Attestation management

• US 10,790,975 B2
• Filed: 05/31/2018
• Issued: 09/29/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 01/22/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Patel, Ankur, Buchner, Daniel James
• Primary Examiner(s): Song, Hosuk
• Application Number:
  US15/994,337
• Publication Number:
  US 20190230073A1
• Time in Patent Office: 852 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9014 hash tables
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/907 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/33 using certificates
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/45 Structures or tools for the administration of authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6218 to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2131 Lost password, e.g. recovery of lost or forgotten passwords
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2141 Access rights, e.g. capability lists, access control lists, access tables, access matrices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3674 involving authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3821 Electronic credentials
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3829 involving key management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0637 Modes of operation, e.g. cipher block chaining [CBC], electronic codebook [ECB] or Galois/counter mode [GCM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/083 involving central third party, e.g. key distribution center [KDC] or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0869 involving random numbers or seeds
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0891 Revocation or update of secret information, e.g. encryption key update or rekeying
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0894 Escrow, recovery or storing of secret information, e.g. secret key escrow or cryptographic key storage
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/14 using a plurality of keys or algorithms
• 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 9/321 : involving a third party or a trusted authority
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3236 : using cryptographic hash functions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3239 : involving non-keyed hash functions, e.g. modification detection codes [MDCs], MD5, SHA or RIPEMD
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3247 : involving digital signatures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/50 : using hash chains, e.g. blockchains or hash trees

Abstract

Embodiments disclosed herein are related to computing systems, computer program products, and methods for selecting and providing an attestation in response to a request from an entity. A request is received from an entity for attestation that included in various attestations related to an owner of the attestations. The attestations define information about the owner of the attestations that the entity desires to obtain. The request includes request metadata that identifies a type of the attestation that is being requested. The request metadata is analyzed to determine the attestation that is being requested. Based on the analysis, the attestation is selected. Access to the attestation is provided to the entity making the request.

Claims

1. A computing system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more computer hardware storage devices having thereon computer-executable instructions that are structured such that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing system to;

receive a request from an entity for at least one of a plurality of attestations related to an owner of the plurality attestations, the plurality of attestations defining information about the owner of the plurality attestations that the entity desires to obtain, the request including at least request metadata that at least partially identifies a type of the at least one attestation that is being requested;

analyze the request metadata to determine the at least one attestation of the plurality of attestations that is being requested;

based on the analysis of the request metadata, select the at least one attestation; and

provide access to the at least one attestation to the entity making the request,

wherein analyzing the request metadata to determine the at least one attestation of the plurality of attestations comprises;

filtering the plurality of attestations based at least on the request metadata to thereby filter out those attestations of the plurality of attestations that are not of the type specified by the request metadata; and

based on the filtering, ranking the attestations of the plurality of attestations that are of the type specified by the request metadata,

wherein the attestation that most closely corresponds to the type specified by the request metadata is ranked first.

2. The computing system in accordance with claim 1, wherein a listing of the ranked attestations is provided in descending order from the attestation that most closely corresponds to the type specified by the request metadata to the attestation that least closely corresponds to the type specified by the request metadata.

3. The computing system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the owner of the plurality attestations selects at least one of the ranked attestations as being the attestation that is to be provided to the entity making the request.

4. The computing system according to claim 3, wherein the owner of the plurality attestations selects the first ranked attestation as being the attestation that is to be provided to the entity making the request.

5. The computing system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the first ranked attestation is automatically selected as being the attestation that is to be provided to the entity making the request.

6. The computing system in accordance with claim 5, wherein the automatic selection is at least partially based on a trust score associated with the entity making the request.

7. The computing system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the plurality of attestations comprise information related to the owner of the attestation, the information including one or more of a qualification, an achievement, a government ID, a government right, a payment provider, a bank account, a university degree, educational history, or employment status and history.

8. A method for selecting and providing an attestation in response to a request from an entity, the method comprising:

receiving a request from an entity for at least one of a plurality of attestations related to an owner of the plurality attestations, the plurality of attestations defining information about the owner of the plurality attestations that the entity desires to obtain, the request including at least request metadata that at least partially identifies a type of the at least one attestation that is being requested;

analyzing the request metadata to determine the at least one attestation of the plurality of attestations that is being requested;

based on the analysis of the request metadata, selecting the at least one attestation; and

providing access to the at least one attestation to the entity making the request,

wherein analyzing the request metadata to determine the at least one attestation of the plurality of attestations comprises;

filtering the plurality of attestations based at least on the request metadata to thereby filter out those attestations of the plurality of attestations that are not of the type specified by the request metadata; and

based on the filtering, ranking the attestations of the plurality of attestations that are of the type specified by the request metadata,

wherein the attestation that most closely corresponds to the type specified by the request metadata is ranked first.

9. The method in accordance with claim 8, wherein a listing of the ranked attestations is provided in descending order from the attestation that most closely corresponds to the type specified by the request metadata to the attestation that least closely corresponds to the type specified by the request metadata.

10. The method in accordance with claim 8, wherein the owner of the plurality attestations selects at least one of the ranked attestations as being the attestation that is to be provided to the entity making the request.

11. The method in accordance with claim 9, wherein the owner of the plurality attestations selects the first ranked attestation as being the attestation that is to be provided to the entity making the request.

12. The method in accordance with claim 8, wherein the first ranked attestation is automatically selected as being the attestation that is to be provided to the entity making the request.

13. The method in accordance with claim 12, wherein the automatic selection is at least partially based on a trust score associated with the entity making the request.

14. The method in accordance with claim 8, wherein the plurality of attestations comprise information related to the owner of the attestation, the information including one or more of a qualification, an achievement, a government ID, a government right, a payment provider, a bank account, a university degree, educational history, or employment status and history.

15. A computer program product comprising one or more computer hardware storage devices having thereon computer-executable instructions that are structured such that, when executed by one or more processors of a computing system, cause the computing system to select and provide an attestation in response to a request from an entity by causing the computing system to:

receive a request from an entity for at least one of a plurality of attestation related to an owner of the plurality attestations, the plurality of attestations defining information about the owner of the plurality attestations that the entity desires to obtain, the request including at least request metadata that at least partially identifies a type of the at least one attestation that is being requested;

analyze the request metadata to determine the at least one attestation of the plurality of attestations that is being requested;

based on the analysis of the request metadata, select the at least one attestation; and

provide access to the at least one attestation to the entity making the request,

wherein analyzing the request metadata to determine the at least one attestation of the plurality of attestations comprises;

filtering the plurality of attestations based at least on the request metadata to thereby filter out those attestations of the plurality of attestations that are not of the type specified by the request metadata; and

based on the filtering, ranking the attestations of the plurality of attestations that are of the type specified by the request metadata,

wherein the attestation that most closely corresponds to the type specified by the request metadata is ranked first.

16. The computer program product in accordance with claim 15, wherein the owner of the plurality attestations selects at least one of the ranked attestations as being the attestation that is to be provided to the entity making the request.

17. The computer program product in accordance with claim 15, wherein the first ranked attestation is automatically selected as being the attestation that is to be provided to the entity making the request, wherein the automatic selection is at least partially based on a trust score associated with the entity making the request.