Two-phase cryptographic key recovery system
US5937066A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 2, 1996 |
| Grant date | Aug 10, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 2, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L9/0897
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A cryptographic key recovery system that operates in two phases. In the first phase, the sender establishes a secret value with the receiver. For each key recovery agent, the sender generates a key-generating value as a one-way function of the secret value and encrypts the key-generating value with a public key of the key recovery agent. In the second phase, performed for a particular cryptographic session, the sender generates for each key recovery agent a key-encrypting key as a one-way function of the corresponding key-generating value and multiply encrypts the session key with the key-encrypting keys of the key recovery agents. The encrypted key-generating values and the multiply encrypted session key are transmitted together with other recovery information in a manner permitting their interception by a party seeking to recover the secret value. To recover the secret value, the party seeking recovery presents the encrypted key-generating values and public recovery information to the key recovery agents, who decrypt the key-generating values, regenerate the key-encrypting keys from the corresponding key-generating values, and provide the regenerated key-encrypting keys to the re…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.