COMMUNICATION CHANNEL CLAIM DEPENDENT SECURITY PRECAUTIONS

• US 20110019820A1
• Filed: 07/21/2009
• Published: 01/27/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Vinayak, Sai, Semenko, Alex M., Ellison, Carl M., Ureche, Octavian T.
• Granted Patent: US 8,914,874 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 380/255
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/606 by securing the transmission between two devices or processes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/80 Wireless network architectures or network communication protocols for wireless network security H04W12/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/205 involving negotiation or determination of the one or more network security mechanisms to be used, e.g. by negotiation between the client and the server or between peers or by selection according to the capabilities of the entities involved negotiation of communication capabilities H04L69/24
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3247 involving digital signatures

Abstract

A set of security claims for a communication channel are obtained, the set of security claims including one or more security claims each identifying a security characteristic of the communication channel. The security claims are stored, as is a digital signature generated over the set of security claims by an entity. The security claims and digital signature are subsequently accessed when a computing device is to transfer data to and/or from the communication channel. The set of security claims is compared to a security policy of the computing device, and the entity that digitally signed the set of security claims is identified. One or more security precautions that the computing device is to use in transferring data to and/or from the communication channel are determined based at least in part on the comparing and the entity that has digitally signed the set of security claims.

Claims

1. A method implemented in a computing device, the method comprising:

obtaining a set of security claims for a communication channel, the set of security claims including one or more security claims each identifying a security characteristic of the communication channel;

comparing the set of security claims to a security policy of the computing device;

identifying an entity that has digitally signed the set of security claims; and

determining one or more security precautions that the computing device is to use in transferring data to and/or from the communication channel, the determining being based at least in part on the comparing and the entity that has digitally signed the set of security claims.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the communication channel comprises a removable flash memory device

3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the security policy indicates that data on the communication channel is to be encrypted using a particular type of encryption, wherein the set of security claims indicates whether the communication channel encrypts data using the particular type of encryption, and the determining comprises:

determining that data transferred to the communication channel is to be encrypted using the particular type of encryption if the communication channel does not encrypt data using the particular type of encryption; and

determining that data transferred to the communication channel need not be encrypted if the communication channel does encrypt data using the particular type of encryption.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the security policy indicates that data on the communication channel is to be encrypted using a particular type of encryption unless a particular entity is responsible for controlling the communication channel, wherein the set of security claims indicates whether the particular entity is responsible for controlling the communication channel, and the determining comprises:

determining that data transferred to the communication channel is to be encrypted using the particular type of encryption if an entity responsible for controlling the communication channel is not the particular entity; and

determining that data transferred to the communication channel need not be encrypted if the entity responsible for controlling the communication channel is the particular entity.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the security policy indicates that the communication channel is to enforce a particular agreement in allowing data to be transferred to the communication channel, wherein the set of security claims indicates whether the communication channel enforces the particular agreement, and the determining comprises:

determining that data can be transferred from the communication channel if the communication channel enforces the particular agreement; and

determining that data is not to be transferred from the communication channel if the communication channel does not enforce the particular agreement.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

repeating the obtaining, comparing, and identifying for an additional set of security claims, the additional set of security claims and the set of security claims having been digitally signed by different entities; and

wherein the determining is based at least in part on comparing the set of security claims to the security policy, comparing the additional set of security claims to the security policy, the entity that has digitally signed the set of security claims, and the entity that has digitally signed the additional set of security claims.

7. A method as recited in claim 6, wherein the set of security claims includes a security characteristic identifying a type of encryption that the communication channel uses to encrypt data the communication channel receives, and the additional set of security claims includes a security characteristic identifying a source of a key the communication channel uses to encrypt data the communication channel receives.

8. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the determining is further based at least in part on verifying that a communication channel identifier that has been digitally signed by the entity with the set of security claims is the same as a communication channel identifier of the communication channel.

9. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the determining is further based at least in part on a communication channel class identifier that has been digitally signed by the entity with the set of security claims.

10. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein security precautions satisfied by the set of security claims need not be included in the one or more security precautions that the computing devices is to use in transferring data to and/or from the communication channel.

11. A method implemented in a computing device, the method comprising:

obtaining a channel identifier of a communication channel;

obtaining a set of security claims of the communication channel, the set of security claims including one or more security claims each identifying a security characteristic of the communication channel;

obtaining, from a trust authority, a digital signature over the set of security claims and the channel identifier;

generating a channel security descriptor including the channel identifier, the set of security claims, and the digital signature; and

storing the channel security descriptor.

12. A method as recited in claim 11, wherein the communication channel comprises a removable flash memory device, and wherein storing the channel security descriptor comprises storing the channel security descriptor on the removable flash memory device.

13. A method as recited in claim 11, further comprising obtaining a channel class identifier of the communication channel, and wherein generating the channel security descriptor comprises generating the channel security descriptor including the channel identifier, the channel class identifier, the set of security claims, and the digital signature.

14. A method as recited in claim 11, wherein the trust authority comprises the computing device.

15. A method as recited in claim 11, further comprising:

obtaining one or more additional sets of security claims of the communication channel;

obtaining, for each of the one or more additional sets of security claims, a digital signature over the additional set of security claims and the channel identifier; and

wherein generating the channel security descriptor comprises generating the channel security descriptor including the channel identifier, the set of security claims, each of the additional sets of security claims, and the digital signatures.

16. A method as recited in claim 15, wherein the set of security claims includes a first security characteristic indicating a type of encryption the communication channel uses to encrypt data received by the communication channel, and wherein one of the additional sets of security claims includes a second security characteristic indicating a source of a key used by the communication channel to encrypt data received by the communication channel.

17. A method as recited in claim 11, wherein the set of security claims includes a security characteristic indicating a type of encryption the communication channel uses to encrypt data received by the communication channel.

18. A method as recited in claim 11, wherein the set of security claims includes a security characteristic indicating a particular entity that is responsible for controlling the communication channel.

19. A method as recited in claim 11, wherein the set of security claims includes a security characteristic indicating a particular agreement that the communication channel enforces in allowing data to be transferred to the communication channel.

20. One or more computer storage media having stored thereon multiple instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computing device, cause the one or more processors to:

obtain, from a removable flash memory device, a first set of security claims for the removable flash memory device, the first set of security claims including a first security characteristic that identifies a type of encryption used by the removable flash memory device to encrypt data on the removable flash memory device;

obtain, from the removable flash memory device, a second set of security claims for the removable flash memory device, the second set of security claims including a second security characteristic that identifies a source of a key used by the removable flash memory device to encrypt data on the removable flash memory device;

compare both the first set of security claims and the second set of security claims to a security policy of the computing device;

identify a first entity that has digitally signed the first set of security claims and a second entity that has digitally signed the second set of security claims; and

determine that data to be transferred to the removable flash memory device need not be encrypted by the computing device if the comparison indicates that the security policy is satisfied by the first security characteristic and the second security characteristic, and otherwise determine that data to be transferred to the removable flash memory device is to be encrypted by the computing device.