CRYPTOGRAPHIC KEY

• US 20150379286A1
• Filed: 06/30/2014
• Published: 12/31/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Konica Minolta Laboratory U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Konica Minolta Laboratory U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta Inc.)
• Inventors: Nordback, Kurt N.
• Granted Patent: US 10,083,311 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2111 Location-sensitive, e.g. geographical location, GPS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0872 using geo-location information, e.g. location data, time, relative position or proximity to other entities

Abstract

A method for managing a file, including receiving a request to encrypt the file, the request identifying a target location; determining a plurality of coordinates based on the target location; generating a cryptographic key based on the plurality of coordinates; generating an encrypted version of the file using the cryptographic key; and storing the encrypted version of the file.

Claims

1. A method for managing a file, comprising:

receiving a request to encrypt the file, the request identifying a target location;

determining a plurality of coordinates based on the target location;

generating a cryptographic key based on the plurality of coordinates;

generating an encrypted version of the file using the cryptographic key; and

storing the encrypted version of the file.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by a computing device, a request to decrypt the encrypted version of the file;

determining, by the computing device, a plurality of test coordinates based on an actual location of the computing device;

generating, by the computing device, a test cryptographic key based on the plurality of test coordinates; and

decrypting, in response to the test cryptographic key equaling the cryptographic key, the encrypted version using the test cryptographic key to obtain the file.

3. A method for managing a file, comprising:

receiving a request to encrypt the file, the request identifying a plurality of computing devices having permission to access the file;

generating a cryptographic key based on an attribute of the plurality of computing devices;

generating an encrypted version of the file using the cryptographic key; and

storing the encrypted version of the file.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

receiving, by a computing device of the plurality of computing devices, a request to decrypt the encrypted version of the file;

determining, by the computing device, a test attribute of the computing device;

generating, by the computing device, a test cryptographic key based on the test attribute; and

decrypting, in response to the test cryptographic key equaling the cryptographic key, the encrypted version using the test cryptographic key to obtain the file.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

obtaining a plurality of coordinates specifying a geographic region comprising the plurality of computing devices,

wherein the attribute comprises the plurality of coordinates, and

wherein generating the cryptographic key comprises concatenating the plurality of coordinates; and

determining, by the computing device, a location of the computing device,

wherein determining the test attribute comprises mapping the location to the plurality of coordinates of the geographic region.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the request to encrypt identifies at least one selected from a group consisting of a campus within the geographic region and a building within the geographic region.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein:

the attribute is an internet protocol (IP) address prefix shared by the plurality of computing devices; and

the cryptographic key comprises the IP address prefix.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein:

the attribute comprises a group email address;

the cryptographic key comprises the group email address; and

determining the test attribute comprises;

determining an email address of a user operating the computing device; and

mapping the email address to the group email address.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the group email address corresponds to at least one selected from a group consisting of a human resources (HR) department of a business, an engineering department, and a legal department.

10. A method for managing a file, comprising:

receiving, by a computing device of a plurality of computing devices, a request to decrypt an encrypted version of the file,

wherein the encrypted version of the file is generated using an encryption key, and

wherein the encryption key is generated using an attribute of the plurality of computing devices specified in a request to encrypt the file;

determining, by the computing device, a test attribute of the computing device;

generating, by the computing device, a test cryptographic key based on the test attribute; and

decrypting, in response to the test cryptographic key equaling the cryptographic key, the encrypted version using the test cryptographic key to obtain the file.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

determining, by the computing device, a location of the computing device,

wherein determining the test attribute comprises mapping the location to a plurality of coordinates of the geographic region, and

wherein the attribute comprises the plurality of coordinates and the cryptographic key is generated by concatenating the plurality of coordinates.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein

the attribute is an internet protocol (IP) address prefix shared by the plurality of computing devices;

and

the cryptographic key comprises the IP address prefix.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein:

the attribute comprises a group email address;

the cryptographic key comprises the group email address; and

determining the test attribute comprises;

determining an email address of a user operating the computing device; and

mapping the email address to the group email address.

14. A non-transitory computer readable medium (CRM) storing instructions for managing a file, the instructions comprising functionality for:

receiving, by a computing device of a plurality of computing devices, a request to decrypt an encrypted version of the file,

wherein the encrypted version of the file is generated using an encryption key, and

wherein the encryption key is generated using an attribute of the plurality of computing devices specified in a request to encrypt the file;

determining, by the computing device, a test attribute of the computing device;

generating, by the computing device, a test cryptographic key based on the test attribute; and

decrypting, in response to the test cryptographic key equaling the cryptographic key, the encrypted version using the test cryptographic key to obtain the file.

15. The non-transitory CRM of claim 14, the instructions further comprising functionality for:

determining, by the computing device, a location of the computing device,

wherein determining the test attribute comprises mapping the location to a plurality of coordinates of the geographic region, and

wherein the attribute comprises the plurality of coordinates and the cryptographic key is generated by concatenating the plurality of coordinates.

16. The non-transitory CRM of claim 14, wherein:

the attribute is an internet protocol (IP) address prefix shared by the plurality of computing devices; and

the cryptographic key comprises the IP address prefix.

17. The non-transitory CRM of claim 14, wherein:

the attribute comprises a group email address;

the cryptographic key comprises the group email address; and

determining the test attribute comprises;

determining an email address of a user operating the computing device; and

mapping the email address to the group email address.

18. A system for managing a file, comprising:

a first computing device, comprising;

a first graphical user interface (GUI) that collects a request to encrypt the file, the request identifying a plurality of computing devices having permission to access the file;

a first key generation engine that generates an cryptographic key based on an attribute of the plurality of computing devices; and

an encryption engine that generates an encrypted version of the file using the cryptographic key; and

a second computing device, comprising;

a second graphical user interface (GUI) that collects a request to decrypt the encrypted version of the file;

a second key generation engine that generates a test cryptographic key based on a test attribute of the second computing device, wherein the plurality of computing devices includes the second computing device; and

a decryption engine that decrypts, in response to the test cryptographic key equaling the cryptographic key, the encrypted version using the test cryptographic key to obtain the file.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein:

the first computing device further comprises;

a global positioning system (GPS) device that obtains a plurality of coordinates for a geographic region comprising the plurality of computing devices,

wherein the attribute comprises the plurality of coordinates, and

wherein the first key generation engine generates the cryptographic key by at least concatenating the plurality of coordinates; and

the second computing device further comprises;

a GPS device that obtains a location of the second computing device and maps the location to the plurality of coordinates of the geographic region,

wherein the test attribute comprises the plurality of coordinates.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the request to encrypt identifies at least one selected from a group consisting of a campus within the geographic region and a building within the geographic region.

21. The system of claim 18, wherein:

the attribute is an internet protocol (IP) address prefix shared by the plurality of computing devices; and

the cryptographic key comprises the IP address prefix.

22. The system of claim 18, wherein:

the attribute comprises a group email address;

the cryptographic key comprises the group email address; and

the test attribute is determined by;

determining an email address of a user operating the second computing device; and

mapping the email address to the group email address.