Virtual Tenant Certificate Store for Signature Validation

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

In multi-tenant environments, existing systems face challenges in securely validating custom signatures across distributed networks due to limitations in storage capacity and security, as servers must store and access numerous tenant certificate collections, compromising security and efficiency.

Innovation Solution

A method and system where a server on a distributed network accesses and virtually stores tenant certificate collections from private tenant stores, allowing secure validation without storing the entire collection locally, and deletes the virtual store after use to free up space and maintain confidentiality.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Speed

If servers store tenant certificate collections locally for signature validation, then validation speed is improved, but security is compromised and storage capacity is exceeded

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesignature validation speedVSAvoidsecurity
Core Design Contradiction:
SpeedVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent creates a virtual copy of the tenant certificate collection in memory rather than storing the actual certificates on the server's disk. This virtual store allows fast access for validation while the original certificates remain isolated in the tenant's secure store, maintaining both speed and security.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces a virtual store as an intermediary between the server and the tenant's certificate collection. This virtual store acts as a temporary holding place that enables fast validation without direct access to the original secure storage, thus resolving the contradiction between speed and security.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Productivity

If servers store complete tenant certificate collections locally, then validation efficiency is improved, but storage capacity is exceeded

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvevalidation efficiencyVSAvoidstorage capacity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

Instead of storing the complete certificate collection on the server's permanent storage, the patent creates a virtual copy in memory that is loaded only when needed. This eliminates the need for permanent storage of large certificate collections while maintaining fast validation efficiency.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

Solution Approach 2:

The patent makes the certificate storage dynamic by loading virtual copies into memory only when validation is needed, rather than statically storing them permanently. This dynamic approach allows the server to handle multiple tenants efficiently without exhausting storage capacity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

3Speed

If servers maintain tenant certificate collections for ongoing validation, then validation speed is improved, but security and data isolation are compromised

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvevalidation speedVSAvoiddata isolation violation
Core Design Contradiction:
SpeedVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent creates isolated virtual copies of certificate collections for each tenant in their respective virtual stores. These virtual copies are tenant-specific and cannot be accessed by other tenants, maintaining data isolation while enabling fast validation through memory access.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

Solution Approach 2:

The patent segments the certificate collection into separate virtual stores for each tenant, with each tenant having their own isolated virtual store. This segmentation ensures that tenant data remains isolated while still allowing fast access within each tenant's validated context.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentEP3100431B1Tenant based signature validation
Publication Date: 2018.02.28 MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC
  • EP3100431B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3100431B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3100431B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

Methods and systems are provided for validating a signature in a multi-tenant environment. A server or other computing device that is part of a distributed network may request a certificate collection from an identified tenant store. The requested certificate collection may be loaded in a virtual store that is accessible by the server or other computing device. The sever or other computing device may then access one or more certificates from the virtual store to validate a signature.