Portable Data Encryption Device with Configurable Security Functionality and Method for File Encryption

• US 20130046993A1
• Filed: 10/12/2012
• Published: 02/21/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/22/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Spyrus, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Spyrus, Inc.
• Inventors: JUENEMAN, Robert R., LINSENBARDT, Duane J., YOUNG, John N., CARLISLE, William Reid, TREGUB, Burton George
• Granted Patent: US 9,049,010 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/186
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• 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 21/72 in cryptographic circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2113 Multi-level security, e.g. mandatory access control
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2153 Using hardware token as a secondary aspect
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/24 Key scheduling, i.e. generating round keys or sub-keys for block encryption
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/80 Wireless network architectures or network communication protocols for wireless network security H04W12/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/061 for key exchange, e.g. in peer-to-peer networks cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key agreement H04L9/0838
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0876 based on the identity of the terminal or configuration, e.g. MAC address, hardware or software configuration or device fingerprint
• 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 9/0822 using key encryption key
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/085 Secret sharing or secret splitting, e.g. threshold schemes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0861 Generation of secret information including derivation or calculation of cryptographic keys or passwords
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0877 using additional device, e.g. trusted platform module [TPM], smartcard, USB or hardware security module [HSM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3226 using a predetermined code, e.g. password, passphrase or PIN network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using passwords in a packet data network H04L63/083
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/02 Protecting privacy or anonymity, e.g. protecting personally identifiable information [PII]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/04 Key management, e.g. using generic bootstrapping architecture [GBA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/63 Location-dependent; Proximity-dependent

Abstract

A portable encryption device with logon access controlled by an encryption key, with an on board cryptographic processor for reconstituting the encryption key from a plurality of secrets generated by a secret sharing algorithm, optionally shrouded with external secrets using an invertible transform resistant to quantum computing attacks. Another embodiment provides file decryption controlled by a file encryption key, with the on board cryptographic processor reconstituting the file encryption key from a version of the file encryption key which has been shrouded with a network authorization code. A method for encryption of a plaintext file by hashing, compressing, and encrypting the plaintext file, hashing the ciphertext, hashing the plaintext hash and the ciphertext hash, and sealing the ciphertext together with the resulting hash. A portable encryption device for performing the method is also disclosed.

Claims

1. A portable encryption device with logon access controlled by an encryption key, comprising:

an enclosure for the device providing a portable form factor, and

a cryptographic processor within the enclosure for reconstituting the encryption key from a plurality of secrets generated by a secret sharing algorithm.

2. The device of claim 1, where the secret sharing algorithm comprises a K out of N secret sharing mechanism.

3. The device of claim 2, where the K out of N secret sharing mechanism comprises Shamir'"'"'s Secret-Sharing Algorithm.

4. The device of claim 2, where the K out of N secret sharing mechanism comprises Lagrange interpolation.

5. The device of claim 1, where one or more of the generated secrets have been shrouded with one or more external secrets using an invertible transform, such that any one of the external secrets may be changed without recreation or re-dealing of all of the plurality of generated secrets.

6. The device of claim 5, where the invertible transform is XOR.

7. The device of claim 5, where one or more of the external secrets comprise a user'"'"'s PIN.

8. The device of claim 2.6, where the PIN is a supervisory user'"'"'s PIN.

9. The device of claim 5, where the external secrets comprise a plurality of user'"'"'s PINs, and the transform is invertible with less than all of the plurality of user'"'"'s PINs.

10. The device of claim 5, where one or more of the external secrets comprise a firmware hash.

11. The device of claim 5, where one or more of the external secrets comprise a host authorization code associated with one or more specific host computing devices, binding the portable encryption device to such one or more host computing devices.

12. The device of claim 5, where one or more of the external secrets is generated by a proximity detection mechanism.

13. The device of claim 5, where one or more of the external secrets is a function of multivariate parameters.

14. The device of claim 13, where the multivariate parameters are chosen from the group consisting of a geographic-locus and biometric input.

15. The device of claim 1, further comprising means for communicating the external secrets over a secure channel with a secondary device.

16. The device of claim 15, where the secondary device is a connected host computing device.

17. The device of claim 15, where the secondary device is a remote device.

18. The device of claim 1, where the encryption key is a master key encryption key.

19. The device of claim 1, where the encryption key is an application key encryption key.

20. The device of claim 1, further comprising means for interfacing with a user authentication device.

21. The device of claim 20, where the authentication device comprises a secure PIN entry mechanism.

22. The device of claim 20, where the authentication device comprises a secure biometric input.

23. The device of claim 1, further comprising removable memory configured for data storage.

24. The device of claim 1, further comprising a data communication module.

25. The device of claim 1, where the cryptographic processor is a microprocessor programmed to execute cryptographic functions.

