Trusted Third-Party Public Key Exchange Without Certificate Overhead
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The conventional method of obtaining a trusted public key through certificate signing by a registration authority is cumbersome and adds overhead, especially when parties need to frequently update or use multiple public keys.
Innovation Solution
A method where a trusted third party authenticates both communicating parties and facilitates the exchange of public keys over a secure connection, eliminating the need for certificate authority signatures and allowing parties to manage their public keys without registration overhead.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a registration authority signs public keys to ensure trust, then the authenticity of public keys is verified, but the process becomes cumbersome and adds overhead when parties need to frequently update or use multiple public keys
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a trusted third party that acts as an intermediary to facilitate direct peer-to-peer public key exchange. This intermediary authenticates both parties and enables them to share public keys without requiring traditional certificate signing, thus maintaining reliability while eliminating the cumbersome registration process
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the essential function of trust verification from the certificate authority model and implements it through a simplified trusted third party mechanism. This removes the overhead of certificate management while preserving the core authenticity verification capability
2Reliability
If certificate chains are used to verify public key authenticity, then trust is established, but the verification process and device configuration become more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The trusted third party serves as a mediator that simplifies the trust establishment process. Instead of requiring devices to store and verify multiple certificate authority public keys and navigate certificate chains, the intermediary directly facilitates authenticated key exchange between parties
3Reliability
If public keys are frequently updated for security and privacy reasons, then security is improved, but the registration and certificate renewal process adds significant overhead
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables parties to autonomously manage their public keys through the trusted third party intermediary. When a party updates their public key, they can directly share the new key with authorized counterparts through the intermediary without requiring time-consuming re-registration or certificate renewal processes
Data Source
AI summary
A method of obtaining a public key of a second party by a first party comprises authenticating a third party at a system of the first party, establishing a secure connection between the system of the first party and a system of the third party after authenticating the third party, transmitting a request to receive the public key of the second party from the system of the first party to the system of the third party over the secure connection, and receiving, at the system of the first party, the public key of the second party from the system of the third party over the secure connection. The request comprises an identifier of the second party and the public key of the second party is associated with the identifier of the second party.