Secure Distributed Discovery Service Using Secret Sharing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Public discovery services are vulnerable to data theft attacks and face scalability, availability, and performance issues due to the exposure of sensitive information in global computer networks.
Innovation Solution
A secure distributed item-level discovery service using secret sharing, where uniform resource locators (URLs) are split into shares and published across multiple servers in a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) ring, employing Shamir secret sharing and P2P routing to prevent data theft and enhance scalability and performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If discovery information is published in a public network, then accessibility and discoverability are improved, but security and data protection deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The URL is divided into multiple shares using secret sharing algorithms, where each share is stored on different nodes in the P2P network. This segmentation ensures that no single node contains the complete URL, preventing data theft while maintaining accessibility through distributed reconstruction of the URL from shares.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces proxy nodes as intermediaries between clients and target nodes in the P2P network. These proxy nodes mask the actual locations of URL shares, adding an layer of indirection that protects against direct access and data theft while preserving the ability to retrieve information.
2Ease of operation
If discovery information is centralized in a public DS provider, then ease of access is improved, but scalability and availability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The discovery service is segmented across multiple independent nodes in a P2P network rather than centralized. Each node stores a portion of the discovery information (URL shares), distributing the load and eliminating single points of failure, thereby improving both scalability and availability.
Solution Approach 2:
The P2P network enables nodes to autonomously locate and retrieve URL shares without relying on a central authority. Clients can directly query the distributed network for discovery information, making the system self-organizing and resilient to failures of individual nodes.
3Ease of operation
If discovery information is published publicly, then discoverability is improved, but performance and scalability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
Discovery information is segmented into distributed shares across the P2P network, allowing parallel retrieval operations. Multiple clients can simultaneously query different nodes for URL shares without contending for a single centralized resource, thereby maintaining discoverability while improving performance through distributed parallel access.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and a system for a secure distributed item-level discovery service using secret sharing. The discovery service publishes a plurality of uniform resource locators that correspond to a resource identification key on a plurality of servers in a P2P ring. A uniform resource locator (URL) is split in a plurality of shares applying a secret sharing algorithm. For each share of the URL is generated share identifier by applying a hash function to the resource identification key. A share identifier is sent to a target node through a first proxy node applying Peer-to-Peer (P2P) routing. A share of the URL, corresponding to the share identifier is sent to the target node through a second proxy using a network address of the target node. Access rights for reading the share of the URL from the target node are published in an access control node.