Patent · US Expired

Method and system for securely archiving core data secrets

US6044155A · kind A · utility

247Cited by
11References
61Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 23, 1997
Grant dateMar 28, 2000
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 23, 2017

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F2221/2149
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

The invention provides central storage for core data secrets, referred to as data items. The data items are encrypted by a client computer using a client key that is derived from a logon secret, such as a password, supplied by a user during a network logon procedure. The client key is escrowed with the participation of a network supervisory computer such as a domain controller. The client sends the client key to the domain controller. The domain controller appends a user identification corresponding to the currently authenticated user of the client computer, and encrypts the resulting combination. The encrypted combination is sent back to and stored locally by the client. To recover the client key, the encrypted combination is sent to the domain controller, which decrypts the combination to obtain the data item. However, the data item is returned to the client computer only if the decrypted user identification corresponds to the currently authenticated user of the client computer.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.