Securing cryptographic process keys using internal structures
US8699702B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 10, 2011 |
| Grant date | Apr 15, 2014 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 8, 2032 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L2209/16
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
In the field of cryptography, such as for a computer enabled block cipher, a cipher or other cryptographic process is hardened against an attack by protecting the cipher key or subkeys by using a masking process for these keys. The subkeys are thereby protected by applying to them a mask or set of masks to hide their contents. This is especially advantageous in a “White Box” computing environment where an attacker has full access to the cipher algorithm, including the algorithm's internal state during execution. Further, this method and the associated apparatus are useful where the key is derived through a process and so is unknown when the software code embodying the cipher is compiled. This is typically the case where there are many users of the cipher and each has his own key or where each user session has its own key.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.