Secret sharing via blockchains

• US 10,411,897 B2
• Filed: 02/17/2017
• Issued: 09/10/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/17/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Inveniam Capital Partners Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Factom, Inc. (Stewart Information Services Corporation)
• Inventors: Paolini-Subramanya, Mahesh, Deery, Brian, Snow, Paul
• Primary Examiner(s): Potratz, Daniel B
• Assistant Examiner(s): Straub, D'Arcy Winston
• Application Number:
  US15/435,612
• Publication Number:
  US 20180241565A1
• Time in Patent Office: 935 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/60 Protecting data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/62 Protecting access to data via a platform, e.g. using keys or access control rules
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6218 to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6245 Protecting personal data, e.g. for financial or medical purposes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/64 Protecting data integrity, e.g. using checksums, certificates or signatures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/20 Manipulating the length of blocks of bits, e.g. padding or block truncation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/12 Applying verification of the received information cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for data integrity or data verification H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/123 received data contents, e.g. message integrity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/06 the encryption apparatus using shift registers or memories for block-wise or stream coding, e.g. DES systems or RC4; Hash functions; Pseudorandom sequence generators
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0637 Modes of operation, e.g. cipher block chaining [CBC], electronic codebook [ECB] or Galois/counter mode [GCM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0816 Key establishment, i.e. cryptographic processes or cryptographic protocols whereby a shared secret becomes available to two or more parties, for subsequent use
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/085 Secret sharing or secret splitting, e.g. threshold schemes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/32 including means for verifying the identity or authority of a user of the system or for message authentication, e.g. authorization, entity authentication, data integrity or data verification, non-repudiation, key authentication or verification of credentials
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3236 using cryptographic hash functions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3239 involving non-keyed hash functions, e.g. modification detection codes [MDCs], MD5, SHA or RIPEMD
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/50 using hash chains, e.g. blockchains or hash trees

Abstract

Confidential, secret data may be shared via one or more blockchains. Mortgage applications, medical records, financial records, and other electronic documents often contain social security numbers, names, addresses, account information, and other personal data. A secret sharing algorithm is applied to any secret data to generate shares. The shares may then be integrated or written to one or more blockchains for distribution.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

retrieving, by a hardware processor, an electronic document having a portable document format representing a mortgage application including secret data;

splitting, by the hardware processor, the electronic document having the portable document format representing the mortgage application including the secret data into multiple shares via an electronic representation of a secret sharing algorithm;

generating, by the hardware processor, hash values representing the multiple shares, each hash value of the hash values generated by hashing a corresponding individual share of the multiple shares using an electronic representation of a hashing algorithm;

determining, by the hardware processor, a number N_R of trusted peer devices as recipients of different blockchains;

determining, by the hardware processor, a number N_B of the different blockchains based on the number N_R of the trusted peer devices as the recipients according to a ratio of N_R/N_B having a maximum value;

integrating, by the hardware processor, the hash values representing the multiple shares of the electronic document into the different blockchains; and

publishing, by the hardware processor, the different blockchains via the Internet to distribute the hash values representing the multiple shares of the electronic document having the portable document format representing the mortgage application including the secret data.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising timestamping any of the multiple shares.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising timestamping any of the hash values.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising broadcasting the different blockchains to the trusted peer devices.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising integrating a subset of the multiple shares into one of the multiple blockchains.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising distributing a subset of the hash values to a group of the trusted peer devices.

7. A system, comprising:

a hardware processor; and

a memory device, the memory device storing instructions, the instructions when executed causing the hardware processor to perform operations, the operations comprising;

retrieving an electronic document having a portable document format representing a mortgage application containing secret data;

splitting the electronic document having the portable document format representing the mortgage application containing the secret data into multiple shares via a secret sharing algorithm;

generating hash values representing the multiple shares, each hash value of the hash values generated by hashing a corresponding individual share of the multiple shares using an electronic representation of a hashing algorithm;

determining a number N_R of trusted peer devices as recipients of different blockchains;

determining a number N_B of the different blockchains based on the number N_R of the trusted peer devices as the recipients according to a ratio of N_R/N_B having a maximum value;

integrating the hash values representing the multiple shares into the different blockchains; and

publishing the different blockchains via the Internet to distribute the hash values representing the multiple shares of the electronic document having the portable document format representing the mortgage application containing the secret data.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise timestamping any of the multiple shares.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise timestamping any of the hash values.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise broadcasting the different blockchains to the trusted peer devices.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise broadcasting any of the different blockchains to any of the trusted peer devices.

12. A memory device storing instructions that when executed cause a hardware processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:

retrieving an electronic document having a portable document format representing a mortgage application including secret data;

splitting the electronic document having the portable document format representing the mortgage application including the secret data into multiple shares via a secret sharing algorithm;

generating hash values representing the multiple shares, each hash value of the hash values generated by hashing a corresponding individual share of the multiple shares using an electronic representation of a hashing algorithm;

determining a number N_R of trusted peer devices as recipients of different blockchains;

determining a number N_B of the different blockchains based on the number N_R of the trusted peer devices as the recipients according to a ratio of N_R/N_B having a maximum value;

integrating the hash values representing the multiple shares into the different blockchains; and

publishing the different blockchains via the Internet to distribute the hash values representing the multiple shares of the electronic document having the portable document format representing the mortgage application including the secret data.

13. The memory device of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise determining a ratio that defines a maximum number of the hash values exposed by an individual blockchain of the different blockchains.

14. The memory device of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise determining a number N_S of the multiple shares.

15. The memory device of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise determining the number N_B of the different blockchains based on the number N_S of the multiple shares according to a ratio of N_S/N_B.