Virtual Safe Device for Mobile Private Value Encryption
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for securing private information on mobile devices are inadequate as they either require users to remember passwords for decryption, are prone to data interception, or face challenges in protecting data from unauthorized access, especially when devices are lost or outside a secure environment.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing a mobile storage device and a virtual safe device that communicate via local proximity wireless channels, where the virtual safe device encrypts and decrypts private values using a secret key stored securely within the virtual safe, ensuring that the decryption key never leaves the secure environment and is only accessible within a predetermined range, such as the user's home.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If private information is stored on a mobile device in clear text format, then convenience of access is improved, but security against unauthorized access deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the private information into two parts: encrypted data stored on the mobile device and decryption keys stored on a remote server. This segmentation allows the mobile device to store data without the keys, maintaining security while enabling convenient access when connected to the server.
Solution Approach 2:
A remote server acts as an intermediary between the mobile device and the decryption keys. The server mediates the security function by securely storing keys and providing them to authorized devices, resolving the contradiction between local convenience and centralized security.
2Reliability
If encryption is performed on the mobile device, then security is improved, but processor and memory requirements deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The encryption and decryption functions are extracted from the mobile device and relocated to a remote server. This extraction removes the computational burden from the mobile device while maintaining security through server-based cryptographic operations.
3Speed
If the decryption key is stored on the mobile device, then access speed is improved, but vulnerability to device loss deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The remote server serves as an intermediary that securely holds the decryption keys. Instead of storing keys locally on the mobile device, the system uses the server as a secure repository, eliminating the vulnerability to device loss while maintaining access capability through network connection.
4Reliability
If data is encrypted and stored on a remote server, then security is improved, but communication interception risk deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Data is encrypted on the mobile device before transmission to the server, and decryption keys are transmitted separately and securely. This preliminary encryption action protects the data during communication, preventing interception attacks while maintaining security.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
AI summary
The present invention provides a virtual safe system wherein a mobile communications device transfers a private value onto a virtual safe device for secure storage using a proximity wireless communication channel and deletes the private value from its memory. The virtual safe encrypts the value under a secret key associated with the mobile device and sends the encrypted value back to the mobile device. The private value can be recovered by the same mobile communication device subsequently establishing a secure proximity wireless connection with the virtual safe, sending the encrypted private value to the virtual safe, which decrypts the value and returns it to the mobile device. This avoids the mobile device having to ever store the private value in clear or ever having to ever store the secret key.