Patent US6256733B1 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US6256733B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Access and storage of secure group communication cryptographic keys
Assignee: Entrust Ltd
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Filing: 1999-06-30
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Granted: 2001-07-03
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Expires: 2019-06-30
Abstract
Abstract A method and apparatus for secure group communication allows on-demand procurement of stored security credentials of a group. In one embodiment, this is done by having a processor store at least a portion of the security credentials of the group in a location accessible from more than one member of the group, such as in an encrypted form in a public directory. Security credentials include at least a cryptographic key use to secure information. Each member may have a dedicated entry containing a group security credential associated with that member. The information may also be stored in a variety of other ways including, for example, storing a composite set of encrypted group security credentials. A member accesses the stored group security credentials on an on-demand basis.
Inventors
- 👤 Dhanya Thakkar
- 👤 Jacques Montcalm
- 👤 Glenn C. Langford
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 19:44
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04L; H04L9/00; H04L9/08; H04L9/0816; H04L9/0819; H04L9/0825; H04L63/00; H04L63/04; H04L63/0428; H04L63/06; H04L63/065; H04L63/10; H04L63/104; H04L9/0822; H04L9/083; H04L9/0833; H04L9/0894; H04L9/0897; H04L2463/00; H04L2463/102
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 40
Claim 1
Independent Claim
75 words
A method for secure group communication comprising the steps of: generating security credentials of a group to initiate a secured group communication; storing the security credentials of the group in a location accessible for more than one member in the group; and obtaining, on demand, by a member of the group, at least a portion of the stored security credentials of the group for at least one of a plurality of members of the group.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
75 words
A method for secure group communication comprising the steps of: generating security credentials of a group to initiate a secured group communication; storing the security credentials of the group in a location accessible for more than one member in the group; and obtaining, on demand, by a member of the group, at least a portion of the stored security credentials of the group for at least one of a plurality of members of the group.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the step of storing the security credential includes independently storing at least a part of the security credentials of the group, separately from individual member security credentials.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 2 including the step of maintaining a history of the stored security credential of the group separately from cryptographic key histories associated with the individual member security credentials.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method of claim 2 wherein the individual member security credentials include at least one private decryption key of a public/private key pair stored in a separate file from the at least part of the security credentials of the group.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
53 words
The method of claim 1 including the steps of encrypting on a per member basis, at least a portion of the security credentials of the group to generate per member encrypted group credentials; and storing the per member encrypted group credentials on a per member basis in a repository accessible by each member.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
47 words
The method of claim 5 wherein the step of encrypting the group credentials on a per member basis includes the step of wrapping at least a portion of the generated security credentials of the group separately using a public key of each of a plurality of members.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method of claim 6 wherein the security credentials of the group include a private group decryption key and wherein the step of encrypting includes encrypting the private group decryption key using a symmetric key prior to wrapping using the public key of each of the plurality of members.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method of claim 1 including the step of authenticating a member requesting to obtain, on demand, the stored security credentials of the group prior to releasing the stored security credentials of the group.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
51 words
The method of claim 1 including the step of encrypting the security credentials of the group using cryptographic keys associated with all members of the group to produce a composite set of encrypted group security credentials for all members and storing the composite set in a repository accessible by the members.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 9 including the step of retrieving, for a member, the composite set of encrypted group security credentials from the repository.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of claim 1 including the step of controlling deletion of the security credentials of the group, for at least one member, in response to determining that the member has been deleted from the group.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 11 including the step of generating deletion command data for the at least one member to effect deletion of a security credential for the group by the at least one member.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 11 including the step of polling, by a member, for at least a portion of group security credentials to determine that the member has been deleted from the group.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
74 words
An apparatus for providing secure group communication comprising: means for generating security credentials of a group to initiate a secured group communication; means for storing the security credentials of the group in a location accessible for more than one member in the group; and means for obtaining, on demand by a member of the group, the stored security credentials of the group for at least one of a plurality of members of the group.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
74 words
An apparatus for providing secure group communication comprising: means for generating security credentials of a group to initiate a secured group communication; means for storing the security credentials of the group in a location accessible for more than one member in the group; and means for obtaining, on demand by a member of the group, the stored security credentials of the group for at least one of a plurality of members of the group.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
44 words
The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the means for storing the security credential stores at least a part of the security credentials of the group on a per group basis, separately from individual member security credentials to provide storage as independent group member credentials.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
31 words
The apparatus of claim 15 including means for maintaining a history of the stored security credentials of the group separately from cryptographic key histories associated with the individual member security credentials.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
40 words
The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the individual member security credentials include at least one private decryption key of a public/private key pair stored in a separate file from the at least part of the security credentials of the group.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
53 words
