Secure and reliable document delivery using routing lists

• US 20070294533A1
• Filed: 07/30/2007
• Published: 12/20/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/07/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: BAE Systems Applied Intelligence US Corp. (BAE Systems Plc)
• Original Assignee: Eng Toh, Kok Teo
• Inventors: Teo, Kok, Toh, Eng
• Granted Patent: US 7,596,689 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/170
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/64 Protecting data integrity, e.g. using checksums, certificates or signatures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2141 Access rights, e.g. capability lists, access control lists, access tables, access matrices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2151 Time stamp
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/56 Financial cryptography, e.g. electronic payment or e-cash
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/805 Lightweight hardware, e.g. radio-frequency identification [RFID] or sensor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0442 wherein the sending and receiving network entities apply asymmetric encryption, i.e. different keys for encryption and decryption cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for public-key encryption H04L9/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/061 for key exchange, e.g. in peer-to-peer networks cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key agreement H04L9/0838
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/062 for key distribution, e.g. centrally by trusted party cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key distribution involving a central third party H04L9/0819
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0823 using certificates cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0869 for achieving mutual authentication cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for mutual authentication H04L9/3273
• 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 9/0894 Escrow, recovery or storing of secret information, e.g. secret key escrow or cryptographic key storage
• 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

An operations center (OC) (200) acts as an intermediary for securely and reliably transmitting a document (3) from a sender (100) to a next recipient (300) on a routing list. The OC (200) identifies (464) a recipient (300) from the next stage of the routing list and provides either the recipient'"'"'s public key (404) or an escrow encryption key (406). The OC (200) optionally can authenticate the sender (100) and/or the recipient (300), thus increasing security.

Claims

1-57. -57. (canceled)

58. A method for facilitating a secure delivery of a document over a network from a sender to a next stage on a routing list, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving an indication that a sender desires to deliver a document to a next stage on a routing list for the document;

identifying a recipient from the next stage of the routing list;

sending an inquiry to a public key database to determine whether the recipient has a public key;

receiving a response to said inquiry, said response selected from the group of said recipient having a public key in said database and said recipient not having a public key in said database;

if said response is said recipient having a public key in said public key database, completing the steps of;

(a) retrieving said public key from said public key database and

(b) setting a message encryption key for encrypting the document equal to said public key;

(c) encrypting the document prior to sending said document using the message encryption key;

if said response is said recipient not having a public key in said public key database, completing the steps of;

(a) providing an escrow encryption key not equal to the recipient'"'"'s public key and not equal to the sender'"'"'s private key, wherein an escrow unencryption key for unlocking said escrow encryption key is not made available to said recipient and

(b) encrypting the document using the generated escrow encryption key, and storing the escrow key encrypted document;

(c) notifying the addressee of the package stored in escrow; and

(d) only in response to receiving an acknowledgement from the recipient, unencrypting the escrow encryption key encrypted document using an escrow unencryption key prior to sending said document using the escrow encryption key, wherein the escrow encryption key is not provided to the recipient

59. The method of claim 58 comprising the additional step of verifying the identity of the recipient after receiving the acknowledgement from the addressee and prior to unencrypting the document using the escrow encryption key.

60. The method of claim 58 wherein the document is unencrypted using the escrow unencryption key prior to sending the document over the network.

61. The method of claim 58 wherein the the escrow encryption key is one of a public and private key not assigned to the recipient.

62. The method of claim 61 wherein the the escrow encryption key is one of a public and private key not assigned to the sender.