TLS Content-Specific Key Segmentation for Data Security
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Solution Overview
Problem
The Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol exposes sensitive data elements to unprotected environments when the TLS tunnel terminates, as it encrypts both sensitive and non-sensitive data using the same encryption key, potentially leading to eavesdropping or tampering.
Innovation Solution
Extending data protection by generating content-specific keys using object identifiers within the TLS protocol extension field, allowing for application-level encryption without application-level key management, which encrypts sensitive data elements with additional keys beyond the TLS tunnel termination point.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If TLS protocol encrypts both sensitive and non-sensitive data using the same encryption key, then encryption simplicity is improved, but data security deteriorates because sensitive data elements are exposed to unprotected environments when the TLS tunnel terminates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the encryption approach by introducing content-specific keys for different data elements within the TLS protocol. Instead of using a single encryption key for all data, the system divides encryption into two layers: TLS session keys for general data protection and content-specific keys for sensitive data elements. This segmentation allows sensitive data to maintain protection even after TLS tunnel termination, resolving the security vulnerability while maintaining implementation simplicity through the structured key hierarchy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by making encryption keys specific to their intended use. Content-specific keys are generated for particular data elements based on their sensitivity and type, rather than using a universal key. This localized approach ensures that only necessary data elements receive enhanced protection, balancing security requirements with operational efficiency and maintaining the simplicity of the overall system.
2Reliability
If content-specific keys are generated for sensitive data elements, then data security is improved, but system complexity increases due to additional key management requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by generating content-specific keys during the TLS handshake phase, before actual data transmission begins. The key derivation function creates content-specific keys from the TLS session key and content-specific identifiers in advance. This preliminary key generation eliminates the need for complex runtime key management, as all necessary keys are already established when the data connection is set up, thereby reducing operational complexity while maintaining enhanced security.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces content-specific identifiers as intermediaries that link the TLS session key to individual content-specific keys. Rather than directly managing multiple independent keys, the system uses these identifiers as mediators to derive content-specific keys on-demand from the session key. This intermediary mechanism simplifies key management by providing a systematic way to generate and track content-specific keys without requiring separate storage and management infrastructure for each key.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods in accordance with present implementations can include decrypting, by one or more processors, a data packet using a session key to recover a decrypted data packet, the data packet comprising a data element encrypted with a first content-specific key associated with a shared secret, the data packet encrypted with the session key, and decrypting, by the one or more processors, the data element of the decrypted data packet using a second content-specific key corresponding to a data type of the data element, to recover a decrypted data element.