Secure URI Structure for Cryptographic Authentication
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing technologies face challenges in enabling general-purpose data interfaces to handle data incorporated with cryptographic authentication components, particularly in scenarios where the format of the cryptographic structure must be known a priori for successful interpretation.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a computer-implemented method that defines a secure network resource identifier structure using a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) with scheme and path components identifying a network resource, and associates these components with a fragment and/or query portion comprising a cryptographically signed data structure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If cryptographic authentication components are incorporated into data structures, then data security and authenticity are improved, but the complexity of processing and interpreting the data increases
Solution Approach 1:
The data structure is segmented into distinct components: a machine-readable code portion containing the cryptographic authentication data, and a human-readable portion containing the interpretation instructions. This segmentation allows general-purpose interfaces to process only the machine-readable portion using standard protocols, while the human-readable portion provides guidance for verification, thereby reducing processing complexity while maintaining security.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary human-readable portion that acts as a mediator between the cryptographic authentication data and general-purpose data interfaces. This intermediary contains instructions that enable standard interfaces to understand and process the cryptographic data without requiring specialized knowledge of the cryptographic structure, thus reducing processing complexity while preserving authenticity verification.
2Measurement precision
If dedicated readers with prior knowledge of cryptographic structure are required, then verification accuracy is improved, but the ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The machine-readable code is designed to be universally processable by general-purpose data interfaces using standard protocols, eliminating the need for dedicated readers. The cryptographic authentication data can be verified by any interface that can read and process the machine-readable code, making the system universally applicable while maintaining verification accuracy through the structured format.
Solution Approach 2:
The human-readable portion contains self-contained instructions that enable the data structure to be self-explanatory and self-verified. General-purpose interfaces can operate autonomously by reading the machine-readable code and following the instructions in the human-readable portion, without requiring external specialized knowledge or dedicated readers, thus improving ease of operation while maintaining verification accuracy.
3Reliability
If cryptographic structures are made opaque for security, then security is improved, but the ease of operation worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The data structure is divided into a machine-readable code portion containing the opaque cryptographic authentication data for security, and a human-readable portion containing the interpretation instructions for ease of operation. This segmentation allows the cryptographic data to remain secure and opaque while providing a separate layer that enables easy interpretation and processing by general-purpose interfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the data structure have different qualities: the machine-readable code portion is designed to be opaque and secure, while the human-readable portion is designed to be transparent and easy to interpret. This local differentiation of quality allows the system to simultaneously achieve security through the opaque cryptographic portion and ease of operation through the transparent instructional portion.
Data Source
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Figure 4a~5b
Figure 6
AI summary
The invention takes advantage of certain characteristics of the URI specification to incorporate cryptographic content in such a way that the ordinary operation of a URI is not interfered with. The cryptographic content can then be used to ensure the authenticity of the path defined in the unencrypted portion. The path may also serve to point a reading device to a network resource capable of performing the decryption operation, or for a decryption key.