Multi party messaging

• US 9,628,449 B1
• Filed: 04/02/2015
• Issued: 04/18/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/16/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Wickr Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Wickr Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Statica, Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): Zee, Edward
• Application Number:
  US14/677,258
• Time in Patent Office: 747 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/62 Protecting access to data via a platform, e.g. using keys or access control rules
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/84 output devices, e.g. displays or monitors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04104 Multi-touch detection in digitiser, i.e. details about the simultaneous detection of a plurality of touching locations, e.g. multiple fingers or pen and finger
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04808 Several contacts: gestures triggering a specific function, e.g. scrolling, zooming, right-click, when the user establishes several contacts with the surface simultaneously; e.g. using several fingers or a combination of fingers and pen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/64 Three-dimensional objects
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/24 Key scheduling, i.e. generating round keys or sub-keys for block encryption
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/04 for providing a confidential data exchange among entities communicating through data packet networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0421 Anonymous communication, i.e. the party's identifiers are hidden from the other party or parties, e.g. using an anonymizer
• 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 63/0442 wherein the sending and receiving network entities apply asymmetric encryption, i.e. different keys for encryption and decryption cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for public-key encryption H04L9/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/061 for key exchange, e.g. in peer-to-peer networks cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key agreement H04L9/0838
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0853 using an additional device, e.g. smartcard, SIM or a different communication terminal cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving additional secure or trusted devices H04L9/3234
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/08 Key distribution or management, e.g. generation, sharing or updating, of cryptographic keys or passwords network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting key management in a packet data network H04L63/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0816 Key establishment, i.e. cryptographic processes or cryptographic protocols whereby a shared secret becomes available to two or more parties, for subsequent use
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0822 using key encryption key
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0825 using asymmetric-key encryption or public key infrastructure [PKI], e.g. key signature or public key certificates
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0841 : involving Diffie-Hellman or related key agreement protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0869 : involving random numbers or seeds
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/30 : Public key, i.e. encryption algorithm being computationally infeasible to invert or user's encryption keys not requiring secrecy
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3066 : involving algebraic varieties, e.g. elliptic or hyper-elliptic curves
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3236 : using cryptographic hash functions

Abstract

Multi-party messaging is disclosed. A plurality of public keys is requested by a first device from a server, wherein the plurality of public keys is associated with a plurality of recipients. A message containing one or more components is encrypted using a symmetric key. The symmetric key is encrypted, using each of the respective public keys, resulting in a plurality of encrypted symmetric keys. The encrypted message and the encrypted symmetric keys are encapsulated in an encapsulation. The encapsulation is transmitted to the server.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a set of one or more interfaces configured to;

receive, from a first device, a request for a plurality of public keys associated with a plurality of shared recipients of a first message, wherein a first recipient included in the plurality of shared recipients is associated with a second device and wherein a second recipient included in the plurality of shared recipients is associated with a third device;

transmit, to the first device, a set of public keys associated with at least some of the shared recipients; and

receive, from the first device, an encapsulation containing the first message in an encrypted form and containing a plurality of encrypted symmetric keys, wherein the encapsulation is performed, at least in part, using a spreading function;

a set of one or more processors configured to;

create, in response to the receipt from the first device of the encapsulation, a record associated with the received encapsulation, wherein the record includes, for a given respective recipient, an indication of whether the respective recipient has requested the received encapsulation; and

in response to receipt, from the second device, of a request to access the first message, update the record associated with the received encapsulation to indicate that the second device has requested to access the first message;

track receipt, by all message recipients, of the first message; and

in response to a determination that all message recipients have received the first message, delete the encapsulation from a storage associated with the system; and

a memory coupled to at least one processor included in the set of one or more processors and configured to provide the at least one processor with instructions.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the set of one or more interfaces is further configured to transmit to the second device a notification associated with the arrival of the first message at the system.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the set of one or more processors is configured to determine whether or not to transmit to the second device a notification associated with the arrival of the first message of the system by determining whether the first recipient has opted to receive message notifications on the second device.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the set of one or more processors is further configured to determine that a deadline for accessing the first message has passed and cause deletion of the encapsulation from a storage associated with the system in response to the determination.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the set of one or more processors is further configured to cause a transmission to the first device of at least one respective device identifier associated with each of the respective recipients.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the set of one or more processors is further configured to cause a transmission to the first device of at least one respective application identifier associated with each of the respective recipients.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the encapsulation further includes a public key associated with the first device.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the encapsulation further includes a device identifier associated with the first device.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one recipient included in the plurality of recipients is associated with a single public key and a plurality of device identifiers.

10. A method, comprising:

receiving, from a first device, a request for a plurality of public keys associated with a plurality of shared recipients of a first message, wherein a first recipient included in the plurality of shared recipients is associated with a second device and wherein a second recipient included in the plurality of shared recipients is associated with a third device;

transmitting, to the first device, a set of public keys associated with at least some of the shared recipients;

receiving, from the first device, an encapsulation containing the first message in an encrypted form and containing a plurality of encrypted symmetric keys, wherein the encapsulation is performed, at least in part, using a spreading function;

creating, in response to the receipt from the first device of the encapsulation, a record associated with the received encapsulation, wherein the record includes, for a given respective recipient, an indication of whether the respective recipient has requested the received encapsulation;

in response to receipt, from the second device, of a request to access the first message, updating the record associated with the received encapsulation to indicate that the second device has requested to access the first message;

tracking receipt, by all message recipients, of the first message; and

in response to a determination that all message recipients have received the first message, deleting the encapsulation from a storage associated with the system.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising transmitting to the second device a notification associated with the receipt of the first message.

12. The method of claim 10 further comprising determining whether or not to transmit to the second device a notification associated with the receipt of the first message by determining whether the first recipient has opted to receive message notifications on the second device.

13. The method of claim 10 further comprising determining that a deadline for accessing the first message has passed and causing deletion of the encapsulation in response to the determination.

14. The method of claim 10 further comprising causing the transmission to the first device of at least one respective device identifier associated with each of the respective recipients.

15. The method of claim 10 further comprising causing the transmission to the first device of at least one respective application identifier associated with each of the respective recipients.

16. The method of claim 10 wherein the encapsulation further includes a public key associated with the first device.

17. The method of claim 10 wherein the encapsulation further includes a device identifier associated with the first device.

18. The method of claim 10 wherein at least one recipient included in the plurality of recipients is associated with a single public key and a plurality of device identifiers.

19. A computer program product embodied in a non-transitory tangible computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:

receiving, from a first device, a request for a plurality of public keys associated with a plurality of shared recipients of a first message, wherein a first recipient included in the plurality of shared recipients is associated with a second device and wherein a second recipient included in the plurality of shared recipients is associated with a third device;

transmitting, to the first device, a set of public keys associated with at least some of the shared recipients;

receiving, from the first device, an encapsulation containing the first message in an encrypted form and containing a plurality of encrypted symmetric keys, wherein the encapsulation is performed, at least in part, using a spreading function;

creating, in response to the receipt from the first device of the encapsulation, a record associated with the received encapsulation, wherein the record includes, for a given respective recipient, an indication of whether the respective recipient has requested the received encapsulation;

in response to receipt, from the second device, of a request to access the first message, updating the record associated with the received encapsulation to indicate that the second device has requested to access the first message;

tracking receipt, by all message recipients, of the first message; and

in response to a determination that all message recipients have received the first message, deleting the encapsulation from a storage associated with the system.