs to be shared between applications, the service simply retrieves the pre-prepared encrypted versions using different keys, avoiding real-time decrypting and re-encrypting operations. This significantly reduces system load and improves performance while maintaining cross-application data sharing capability.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Device complexity

If encrypted data is stored in the same location as unencrypted data, then storage management is simplified, but the encrypted data becomes vulnerable to the same data corruption possibilities as unencrypted data

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvestorage management complexityVSAvoiddata integrity
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies segmentation by physically separating encrypted data storage from unencrypted data storage. The centralized crypto management service maintains encrypted data in a dedicated secure storage location, while applications store only references or tokens pointing to this encrypted data. This separation ensures that encrypted data is protected from corruption risks associated with unencrypted data storage while still allowing simplified access through the reference mechanism.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentUS8489894B2Reference token service
Publication Date: 2013.07.16 PAYMETRIC
  • US8489894B2 patent drawing
  • US8489894B2 patent drawing
  • US8489894B2 patent drawing

AI summary

A reference token service (RTS) is disclosed. Generally, the RTS receives sensitive data items from trusted source applications associated with particular merchants. Upon receipt of a particular sensitive data item from a particular merchant, the RTS identifies one or more reference token pools corresponding to the merchant. Each reference token pool includes a plurality of reference tokens comprising formats and data structures corresponding to sensitive data items and compatible with the merchant. The RTS receives a crypto token associated with the sensitive data item which may not conform to the merchant's formatting or data requirements. The RTS associates the crypto token with a reference token corresponding to the merchant, which is provided to the merchant for sharing and retrieval of the sensitive data item amongst the merchant's various applications.