The apparatus of claim 14 including means for encrypting on a per member basis, at least a portion of the security credentials of the group to generate per member encrypted group credentials; and for storing the per member encrypted group credentials on a per member basis in a repository accessible by each member.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
43 words
The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the means for encrypting the group credentials on a per member basis wraps at least a portion of the generated security credentials of the group separately using a public key of each of a plurality of members.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
48 words
The apparatus of claim 19 wherein the security credentials of the group include a private group decryption key and wherein the means for encrypting encrypts the private group decryption key using a symmetric key prior to wrapping using the public key of each of the plurality of members.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
33 words
The apparatus of claim 14 including means for authenticating a member requesting to obtain, on demand, the stored security credentials of the group prior to releasing the stored security credentials of the group.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
50 words
The apparatus of claim 14 including means for encrypting the security credentials of the group using cryptographic keys associated with all members of the group to produce a composite set of encrypted group security credentials for all members and storing the composite set in a repository accessible by the members.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
23 words
The apparatus of claim 22 including means for retrieving, for a member, the composite set of encrypted group security credentials from the repository.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
35 words
The apparatus of claim 14 including means for controlling deletion of the security credentials of the group, for at least one member, in response to determining that the member has been deleted from the group.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
34 words
The apparatus of claim 24 including means for generating deletion command data for the at least one member to effect deletion of a security credential for the group by the at least one member.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
80 words
A storage medium comprising memory containing executable instructions that when read by a processor, cause one or more processors to: generate security credentials of a group to initiate a secured group communication; store the security credentials of the group in a location accessible for more than one member in the group; and obtain, on demand by a member of the group, the stored security credentials of the group for at least one of a plurality of members of the group.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
80 words
A storage medium comprising memory containing executable instructions that when read by a processor, cause one or more processors to: generate security credentials of a group to initiate a secured group communication; store the security credentials of the group in a location accessible for more than one member in the group; and obtain, on demand by a member of the group, the stored security credentials of the group for at least one of a plurality of members of the group.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
57 words
The storage medium of claim 26 including memory containing executable instructions that when read by the one or more processors causing one or more processors to store at least a part of the security credentials of the group on a per group basis, separately from individual member security credentials to provide storage as independent group member credentials.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
48 words
The storage medium of claim 27 memory containing executable instructions that when read by the one or more processors causes one or more processors to maintain a history of the stored security credentials of the group separately from cryptographic key histories associated with the individual member security credentials.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
41 words
The storage medium of claim 27 wherein the individual member security credentials include at least one private decryption key of a public/private key pair stored in a separate file from the at least part of the security credentials of the group.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
70 words
The storage medium of claim 26 including memory containing executable instructions that when read by the one or more processors causes one or more processors to: encrypt on a per member basis, at least a portion of the security credentials of the group to generate per member encrypted group credentials; and store the per member encrypted group credentials on a per member basis in a repository accessible by each member.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
51 words
The storage medium of claim 30 including memory containing executable instructions that when read by the one or more processors causes one or more processors to wrap at least a portion of the generated security credentials of the group separately using a public key of each of a plurality of members.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
64 words
The storage medium of claim 31 wherein the security credentials of the group include a private group decryption key and including memory containing executable instructions that when read by the one or more processors causes one or more processors to encrypt the private group decryption key using a symmetric key prior to wrapping using the public key of each of the plurality of members.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
51 words
The storage medium of claim 26 including memory containing executable instructions that when read by the one or more processors causes one or more processors to authenticate a member requesting to obtain, on demand, the stored security credentials of the group prior to releasing the stored security credentials of the group.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
68 words
The storage medium of claim 26 including memory containing executable instructions that when read by the one or more processors causes one or more processors to encrypt the security credentials of the group using cryptographic keys associated with all members of the group to produce a composite set of encrypted group security credentials for all members and storing the composite set in a repository accessible by the members.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
41 words
The storage medium of claim 34 including memory containing executable instructions that when read by the one or more processors causes one or more processors to retrieve, for a member, the composite set of encrypted group security credentials from the repository.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
53 words
The storage medium of claim 26 including memory containing executable instructions that when read by the one or more processors causes one or more processors to control deletion of the security credential of the group, for at least one member, in response to determining that the member has been deleted from the group.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
52 words
The storage medium of claim 36 including memory containing executable instructions that when read by the one or more processors causes one or more processors to generate deletion command data for the at least one member to effect deletion of a security credential for the group by the at least one member.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2004-07-02 | 2005-01-01 | 2005-07-03 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2008-07-02 | 2009-01-01 | 2009-07-03 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2012-07-02 | 2013-01-01 | 2013-07-03 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |