Securing data in a dispersed storage network using shared secret slices
First Claim
1. A computing device comprising:
- an interface to receive a plurality of encoded data slices from a plurality of different storage units included in a vault of a distributed storage network, each of the encoded data slices associated with a pillar having a respective pillar number, and encoded using an encoder algorithm including an encoding function and at least one encoder constant;
memory;
a processing module operably coupled to the interface and the memory, wherein the processing module is operable to implement;
a decoder to recover the at least one encoder constant and determine the encoder algorithm using the plurality of encoded data elements, the respective pillar number, and the encoding function, wherein the at least one encoder constant is recovered using more than one of the plurality of encoded data slices;
the decoder further to decode the plurality of encoded data slices to generate a decoded data element using the encoding algorithm.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A data element can be encoded into multiple encoded data elements using an encoding algorithm that includes an encoding function and one or more encoder constant. The encoded data elements can be organized into multiple pillars, each having a respective pillar number. Each of the pillars is sent to a different storage unit of a distributed storage network. To recover the original data element, the encoded data elements are retrieved from storage, and the encoder constant is recovered using multiple encoded data elements. Recovering the encoder constant allows the encoding algorithm originally used to encode the data elements to be determined, and used to recover the original data element. The security of the stored data is enhanced, because an encoded data element from a single pillar is insufficient to identify the encoder constant.
96 Citations
8 Claims
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1. A computing device comprising:
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an interface to receive a plurality of encoded data slices from a plurality of different storage units included in a vault of a distributed storage network, each of the encoded data slices associated with a pillar having a respective pillar number, and encoded using an encoder algorithm including an encoding function and at least one encoder constant; memory; a processing module operably coupled to the interface and the memory, wherein the processing module is operable to implement; a decoder to recover the at least one encoder constant and determine the encoder algorithm using the plurality of encoded data elements, the respective pillar number, and the encoding function, wherein the at least one encoder constant is recovered using more than one of the plurality of encoded data slices; the decoder further to decode the plurality of encoded data slices to generate a decoded data element using the encoding algorithm. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method for execution by a processing module of a computing device, the method comprising:
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receiving, via an interface of the computing device, a plurality of encoded data slices from a plurality of different storage units included in a vault of a distributed storage network, each of the encoded data slices associated with a pillar having a respective pillar number, and encoded using an encoder algorithm including an encoding function and at least one encoder constant; recovering, by the processing module, the at least one encoder constant and determining the encoder algorithm using the plurality of encoded data slices, the respective pillar number, and the encoding function, wherein the at least one encoder constant is recovered using more than one of the plurality of encoded data slices; decoding, by the processing module, the plurality of encoded data slices to generate a decoded data element using the encoding algorithm. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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Specification