Method and apparatus for reconstituting an encryption key based on multiple user responses
US6662299B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 28, 1999 |
| Grant date | Dec 9, 2003 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 28, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F2221/2131
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates encrypting and decrypting a data item. The system operates by encrypting a data item with a session key using a symmetric encryption mechanism to produce an encrypted data item. Next, the system splits the session key into a plurality of shares so that the session key can be reconstituted from a predefined number of shares. The system also receives a plurality of responses from the user (which may be responses to questions), and encrypts the plurality of shares with the plurality of responses using the symmetric encryption mechanism to generate a plurality of encrypted shares. The plurality of encrypted shares are stored for later retrieval. In one embodiment of the present invention, the system decrypts the data item by, receiving a plurality of new responses from the user, and attempting to decrypt the plurality of encrypted shares with the plurality of new responses. Note that a share will be successfully decrypted if a new response matches a response that was previously used to encrypt the share. If the predefined number of shares are successfully decrypted, the system uses the successfully decrypted sha…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.