System for controlling access to encrypted data files by a plurality of users
US6178508A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 26, 1998 |
| Grant date | Jan 23, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 26, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F2221/2107
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A system in which an encrypted data file can be protected, accessed, and maintained by a plurality of users using cryptographically hashed passwords. The system provides for the creation in memory for each authorized user of a cryptographically hashed password as an entry in an unencrypted header file. The system compares an authorized user's cryptographically hashed password against a corresponding set of cryptographically hashed passwords in memory to determine whether the user is allowed access to the protected data file. The passwords are cryptographically one-way hashed with a "salt" value in such a way as to make reconstruction of original passwords by an unintended party virtually impossible, because the passwords never exist in memory in an unhashed state. Furthermore, the passwords are cryptographically "one-way" hashed so as not to be reconstructible. Upon successful authorization of a user, based on successful comparison of the user's hashed password with those in memory, the user gains access to the encrypted data file.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.