Secure communication apparatus and method for facilitating recipient and sender activity delegation
First Claim
1. A method for securing information comprising:
- receiving encrypted information from a sender for transmission to at least one intended recipient and an encrypted secret key encrypted using a public key associated with a network element;
decrypting the encrypted secret key to produce a decrypted secret key;
determining if a delegate is designated for at least one of the intended recipient and a sender;
obtaining a corresponding public key of the delegate;
encrypting the decrypted secret key for the delegate using a public key corresponding to the delegate to produce a delegate-specific secure secret key; and
forwarding, for the delegate, the encrypted information sent by the sender and the delegate-specific secure secret key.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus, such as a secure distribution server, receives encrypted information from a sender, wherein the encrypted information is for transmission to a plurality of intended recipients. In addition to the encrypted information, the method includes receiving an encrypted secret key that is encrypted using a public key associated with the secure distribution server. The method and apparatus decrypts the encrypted secret key to produce a decrypted secret key. The method and apparatus then obtains a public key associated with one or more delegates of the intended recipient(s), sender(s) or other entity and encrypts the decrypted secret key with the corresponding public key of at least one delegate (or each of a plurality of delegates) associated with the intended recipient(s) or sender(s) to produce at least one delegate-specific secure secret key (or plurality of delegate-specific secure secret keys). The method and apparatus then forwards the received encrypted information sent by the sender and also sends at least one delegate-specific secure secret key to a corresponding delegate of the intended recipient(s) or sender(s).
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method for securing information comprising:
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receiving encrypted information from a sender for transmission to at least one intended recipient and an encrypted secret key encrypted using a public key associated with a network element;
decrypting the encrypted secret key to produce a decrypted secret key;
determining if a delegate is designated for at least one of the intended recipient and a sender;
obtaining a corresponding public key of the delegate;
encrypting the decrypted secret key for the delegate using a public key corresponding to the delegate to produce a delegate-specific secure secret key; and
forwarding, for the delegate, the encrypted information sent by the sender and the delegate-specific secure secret key. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for securing information comprising:
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receiving, by a secure distribution server, encrypted information from a sender for transmission to at least one intended recipient and an encrypted secret key encrypted using a public key associated with the secure distribution server;
decrypting the encrypted secret key to produce a decrypted secret key;
obtaining a corresponding public key of the at least one intended recipient;
encrypting the decrypted secret key for the at least one intended recipient using a corresponding public key to produce at least one recipient-specific secure secret key;
determining if a delegate is designated for at least one of the intended recipient and a sender;
obtaining a corresponding public key of the delegate;
encrypting the decrypted secret key for the delegate using a public key corresponding to the delegate to produce a delegate-specific secure secret key;
forwarding the encrypted information sent by the sender and at least one recipient-specific secure secret key for the at least one corresponding intended recipient; and
forwarding the encrypted information sent by the sender and the delegate-specific secure secret key for the delegate. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A network element comprising:
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means for decrypting a received encrypted secret key encrypted using a public key associated with the network element to produce a decrypted secret key;
means, operatively coupled to the means for decrypting, for obtaining a corresponding public key of at least one delegate associated with at least one of an intended recipient and a sender;
means, operatively coupled to the means for obtaining, for encrypting the decrypted secret key for the at least one delegate using a corresponding public key to produce a delegate-specific secure secret key; and
means for forwarding the encrypted information sent by a sender and at least one delegate-specific secure secret key for at least one corresponding delegate associated with the intended recipient or the sender. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A storage medium comprising:
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memory containing executable instructions that when read by one or more processing devices, causes the one or more processing devices to;
receive encrypted information from a sender for transmission to at least one intended recipient and an encrypted secret key encrypted using a public key associated with a network element;
decrypt the encrypted secret key to produce a decrypted secret key;
determine if a delegate is designated for at least one of the intended recipient and a sender;
obtain a corresponding public key of the delegate;
encrypt the decrypted secret key for the delegate using a public key corresponding to the delegate to produce a delegate-specific secure secret key; and
forward, for the delegate, the encrypted information sent by the sender and the delegate-specific secure secret key. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A secure communication system comprising:
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at least one sender that encrypts information with a secret key to produce encrypted information, encrypts the secret key with a public key associated with a network element to produce an encrypted secret key, and during an online session, sends the encrypted information and the encrypted secret key to the network element;
at least one intended recipient;
at least one network element, operatively coupled to the sender and to the at least one intended recipient, including;
means for decrypting a received encrypted secret key encrypted using a public key associated with the network element to produce a decrypted secret key;
means, operatively coupled to the means for decrypting, for obtaining a corresponding public key of at least one delegate associated with an intended recipient or a sender;
means, operatively coupled to the means for obtaining, for encrypting the decrypted secret key for the at least one delegate using a corresponding public key to produce a delegate-specific secure secret key; and
means for forwarding the encrypted information sent by a sender and at least one delegate-specific secure secret key for at least one corresponding delegate associated with the intended recipient. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31)
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Specification