26. The device of claim 1, further comprising a second cryptographic processor within the enclosure.

27. A method for controlling logon access on a portable encryption device having a portable form factor and a cryptographic processor, comprising:

generating a plurality of secrets by a secret sharing algorithm,

configuring the cryptographic processor to reconstitute an encryption key from the plurality of generated secrets, and

determining logon access as a function of the reconstituted encryption key.

28. The method of claim 27, where the secret sharing algorithm comprises a K out of N secret sharing mechanism.

29. The method of claim 28, where the K out of N secret sharing mechanism comprises Shamir'"'"'s Secret-Sharing Algorithm.

30. The method of claim 28, where the K out of N secret sharing mechanism comprises Lagrange interpolation.

31. The method of claim 27, further comprising shrouding one or more of the generated secrets with one or more external secrets using an invertible transform, such that any one of the external secrets may be changed without regeneration or re-dealing of all of the plurality of secrets.

32. The method of claim 31, where the invertible transform is XOR.

33. The method of claim 31, where one or more of the external secrets comprise a user'"'"'s PIN.

34. The method of claim 33, where the PIN is a supervisory user'"'"'s PIN.

35. The method of claim 31, where the external secrets comprise a plurality of user'"'"'s PINs, and the transform is invertible with less than all of the plurality of user'"'"'s PINs.

36. The method of claim 31, where one or more of the external secrets comprise a firmware hash.

37. The method of claim 31, where one or more of the external secrets comprise a host authorization code associated with one or more specific host computing device, binding the portable encryption method to such one or more host computing devices.

38. The method of claim 31, where one or more of the external secrets is generated by a proximity detection mechanism.

39. The method of claim 31, where one or more of the external secrets is a function of multivariate parameters.

40. The method of claim 39, where the multivariate parameters are chosen from the group consisting of a geographic-locus and biometric input.

41. The method of claim 27, further comprising communicating the external secrets over a secure channel to a secondary device.

42. The method of claim 41, where the secondary device is a host computing device.

43. The method of claim 41, where the secondary device is a remote device.

44. The method of claim 27, where the encryption key is a master key encryption key.

45. The method of claim 27, where the encryption key is an application key encryption key.

46. The method of claim 27, further comprising receiving input from a user authentication device.

47. The method of claim 46, where the input is received over a secure channel.

48. The method of claim 46, where the input comprises secure biometric data.

49. A portable encryption device with file decryption controlled by a file encryption key, comprising:

an enclosure for the device providing a portable form factor, and

a cryptographic processor within the enclosure for reconstituting the file encryption key from a version of the file encryption key which has been shrouded with a network authorization code.

50. A method for controlling file decryption with a portable encryption device having a portable form factor and a cryptographic processor, comprising:

generating a network authorization code,

distributing the network authorization code to a community of interest through an out-of-band distribution mechanism,

shrouding a file encryption key with the network authorization code using an invertible transform,

receiving the network authorization code from a user,

causing the cryptographic processor to reconstitute the file encryption key from the received network authorization code, and

determining file decryption as a function of the reconstituted file encryption key.

51. The method of claim 50, further comprising decrypting an encrypted file as a function of the reconstituted file encryption key.

52. The method of claim 50, where the invertible transform is XOR.

53. The method of claim 50, where the invertible transform is resistant to quantum computing attacks.

54. The method of claim 50, further comprising encrypting the network authorization code and distributing the code to a recovery agent.

55. A method for file encryption of a plaintext file, comprising the steps of:

hashing the plaintext file to produce a plaintext hash,

compressing the plaintext file,

encrypting the compressed plaintext file to create ciphertext,

hashing the ciphertext to produce a ciphertext hash,

hashing the plaintext hash and the ciphertext hash to produce a result hash, and

sealing the ciphertext together with the result hash, to produce the encrypted file.

56. The method of claim 55, further comprising steps for communicating the encrypted file to originator-selected optional recipients.

57. The method of claim 55, further comprising steps for an enforced mandatory recovery agent.

58. The method of claim 55, further comprising steps for breaking the encryption of the encrypted file at a pre-determined date.

59. The method of claim 55, the sealing step further comprising embedding forward error correction within the encrypted file.

60. The method of claim 55, the plaintext file having metadata, further comprising the step of separately encrypting the metadata, and the sealing step comprising sealing the ciphertext together with the result hash and the encrypted metadata.

61. The method of claim 60, further comprising steps for an independent key exchange mechanism to permit decrypting the metadata by catalog agent.

62. The method of claim 55, further comprising use of a portable encryption device having a portable form factor and an on-board cryptographic processor to perform one or more of the steps.

63. A portable encryption device for encryption of a plaintext file, comprising an enclosure for the device providing a portable form factor, and a cryptographic processor within the enclosure configured to perform the steps of claim 55.