Compact digital signatures
First Claim
1. A method of digitally signing data, comprising the steps of:
- (a) selecting a plurality of public keys and corresponding secret keys for a group of signers to provide each member of the group with at least one of the secret keys that is different from an other one of the secret keys provided to an other member of the group;
(b) each signer of a first subgroup of signers producing an individual digital signature of the data relative to one of the public keys;
(c) obtaining a combined digital signature of the data relative to one or more of the public keys by combining individual digital signatures of a second subgroup of signers that is less than the group of signers; and
(d) keeping members of the second subgroup accountable by having the combined digital signature depend on the secret keys of the members of the second subgroup.
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Abstract
Digitally signing data includes collecting a group of signers, each having a public key and a corresponding secret key, a subgroup of signers each producing a partial digital signature of the data, and obtaining a combined signature of the data by combining the partial digital signatures of the data, where the combined digital signature keeps the subgroup of signers accountable for the data for which the subgroup of signers each produce a partial digital signature. Verifying a digital signature of data includes ascertaining members of a subgroup of signers that contributed to provide the digital signature of the data, determining a combined public key corresponding to individual secret keys of a the subgroup of signers, and using the combined public key to verify that the subgroup of signers have each contributed to provide the digital signature of the data.
76 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A method of digitally signing data, comprising the steps of:
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(a) selecting a plurality of public keys and corresponding secret keys for a group of signers to provide each member of the group with at least one of the secret keys that is different from an other one of the secret keys provided to an other member of the group; (b) each signer of a first subgroup of signers producing an individual digital signature of the data relative to one of the public keys; (c) obtaining a combined digital signature of the data relative to one or more of the public keys by combining individual digital signatures of a second subgroup of signers that is less than the group of signers; and (d) keeping members of the second subgroup accountable by having the combined digital signature depend on the secret keys of the members of the second subgroup. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of digitally signing data, comprising the steps of:
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(a) selecting a common public key; (b) selecting a plurality of individual secret keys for a group of signers to provide each member of the group with at least one of the secret keys that is different from an other one of the secret keys provided to an other member of the group; (c) each signer of a first subgroup of one or more signers using the corresponding individual secret key to produce a partial digital signature of the data; (d) combining the partial digital signatures of a second subgroup of signers, less than the group of signers, to provide a combined digital signature of the data relative to the common public key; and (e) keeping members of the second subgroup accountable by having the combined digital signature depend on the secret keys of the members of the second subgroup. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of verifying a digital signature of data, comprising the steps of:
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(a) ascertaining members of a subgroup of signers containing a plurality, but not all, members of a group of all possible singers each having one or more secret keys assigned thereto; (b) determining a combined public key corresponding to the secret keys; (c) using the combined public key to verify the digital signature; and (d) keeping members of the subgroup accountable by verifying that the digital signature depends on the secret keys of the subgroup. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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Specification