Single-Purpose Certificates With Artifact Hashes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing public key cryptography solutions face challenges with multi-use key pairs, including the need for complex revocation processes, reliance on timestamps, and infrastructure requirements, which can be costly and risky, especially in low-power devices where time data and online connections may not be available.
Innovation Solution
The use of single-purpose certificates that include hash values specific to particular artifacts or secure connections, allowing verification without timestamps and eliminating the need for signature revocation services, by binding the certificate to a specific purpose through hash values.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multi-use key pairs are used for authenticating multiple transmissions, then efficiency is improved, but security risks and complexity of revocation processes increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the authentication function by creating single-purpose certificates that are dedicated to specific artifacts or connections. Instead of using one key pair for multiple purposes, separate certificates are generated for each specific use case, isolating security risks to individual segments rather than affecting the entire system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by making each certificate's security properties specific to its intended purpose. Each single-purpose certificate contains hash values tied to particular artifacts or connections, creating localized security boundaries where compromise of one certificate does not affect others.
2Device complexity
If multi-use key pairs are used, then key management is simplified, but infrastructure requirements for revocation services and timestamping increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the revocation and timestamping infrastructure requirements by designing certificates that are inherently single-purpose through embedded hash values. This eliminates the need for external revocation services and timestamping mechanisms, as the certificate's limited scope makes such infrastructure unnecessary.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs disposable single-purpose certificates that are created for specific artifacts or connections and then discarded after use. This approach replaces the need for long-lived certificates requiring revocation infrastructure with short-lived, purpose-specific certificates that naturally expire after their single use.
3Reliability
If timestamps are used to verify short-lived keys, then security is improved, but verification process complexity and infrastructure needs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the timestamping function into the certificate itself by embedding hash values of specific artifacts or connections directly in the single-purpose certificate. This combines what were previously separate operations (certificate issuance and timestamping) into a unified structure, eliminating the need for separate timestamping services and simplifying verification.
Solution Approach 2:
The single-purpose certificate performs self-verification through its embedded hash values. The certificate inherently proves its validity for a specific artifact or connection without requiring external timestamping services, making the system self-sufficient and eliminating dependency on complex external infrastructure.
4Reliability
If single-purpose certificates with hash values are used, then security and efficiency are improved, but certificate generation and verification steps increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-computing and embedding hash values of specific artifacts or connections into the single-purpose certificate during issuance. This preliminary computation eliminates the need for complex runtime verification of timestamps or external service queries, as the verification data is already prepared and embedded in the certificate itself.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of securing defined artifacts, or secure connections, includes: generating a single-purpose public key and private key combination; creating a set of hashes of unique information characterizing one or more specific connections or artifacts; sending the single-purpose public key and the set of hashes to a certificate authority; receiving from the certificate authority a single-purpose certificate that includes fields storing an identity of a signer, the set of hashes, metadata identifying the hashed unique information, and the single-purpose public key, wherein the single-purpose certificate is signed with a certificate authority private key; publishing or sending the single-purpose certificate to a verifier, and, with the single-purpose certificate, at least one of establishing one or more secure connections with the verifier or sending the one or more artifacts to the verifier. A method of signature revocation includes, following signing an artifact with the private key, revoking the certificate.