Systems and methods for distributed identity verification

• US 10,237,259 B2
• Filed: 02/28/2017
• Issued: 03/19/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/29/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SecureKey Technologies, Inc. (Gen Digital Inc.)
• Original Assignee: SecureKey Technologies, Inc. (Gen Digital Inc.)
• Inventors: Ronda, Troy Jacob, Roberge, Pierre Antoine, Barinov, Dmitry, Varley, Michael, Stark, David Alexander, Wolfond, Gregory Howard, Likic, Aleksandar, Page, Michael John
• Primary Examiner(s): Gracia, Gary S
• Application Number:
  US15/445,367
• Publication Number:
  US 20170250972A1
• Time in Patent Office: 749 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/06 for supporting key management in a packet data network cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key management H04L9/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/123 received data contents, e.g. message integrity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/08 Key distribution or management, e.g. generation, sharing or updating, of cryptographic keys or passwords network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting key management in a packet data network H04L63/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0891 Revocation or update of secret information, e.g. encryption key update or rekeying
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3236 using cryptographic hash functions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3247 involving digital signatures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/50 using hash chains, e.g. blockchains or hash trees

Abstract

Systems and methods for decentralized and asynchronous authentication flow between users, relying parties and identity providers. A trusted user agent application or digital lock box under a user'"'"'s control may perform the functions of an authentication broker. In particular, the user agent application or digital lock box can accept relying party requests and respond with authentication and identity data previously obtained from an identity provider server, and without the involvement of a centralized broker server.

Claims

1. An identity management method for controlling an exchange of data bundles by an identity provider server, the method comprising:

receiving, at the identity provider server, a first request from a user agent server, the first request identifying one or more claim categories;

generating, at the identity provider server, a data bundle at a first time in response to the first request, the data bundle identifying one or more attributes associated with a user related to the user agent server, wherein each attribute corresponds to a claim category of the one or more claim categories identified in the first request and a corresponding value;

the identity provider server encrypting the data bundle with a user encryption key (UEK);

transmitting, by the identity provider server, the data bundle to the user agent server;

generating a first entry;

signing the first entry with an identity provider private key corresponding to the identity provider server to generate a signed first entry;

generating a second entry; and

signing the second entry with a second key to generate a signed second entry, the second key being derived from the identity provider private key;

at a first ledger;

verifying a signature of the identity provider server on the first entry to generate a first signature verification result;

storing the first entry in the first ledger based on the first signature verification result; and

transmitting a first entry address to the identity provider server, the first entry address identifying an address of the first entry in the first ledger;

at a second ledger;

verifying a signature of the identity provider server on the second entry to generate a second signature verification result;

storing the second entry in the second ledger based on the second signature verification result; and

transmitting a second entry address to the identity provider server, the second entry address identifying an address of the second entry in the second ledger; and

at one or more auditor servers;

receiving a first ledger identifier identifying the first ledger storing the first entry, a second ledger identifier identifying the second ledger storing the second entry, the first entry address and the second entry address;

accessing the first entry based on the first ledger identifier and the first entry address;

verifying the signature of the identity provider server on the first entry;

accessing the second entry based on the second ledger identifier and the second entry address;

verifying the signature of the identity provider server on the second entry;

generating a confirmation entry for each of the one or more auditor servers, wherein each confirmation entry is based on successful verification of the signature of the identity provider server on the first entry and the signature of the identity provider server on the second entry; and

linking the first entry address to the second ledger identifier and the second entry address to the first ledger identifier based on the confirmation entry of the one or more auditor servers,

wherein the identity provider server, the user agent server, the first ledger, the second ledger, and the one or more auditor servers are executed by one or more computing devices and communicate via a data communication network.

2. The identity management method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to receiving the first request, registering the user agent server at the identity provider server, wherein registering the user agent server at the identity provider server comprises:

receiving a user agent public key corresponding to the user agent server and a first user agent address uniquely identifying the user agent server to the identity provider server, wherein the first user agent address and the user encryption key are at least partially based on the user agent public key; and

transmitting an identity provider public key associated with the identity provider server to the user agent server.

