Whitebox Cryptography Node-Locking Credentials
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need to securely provide security credentials to remote devices, such as IoT devices and 5G base stations, which often lack pre-installed security credentials, and to prevent these credentials from being used on unauthorized devices or platforms.
Innovation Solution
A system and method using whitebox cryptography to initialize a cryptographic software module on a PKI client with a unique identifier, uniquely encrypting credentials with a node-locking key derived from a digital certificate, ensuring that credentials can only be decrypted and used on the specific client, thereby preventing unauthorized use.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If security credentials are provided to remote devices without pre-installed credentials, then device functionality is enabled, but security risk increases due to potential credential misuse on unauthorized devices
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary encryption of credentials with a node-locking key derived from the device's digital certificate before provisioning. This ensures that credentials are pre-secured and can only be decrypted by the intended device, enabling functionality while preventing unauthorized use from the outset
Solution Approach 2:
A node-locking key serves as an intermediary between the credential and the device. This key is derived from the device's digital certificate and is used to encrypt/decrypt credentials, acting as a mediator that ensures only the authorized device can access and use the credentials
2Reliability
If credentials are encrypted with a node-locking key derived from digital certificate, then credential security is improved, but computational complexity increases due to additional encryption and decryption operations
Solution Approach 1:
The device derives its own node-locking key from its digital certificate without requiring external key distribution. This self-service approach enhances security by eliminating key management overhead while the key derivation process leverages existing cryptographic infrastructure to minimize additional computational burden
3Reliability
If whitebox cryptography is used to node-lock credentials, then prevention of credential copying is improved, but implementation complexity increases due to whitebox cryptographic requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces traditional hardware-based security mechanisms (like HSMs or secure elements) with software-based whitebox cryptography. This substitution allows node-locked credentials to be implemented in software environments such as cloud-based virtual network functions, reducing hardware complexity while maintaining security through cryptographic transformations
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for provisioning confidential data such as unique credentials is described. The technique initializes a whitebox cryptographic software module to a particular PKI client to soft-lock whitebox cryptographic operations to the particular PKI client and uniquely encrypting the credentials with a node-locking key (NLK) derivable from a digital certificate.