Server Access Key Management for Secure Content Sharing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users face difficulties in accessing uploaded content due to long and complex storage addresses, which are prone to entry errors, hindering easy sharing of digital content across networked devices.
Innovation Solution
A server-based method that involves uploading content data to a storage location, generating and storing an access key with an expiry date, allowing authorized devices to access the content using a shorter alphanumeric keyword or encoded pattern, and managing access permissions through a database.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If users enter the full storage address to access uploaded content, then the content can be accessed, but the process is error-prone and inconvenient due to the length and complexity of the address
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary access key (short code) that mediates between the user and the complex storage address. Instead of directly entering the full storage address, users enter the simplified access key which the server then translates to the actual storage location. This intermediary mechanism resolves the contradiction by making the access process both easier and more reliable.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a simplified copy (access key) of the full storage address. The access key is a shortened representation that uniquely identifies the content storage location without containing all the details of the actual address. This copying approach allows users to work with a simplified version while the server handles the translation to the full address, improving both ease of operation and reliability.
2Reliability
If the server stores and manages access keys with expiry dates, then security and access control are improved, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The server performs preliminary actions by automatically generating access keys with predefined expiry dates when content is uploaded. The expiry date is set in advance, and the server proactively manages the key lifecycle including automatic revocation when the expiry date is reached. This preliminary action approach improves security while keeping the system manageable by automating the complex tasks of key generation, storage, and revocation.
Solution Approach 2:
The access key system is designed to be self-managing through automated server-side processes. The server automatically generates keys, tracks their expiry dates, and revokes them when appropriate without requiring manual intervention. This self-service mechanism handles the complexity internally while presenting a simple interface to users, thereby improving security without proportionally increasing operational complexity.
3Measurement precision
If the server processes and validates access keys through database queries, then access control accuracy is improved, but the access time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The server performs preliminary actions by pre-processing and storing access key information in the database during content upload. The access keys and their associated metadata (expiry dates, content identifiers) are prepared and stored in advance. When access requests come in, the server performs efficient database queries using the pre-organized data, improving both accuracy and speed by avoiding complex real-time computations.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for sharing content data between networked devices in communication with a server processor circuit via a data network is disclosed. The method involves, in response to a request received at the server from a first networked device to upload content data, causing the content data to be written to a storage location at a content storage address. The method also involves causing the server processor circuit to store the content storage address in a database managed by the server. The method further involves causing the server processor circuit to associate an access key with the content storage address in the database and to determine and store an expiry for the access key in the database, the expiry facilitating a determination as to whether the access key remains actively associated with the content data or has expired and is no longer associated with the content data. The method also involves receiving a content access request at the server from a second networked device to access the content data uploaded by the first networked device, the content access request including a request access key. The method further involves causing the server processor circuit to perform a database query and if there is an unexpired access key in the database that matches the request access key, authorizing the second networked device to access the content data.