3. The identity management method of claim 2, further comprising:

generating, at the identity provider server, a data bundle ownership public key for the user agent server, the data bundle ownership public key being usable for releasing a response bundle based on one or more data bundles to a relying party server.

4. The identity management method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a first entry for a first ledger, the first entry comprising;

a hashed data bundle generated by cryptographic hashing of the data bundle;

the data bundle ownership public key;

the identity provider public key;

the one or more hashed attributes and corresponding blinding factor;

a cryptographic nonce;

metadata corresponding to the one or more attributes;

expiry information corresponding to the one or more attributes;

a second ledger identifier identifying a second ledger storing a corresponding second entry and a second entry address identifying an address of the second entry in the second ledger; and

a revocation status of the data bundle.

5. The identity management method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a second entry for a second ledger, the second entry comprising;

a hashed data bundle generated by cryptographic hashing of the data bundle;

a cryptographic hash of the data bundle ownership public key and a corresponding blinding factor;

a cryptographic hash of the identity provider public key and a corresponding blinding factor;

the one or more hashed attributes and corresponding blinding factor;

a cryptographic nonce;

metadata corresponding to the one or more attributes;

expiry information corresponding to the one or more attributes; and

a revocation status of the data bundle.

6. The identity management method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating an auditor bundle for the one or more auditor servers, the auditor bundle comprising a first ledger identifier identifying the first ledger storing the first entry, a second ledger identifier identifying the second ledger storing the second entry, the first entry address and the second entry address; and

signing the auditor bundle with the identity provider private key corresponding to the identity provider server to generate a signed auditor bundle.

7. The identity management method of claim 1, wherein the identity provider server is a group identity provider server, the method further comprising:

the identity provider server determining that a child transaction is required to fulfil the first request; and

generating at least one child transaction request; and

transmitting the at least one child transaction request to at least one other group identity provider server.

8. The identity management method of claim 1, further comprising:

the identity provider server determining that a blind query is required to fulfil the first request; and

generating at least one blind query; and

transmitting the at least one blind query to at least one other identity provider server.

9. An identity management system for controlling an exchange of data bundles, the system comprising:

a data communication network;

a user agent server configured to transmit a first request identifying one or more claim categories to an identity provider server via the data communication network;

the identity provider server in communication with the user agent server via the data communication network, the identity provider server being configured to;

receive the first request;

generate a data bundle at a first time in response to the first request, the data bundle identifying one or more attributes associated with a user related to the user agent server, wherein each attribute corresponds to a claim category of the one or more claim categories identified in the first request and a corresponding value;

transmit the data bundle to the user agent server;

generate a first entry;

sign the first entry with an identity provider private key corresponding to the identity provider server to generate a signed first entry;

generate a second entry; and

sign the second entry with a second key to generate a signed second entry, the second key being derived from the identity provider private key;

a first ledger in communication with the data communication network and configured to;

verify a signature of the identity provider server on the first entry to generate a first signature verification result;

store the first entry in the first ledger based on the first signature verification result; and

transmit a first entry address to the identity provider server, the first entry address identifying an address of the first entry in the first ledger;

a second ledger in communication with the data communication network and configured to;

verify signature of the identity provider server on the second entry to generate a second signature verification result;

store the second entry in the second ledger based on the second signature verification result; and

transmit a second entry address to the identity provider server, the second entry address identifying an address of the second entry in the second ledger; and

one or more auditor servers in communication with the first ledger and the second ledger via the data communication network, the one or more auditor servers configured to;

receive a first ledger identifier identifying the first ledger storing the first entry, a second ledger identifier identifying the second ledger storing the second entry, the first entry address and the second entry address;

access the first entry based on the first ledger identifier and the first entry address;

verify the signature of the identity provider server on the first entry;

access the second entry based on the second ledger identifier and the second entry address;

verify the signature of the identity provider server on the second entry;

generate a confirmation entry for each of the one or more auditor servers, wherein each confirmation entry is based on successful verification of the signature of the identity provider server on the first entry and the signature of the identity provider server on the second entry; and

link the first entry address to the second ledger identifier and the second entry address to the first ledger identifier based on the confirmation entry of the one or more auditor servers,

wherein the identity provider server, the user agent server, the first ledger, the second ledger, and the one or more auditor servers are executed by one or more computing devices.