Distributed single sign on technologies including privacy protection and proactive updating

• US 9,160,528 B2
• Filed: 02/29/2012
• Issued: 10/13/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/24/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Zhu, Bin Benjamin, Feng, Min
• Primary Examiner(s): Najjar, Saleh
• Assistant Examiner(s): MEJIA, FELICIANO S
• Application Number:
  US13/408,875
• Publication Number:
  US 20120159588A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,322 Days
• Field of Search: 713/177, 713/170, 713/168, 713/189, 726/8, 726/6, 726/26, 380/30, 380/286, 380/44, 380/278, 380/283
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0435 wherein the sending and receiving network entities apply symmetric encryption, i.e. same key used for encryption and decryption cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for symmetric key encryption H04L9/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0815 providing single-sign-on or federations
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/083 using passwords cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using a predetermined code H04L9/3226
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/085 Secret sharing or secret splitting, e.g. threshold schemes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3218 using proof of knowledge, e.g. Fiat-Shamir, GQ, Schnorr, ornon-interactive zero-knowledge proofs
• 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

Abstract

Technologies for distributed single sign-on operable to provide user access to a plurality of services via authentication to a single entity. The distributed single sign-on technologies provide a set of authentication servers and methods for privacy protection based on splitting secret, keys and user profiles into secure shares and periodically updating shares among the authentication servers without affecting the underlying secrets. The correctness of the received partial token or partial profiles can be verified with non-interactive zero-knowledge proofs.

Claims

1. A method performed on an authentication device that includes at least one processor and memory, the method comprising:

computing, by the authentication device for each of a plurality of authentication devices that includes the authentication device, a corresponding update value;

providing each update value to its corresponding one of the plurality of authentication devices;

receiving, by the authentication device, another update value from each of the other authentication devices;

updating, by the authentication device, a share of a secret based on the update value of the authentication device and on the received update values, where the updating the share does not require changing the secret.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising broadcasting, by the authentication device to the plurality of authentication devices, validation data.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising validating the received another update values based on the validation data.

4. The method of claim 1 where the updating comprises adding the update value of the authentication device and the received update values to the share resulting in an updated share.

5. The method of claim 1 where the corresponding update value is based on a random polynomial that is of an order t−

1 where t is a number of authentication servers in the plurality of authentication servers.

6. The method of claim 5 where coefficients of the generated random polynomial are each random numbers.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein a constant of the generated random polynomial is zero.

8. At least one computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that cause, based on execution by at least one processor of an authentication device, the authentication device to perform actions comprising:

computing, by the authentication device for each of a plurality of authentication devices that includes the authentication device, a corresponding update value;

providing each update value to its corresponding one of the plurality of authentication devices;

receiving another update value from each of the other authentication devices;

updating a share of a secret based on the update value of the authentication device and on the received update values, where the updating the share does not require changing the secret.

9. The at least one computer-readable media of claim 8, the actions further comprising broadcasting, by the authentication device to the plurality of authentication devices, validation data.

10. The at least one computer-readable media of claim 9, the actions further comprising validating the received another update values based on the validation data.

11. The at least one computer-readable media of claim 8 where the updating comprises adding the update value of the authentication device and the received update values to the share resulting in an updated share.

12. The at least one computer-readable media of claim 8 where the corresponding update value is based on a random polynomial that is of an order t−

1 where t is a number of authentication servers in the plurality of authentication servers.

13. The at least one computer-readable media of claim 12 where coefficients of the generated random polynomial are each random numbers.

14. The at least one computer-readable media of claim 12 wherein a constant of the generated random polynomial is zero.

15. A system comprising an authentication device and at least one program module that are configured for performing actions, the an authentication device including at least one processor and memory, the actions comprising:

computing, by the authentication device for each of a plurality of authentication devices that includes the authentication device, a corresponding update value;

providing each update value to its corresponding one of the plurality of authentication devices;

receiving, by the authentication device, another update value from each of the other of the authentication devices;

updating, by the authentication device, a share of a secret based on the update value of the authentication device and on the received update values, where the updating the share does not require changing the secret.

16. The system of claim 15, the actions further comprising broadcasting, by the authentication device to the plurality of authentication devices, validation data.

17. The system of claim 16, the actions further comprising validating the received another update values based on the validation data.

18. The system of claim 15 where the updating comprises adding the update value of the authentication device and the received update values to the share resulting in an updated share.

19. The system of claim 15 where the corresponding update value is based on a random polynomial that is of an order t−

1 where t is a number of authentication servers in the plurality of authentication servers.

20. The system of claim 19 where coefficients of the generated random polynomial are each random numbers, or where a constant of the generated random polynomial is zero.