Patent · US Active

Multi-level key management

US8971535B2 · kind B2 · utility

6Cited by
13References
16Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMay 27, 2010
Grant dateMar 3, 2015
Priority date
Expiry dateJan 1, 2033

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L9/083
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A key manager provides a way to separate out the management of encryption keys and policies from application domains. The key manager may create cipher objects that may be used by the domains to perform encryption or decryption, without exposing the keys or encryption/decryption algorithms to the domains. A master key managed by the key manager may be used to encrypt and decrypt the domain keys that are stored under the control of the key manager. The key manager supports the rekeying of both the master key and the domain keys based on policy. Multiple versions of domain keys may be supported, allowing domains to access data encrypted with a previous version of a domain key after a rekeying.

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