Signed Access Control Value for Secure Key Distribution
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The transmission of multiple encrypted session keys to multiple recipients in communication systems is bandwidth-intensive, especially when the number of recipients is large, due to the need for each recipient to receive an encrypted version of the session key, leading to substantial network bandwidth consumption.
Innovation Solution
A key server generates a single session key that can be independently used by multiple recipients to encrypt and decrypt messages, eliminating the need for multiple encrypted session keys by using a signed access control value and message identifier to authenticate and authorize recipients, reducing network bandwidth requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple encrypted session keys are transmitted to multiple recipients, then each recipient can securely decrypt messages, but network bandwidth consumption increases substantially
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple encrypted session keys into a single encrypted data structure by encrypting a session key under each recipient's public key and packaging them together. This allows the sender to transmit one consolidated encrypted object instead of multiple separate encrypted keys, reducing network bandwidth consumption while maintaining the ability for each recipient to decrypt their specific key using their private key.
Solution Approach 2:
The encrypted session key structure serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as authentication proof for the sender, provides secure key distribution to multiple recipients, and enables individual decryption by each recipient. This multi-functional design eliminates the need for separate transmission channels for each recipient while maintaining security and authentication capabilities.
2Loss of energy
If a single session key is used for multiple recipients, then network bandwidth is reduced, but authentication and authorization of recipients becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary encrypted session key structure that mediates between the sender and multiple recipients. This intermediary structure contains individually encrypted key portions for each recipient, allowing the system to maintain simple single-transmission bandwidth usage while the intermediary structure handles the complexity of individual authentication and authorization for each recipient during the decryption process.
Solution Approach 2:
The session key is segmented into multiple encrypted portions, each encrypted under a different recipient's public key. This segmentation allows the single transmitted structure to be independently decrypted by each authorized recipient using their private key, thereby maintaining authentication complexity only at the decryption stage rather than during transmission and key management.
Data Source
AI summary
In some examples, a system receives, from a sender, an access control value generated based on information of a plurality of recipients. The system sends, to the sender, a signed version of the access control value for sending by the sender to the plurality of recipients with an encrypted message. The system receives, from a first recipient a request for a key to decrypt the encrypted message, a signed access control value and recipient information for deriving the access control value. The system determines whether the first recipient is one of the plurality of recipients using the signed access control value and the recipient information.