Preservations system for digitally created and digitally signed documents

• US 20040153653A1
• Filed: 02/04/2003
• Published: 08/05/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
• Original Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
• Inventors: Wong, Victor C., Jones, Robert S., Williams, Donald R., Horvath, Louis S., Abhyankar, Vishwas G., Breslawski, Robert, Bayley, Robert B., Narayan, Badhri, Reisch, Robert V.
• Granted Patent: US 7,340,607 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/179
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6209 to a single file or object, e.g. in a secure envelope, encrypted and accessed using a key, or with access control rules appended to the object itself

Abstract

A method for preserving a digitally signed document (160) in a digital data preservation system (10). A secure preservation request (176) combines the document (160) with a preservation signature (174) that is generated using an identification mark (172) and the document'"'"'s associated digital signature (168). Once the document (160) is authenticated by the digital preservation system vendor, both the document (160) and the identification mark (172) are recorded onto preservation media (210) in human-readable form.

Claims

1. A method for preserving a document data file provided by a customer to a vendor of preservation services, wherein a digital signature is coupled to said document data file, the method comprising:

(a) decoding said digital signature to obtain a first unique data verifier for said document;

(b) processing said document data file to generate a second unique data verifier for said document;

(c) comparing said first unique data verifier with said second unique data verifier;

(d) coupling an identification mark to said document data file to form a preservation record; and

(e) recording said preservation record onto a preservation medium.

2. A method for preserving a document data file according to claim 1 wherein said first unique data verifier is a hash file.

3. A method for preserving a document data file according to claim 1 further comprising the step of recording a validation mark onto said preservation medium.

4. A method for preserving a document data file according to claim 1 wherein said identification mark is supplied by the customer.

5. A method for preserving a document data file according to claim 1 wherein said identification mark is taken from the group consisting of entered text, a digitized image, a biometric mark, and scanned data.

6. A method for preserving a document data file according to claim 1 wherein the step of recording said preservation record comprises the step of writing said record in a human-readable form.

7. A method for preserving a document data file according to claim 1 wherein said identification mark is electronically generated.

8. A method for preserving a document data file according to claim 1 wherein the step of processing the document data file further comprises decoding said document data file.

9. A method for preserving a document data file according to claim 1 wherein the step of coupling an identification mark to the document data file comprises the step of concatenating said identification mark to said document data file.

10. A method for preserving a document data file according to claim 1 wherein said identification mark is obtained by said vendor from a safe digital lock box.

11. A method for preserving a document data file according to claim 3 wherein said validation mark comprises a certification timestamp.

12. A method for preserving a document data file according to claim 1 wherein the step of processing the document data file uses a data integrity verification transform.

13. A method for preserving a document data file provided by a customer to a vendor of data preservation services, wherein a digital signature is coupled to said document data file, the method comprising:

(a) forming a secure preservation request by;

(a1) encoding said digital signature, together with an identification mark from said customer, using said vendor'"'"'s public key, to form a preservation signature;

(a2) coupling said document data file with said preservation signature to form said secure preservation request;

(b) transferring said secure preservation request to said vendor;

(c) decoding said preservation signature using said vendor'"'"'s private key to obtain said digital signature and said identification mark;

(d) decoding said digital signature, using said customer'"'"'s public key to obtain a first unique data verifier;

(e) processing said document data file to obtain a second unique data verifier;

(f) comparing said first and second unique data verifiers; and

(g) recording said document data file and said identification mark onto a preservation medium in human-readable form.

14. A method for preserving a document data file according to claim 13 further comprising the steps of encoding said document data file using said vendor public key and decoding said document data file using said vendor private key.

15. A method for preserving a document data file according to claim 13 wherein said human-readable form uses XML encoding.

16. A method for preserving a document data file according to claim 13 wherein said first unique data verifier is a hash file.

17. A method for preserving a document data file according to claim 13 further comprising the step of recording a validation mark onto said preservation medium in human readable form.

18. A method for preserving a document data file according to claim 13 wherein said identification mark is supplied by the customer.

19. A method for preserving a document data file according to claim 13 wherein said identification mark is taken from the group consisting of entered text, a digitized image, a biometric mark, and scanned data.

20. A method for preserving a document data file according to claim 13 wherein said identification mark is electronically generated.

21. A method for preserving a document data file according to claim 17 wherein said validation mark comprises a certification timestamp.

22. A method for preserving a document data file provided by a customer to a vendor of data preservation services, wherein a digital signature is coupled to said document data file, the method comprising:

(a) forming a secure preservation request by;

(a1) encoding said digital signature, together with an identification mark from said customer, using a customer private key, to form a customer preservation verifier;

(a2) encoding said customer preservation verifier using a vendor public key to form a verifiable preservation signature;

(a3) coupling said document data file with said verifiable preservation signature to form said secure preservation request;

(b) transferring said secure preservation request to said vendor;

(c) decoding said verifiable preservation signature using a vendor private key to obtain said customer preservation verifier;

(d) decoding said customer preservation verifier using a customer public key to obtain said digital signature and said identification mark;

(e) decoding said digital signature, using a customer public key to obtain a first unique data verifier;

(f) processing said document data file to obtain a second unique data verifier;

(g) comparing said first and second unique data verifiers; and

(h) recording said document data file and said identification mark onto a preservation medium in human-readable form.

23. A method for preserving a document data file according to claim 22 wherein said first unique data verifier is a hash file.

24. A method for preserving a document data file according to claim 22 wherein said human-readable form uses XML encoding.

25. A method for preserving a document data file according to claim 22 further comprising the step of recording a validation mark onto said preservation medium in human readable form.

26. A method for preserving a document data file according to claim 22 wherein said identification mark is supplied by the customer.

27. A method for preserving a document data file according to claim 22 wherein said identification mark is taken from the group consisting of entered text, a digitized image, a biometric mark, and scanned data.

28. A method for preserving a document data file according to claim 22 wherein said identification mark is electronically generated.

29. A method for preserving a document data file according to claim 22 further comprising the steps of encoding said document data file using said vendor public key and decoding said document data file using said vendor private key.

30. A method for preserving a document data file according to claim 25 wherein said validation mark comprises a certification timestamp.