UNIDIRECTIONAL MULTI-USE PROXY RE-SIGNATURE PROCESS

• US 20090327735A1
• Filed: 06/26/2008
• Published: 12/31/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Shao, Jun, Zhu, Bin Benjamin, Feng, Min
• Application Number:
  US12/146,480
• Publication Number:
  US 20090327735A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/180
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/76 Proxy, i.e. using intermediary entity to perform cryptographic operations network architectures or network communication protocols using hop-by-hop encryption H04L63/0464
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0891 Revocation or update of secret information, e.g. encryption key update or rekeying
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3247 involving digital signatures

Abstract

A “proxy re-signature system” provides various techniques for transforming a delegatee'"'"'s signature on a message m into a delegator'"'"'s on the same message m. Various embodiments of non-interactive re-signature generation processes are described. Various embodiments to aggregate part of signatures to reduce the size of re-signed signatures are also described. Various combinations of the proxy re-signature process and the re-signature conversion process result in an overall process that is unidirectional, multi-use, private, and non-interactive. As such, the proxy re-signature system is applicable for use with a wide range of applications.

Claims

1. A method for using a proxy to transform a signature of a delegatee to a signature of a delegator on a message, comprising steps for:

generating a public and private key pair for the delegatee;

signing a message with the delegates'"'"'s signature, and verifying authenticity of the signed message using the key pair;

generating a re-signature key for the delegator;

delegating the re-signature key to a proxy; and

causing the proxy to transform a signature of the delegatee on the message to the signature of the delegator on the message by processing the signature of the delegatee using the re-signature key.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein generating the public and private key pair further comprises steps for using a discrete logarithm-based key generation algorithm to generate the pair of public and private keys.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein signing the message further comprises steps for signing the message by using a chain of signatures from a BLS signing process and an mBLS signing process.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein signing the message further comprises steps for signing the message by using a chain of signatures from a Waters signing process and an mWaters signing process.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein generating the re-signature key further comprises steps for using the delegator'"'"'s private key in combination with the delegatee'"'"'s public key to generate the re-signature key.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the re-signature key is generated with one of a BLS-based signature process and a Waters-based signature process.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising steps for reducing a size of the transformed signature by using a signature aggregation process.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the key pair is temporary, such that the resulting re-signature key is also temporary and will expire after a predetermined period of time.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising steps for determining validity of the signature of the delegator on the message.

10. The method of claim 9 the determining validity of the signature of the delegator on the message further comprises steps for verifying an entire chain of signatures, and wherein the chain of signature is one of:

a chain of signatures generated by a BLS signature process and a mBLS signature process; and

a chain of signatures generated by a Waters signature process and an mWaters signature process.

11. The method of claim 9 further comprising steps for terminating transformation of the signature of the delegator if the signature of the delegator on the message is determined to be invalid.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the signature of the delegator on the message is of a signature type including one of an owner-type signature and a non-owner-type signature.

13. A system for transforming a signature of a delegatee to a signature of a delegator on a message, comprising:

a device for generating a public and private key pair for the delegatee;

a device for allowing a delegatee to sign a message;

a device for verifying authenticity of a signature of the delegatee on the signed message using the key pair;

a device for generating a re-signature key for the delegator using a combination of a private key of the delegator and the public key of the delegatee;

a device for delegating the re-signature key to a proxy; and

a device for transforming the signature of the delegatee on the message to the signature of the delegator on the message by using a proxy to process the signature of the delegatee using the re-signature key.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein generating the re-signature key further comprises allowing the delegator to use the delegator'"'"'s private key in combination with the delegatee'"'"'s public key to generate the re-signature key.

15. The system of claim 13 further comprising a device for terminating the transformation in the event that the signature of the delegatee on the signed message is not authentic.

16. The system of claim 13 further comprising a device for terminating the transformation in the event that the transformed signature of the delegator on the signed message is not authentic.

17. A computer-readable medium having computer executable instructions stored therein for using a proxy to transform a signature of a delegatee to a signature of a delegator on a message, said instructions comprising:

using a signer module for generating a public and private key pair for the delegatee;

providing a message with the delegates'"'"'s signature;

using a proxy for generating a re-signature key for the delegator from a combination of a private key of the delegator and the public key of the delegatee;

delegating the re-signature key to a proxy; and

causing the proxy to transform a signature of the delegatee on the message to the signature of the delegator on the message by processing the signature of the delegatee using the re-signature key.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17 further using a signature verification module for verifying authenticity of the signature of the delegatee on signed message using the key pair.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18 further comprising terminating transformation of the signature if the signature of the delegatee is not authentic.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 17 wherein the re-signature key is generated with one of a BLS-based signature process and a Waters-based signature process.