Encrypted Video Conference Locking With Meeting Key Rotation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Uninvited participants can potentially join encrypted video conferences, compromising confidentiality and privacy, especially in sensitive settings like financial or medical organizations, due to untrusted video conference providers and unverifiable participant identities.
Innovation Solution
Implementing end-to-end encryption with symmetric keys and locking mechanisms to prevent unauthorized access, ensuring only authorized participants can join by distributing meeting cryptographic keys to participants, and notifying current participants when the meeting is locked.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If end-to-end encryption is implemented with symmetric keys, then privacy and security of video conferences are improved, but device complexity and key management requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the key management complexity from the encryption mechanism by introducing a trusted third-party key distribution system. The video conferencing system handles only encryption/decryption operations, while a separate key distribution infrastructure manages cryptographic key exchange, allowing participants to join meetings without complex local key management.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a key distribution server as an intermediary between participants and the encryption system. This mediator handles the complex cryptographic operations of key exchange and distribution, enabling secure key transmission to participants without requiring them to manage complex key infrastructure locally.
2Reliability
If locking mechanisms are implemented to prevent unauthorized access, then security against uninvited participants is improved, but ease of operation and participant joining flexibility deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by establishing a locked state before unauthorized participants can join. Once the host locks the meeting, the system proactively prevents any additional participants from accessing the encrypted stream, rather than reacting to attempted joins. This is achieved by continuously verifying participant identities against the locked participant list before allowing access.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring join requests against the locked participant list and providing real-time denial feedback to unauthorized participants. When a participant attempts to join after locking, the system immediately rejects the request and notifies the host, creating a closed-loop security mechanism that maintains the locked state.
Data Source
AI summary
One disclosed example method includes receiving, during a first encrypted video conference including a plurality of participants, a request to admit an additional participant to the encrypted video conference; determining whether the additional participant is one of the plurality of participants. The example method further includes, responsive to determining that the additional participant is not one of the plurality of participants, ending the first encrypted video conference; obtaining a meeting cryptographic key; distributing the meeting cryptographic key to each participant of the plurality of participants; and initiating a second encrypted video conference including the plurality of participants.