Decentralized authoritative messaging

• US 9,590,956 B1
• Filed: 02/29/2016
• Issued: 03/07/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Wickr Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Wickr Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ryan, Gerard, Leavy, Thomas Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Schwartz, Darren B
• Application Number:
  US15/056,968
• Time in Patent Office: 372 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/22 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/602 Providing cryptographic facilities or services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/10 Multimedia information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/224 providing notification on incoming messages, e.g. pushed notifications of received messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0471 applying encryption by an intermediary, e.g. receiving clear information at the intermediary and encrypting the received information at the intermediary before forwarding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/06 for supporting key management in a packet data network cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key management H04L9/08
• 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 63/065 for group communications cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key management involving conference or group key H04L9/0833
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/104 Grouping of entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/146 Markers for unambiguous identification of a particular session, e.g. session cookie or URL-encoding
• 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 9/0643 Hash functions, e.g. MD5, SHA, HMAC or f9 MAC
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0822 using key encryption key
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0861 Generation of secret information including derivation or calculation of cryptographic keys or passwords
• 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: H04W 12/041 Key generation or derivation

Abstract

A secure chat client is described that allows users to exchange encrypted communications via secure chat rooms, as well as one-to-one communications. In particular, the secure chat client allows users to create, configure, and manage secure chat rooms. Furthermore, the secure chat client provides users with the ability to recover secure messages when they obtain a new device or otherwise lose communications.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a processor configured to;

create, in response to a set of one or more interactions between a user and an interface on a first device, a secure chat room;

subsequent to the creation of the secure chat room, set one or more parameters for the secure chat room, wherein the one or more parameters include at least one of a room administrator, a time-to-live for messages submitted to the secure chat room, a title of the secure chat room, and a description of the secure chat room;

add at least two participants to the secure chat room;

generate, on the first device, a group identifier for the secure chat room;

generate, on the first device, secure chat room information based at least in part on the one or more parameters and the group identifier, wherein the secure chat room information is stored in a block chain on the first device;

transmit, from the first device, an encrypted create secure chat room message to the at least two participants, wherein the encrypted create secure chat room message includes at least one of the secure room information and metadata identifying the at least two participants of the secure chat room; and

a memory coupled to the processor and configured to provide the processor with data and instructions.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to store the secure chat room information in a memory located on the first device.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the group identifier is a random identifier generated by a pseudorandom number generator on the first device.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to encrypt the encrypted create secure chat room message using a first encryption key.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the first encryption key is a random 256-bit message key generated on the first device.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the processor is further configured to:

encrypt the first encryption key using a key-encrypting key unique to each of the at least two participants and encrypt the encrypted first encryption key using a device key unique to each of the at least two participants, producing a twice-encrypted first encryption key; and

include the twice-encrypted first encryption key in the encrypted create secure chat room message.

7. A method comprising:

creating, in response to a set of one or more interactions between a user and an interface on a first device, a secure chat room;

subsequent to the creation of the secure chat room, setting one or more parameters for the secure chat room, wherein the one or more parameters include at least one of a room administrator, a time-to-live for messages submitted to the secure chat room, a title of the secure chat room, and a description of the secure chat room;

adding at least two participants to the secure chat room;

generating, on the first device, a group identifier for the secure chat room;

generating, on the first device, secure chat room information based at least in part on the one or more parameters and the group identifier, wherein the secure chat room information is stored in a block chain on the first device; and

transmitting, from the first device, an encrypted create secure chat room message to the at least two participants, wherein the encrypted create secure chat room message includes at least one of the secure room information and metadata identifying the at least two participants of the secure chat room.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising storing the secure chat room information in a memory located on the first device.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the group identifier is a random identifier generated by a pseudorandom number generator on the first device.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising encrypting the encrypted create secure chat room message using a first encryption key.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first encryption key is a random 256-bit message key generated on the first device.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

encrypting the first encryption key using a key-encrypting key unique to each of the at least two participants and encrypting the encrypted first encryption key using a device key unique to each of the at least two participants, producing a twice-encrypted first encryption key; and

including the twice-encrypted first encryption key in the encrypted create secure chat room message.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, perform the steps of:

creating, in response to a set of one or more interactions between a user and an interface on a first device, a secure chat room;

subsequent to the creation of the secure chat room, setting one or more parameters for the secure chat room, wherein the one or more parameters include at least one of a room administrator, a time-to-live for messages submitted to the secure chat room, a title of the secure chat room, and a description of the secure chat room;

adding at least two participants to the secure chat room;

generating, on the first device, a group identifier for the secure chat room;

generating, on the first device, secure chat room information based at least in part on the one or more parameters and the group identifier, wherein the secure chat room information is stored in a block chain on the first device; and

transmitting, from the first device, an encrypted create secure chat room message to the at least two participants, wherein the encrypted create secure chat room message includes at least one of the secure room information and metadata identifying the at least two participants of the secure chat room.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, further comprising instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, perform the step of:

storing the secure chat room information in a memory located on the first device.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the group identifier is a random identifier generated by a pseudorandom number generator on the first device.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, further comprising encrypting the encrypted create secure chat room message using a first encryption key.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the first encryption key is a random 256-bit message key generated on the first device.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, further comprising:

encrypting the first encryption key using a key-encrypting key unique to each of the at least two participants and encrypting the encrypted first encryption key using a device key unique to each of the at least two participants, producing a twice-encrypted first encryption key; and

including the twice-encrypted first encryption key in the encrypted create secure chat room message.