Method for secure accounting and auditing on a communications network
First Claim
1. A method for secure accounting and auditing of a communications network, said network having at least one server, a plurality of clients, and at least one audit-agency, the method comprising the steps of:
- initializing, beginning of a metered time frame, interacting with a client, and processing at end of time frame;
wherein;
(a.) initializing includes an audit-agency choosing a substantially random key and said audit-agency securely sending, to each server and to each client, data that depends on at least said key and on identity-data of the server or the client receiving said sending;
(b.) beginning of a metered time frame includes the audit-agency sending a challenge to at least one server;
(c.) interacting with a client, of said initialized clients, includes firstly a server sending to the client a challenge which depends on at least the challenge that the server received from the audit-agency, and secondly the client replying with an answer that is computationally dependant on the challenge that said client received and on information that said client received in its initialization step; and
(d.) processing at end of time frame includes firstly a server performing a computation which depends on at least the answers said server received from clients, and secondly sending to the audit-agency a compact proof for the number of clients served by said server.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for secure accounting and auditing of a communications network operates in an environment in which many servers serve an even larger number of clients (e.g. the web), and are required to meter the interaction between servers and clients (e.g. counting the number of clients that were served by a server). The method (metering process) is very efficient and does not require extensive usage of any new communication channels. The metering is secure against fraud attempts by servers which inflate the number of their clients and against clients that attempt to disrupt the metering process. Several secure and efficient constructions of this method are based on efficient cryptographic techniques, are also very accurate, and preserver the privacy of the clients.
174 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for secure accounting and auditing of a communications network, said network having at least one server, a plurality of clients, and at least one audit-agency, the method comprising the steps of:
- initializing, beginning of a metered time frame, interacting with a client, and processing at end of time frame;
wherein;(a.) initializing includes an audit-agency choosing a substantially random key and said audit-agency securely sending, to each server and to each client, data that depends on at least said key and on identity-data of the server or the client receiving said sending; (b.) beginning of a metered time frame includes the audit-agency sending a challenge to at least one server; (c.) interacting with a client, of said initialized clients, includes firstly a server sending to the client a challenge which depends on at least the challenge that the server received from the audit-agency, and secondly the client replying with an answer that is computationally dependant on the challenge that said client received and on information that said client received in its initialization step; and (d.) processing at end of time frame includes firstly a server performing a computation which depends on at least the answers said server received from clients, and secondly sending to the audit-agency a compact proof for the number of clients served by said server. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
- initializing, beginning of a metered time frame, interacting with a client, and processing at end of time frame;
Specification