Guardtime IP Holdings Limited

Guardtime Sa

Planetway Corporation

Cybernetica as

Guardtime as

Ahto Buldas

Mart Saarepera

Jeffrey Pearce

Ahto Truu

Andres Kroonmaa

Risto Laanoja

Märt Saarepera

Michael Gault

Martin Ruubel

Mart Oruaas

Jaan Priisalu

Aivo Kalu

Peter Rajnak

David F A Piesse

Peeter Laud

Jian Tan

Andreas Kroonmaa

Methods and systems are disclosed for a digital signature system using scalable servers. The system includes scalable frontend servers to communicate with applications servers and scalable backend servers to communicate with remote security devices. When a user, and their remote security device(s), is registered with the system, the remote security device(s) is/are assigned to a backend server. A total public key is generated by cryptographically embedding the unique identifier of the assigned backend server into a combined public key associated with the remote security device(s). When a signature request including the total public key is received at the frontend server, the unique identifier is extracted and the signature request is forwarded to the backend server that corresponds with the unique identifier.

Digital signature system using scalable servers

Exclusive ownership of data units, such as monetary units, is transferred by inputting a request from a transferor, to transfer to a transferee at least a designated one of the data units, said request including an identifier of the transferor, an identifier of the designated data unit, and an identifier of a transferee. The identifier of the transferor is verified and the absence of any other request to transfer the designated data unit during an update period is confirmed. A designation of ownership of the designated data unit is then changed from the transferor to the transferee in a ledger, which is comprised of a group of subledgers, each configured as a blockchain. Ownership is thereby processed per-unit instead of per-account.

Verifiably unique transfer of exclusive control of data units

Exclusive ownership of data units, such as monetary units, is transferred by inputting a request from a transferor, to transfer to a transferee at least a designated one of the data units, said request including an identifier of the transferor, an identifier of the designated data unit, and an identifier of a transferee. The identifier of the transferor is verified and the absence of any other request to transfer the designated data unit is confirmed. A designation of ownership of the designated data unit is then changed from the transferor to the transferee in a ledger, which is comprised of a group of subledgers, each configured as a blockchain.

Verifiable transfer of data using sharded blockchain

Disclosed herein is a method for generating a composite cryptographic signature. The method comprises receiving a message and a first part of a first party signature, wherein the first part of the first party signature is derived from the message and a first share of a first private key. The method further comprises generating a first party signature from the first part of the first party signature and a second share of the first private key and generating a second party signature from the message and a second private key. The method further comprises combining the first party signature and the second party signature to generate a composite cryptographic signature. An apparatus, a computer-readable medium for implementing this method are also disclosed.

Composite digital signatures

A set of secret, indexed keys is generated and used in requests from a signing entity to a signing server for digital signature of messages. The signing server maintains a counter as well as a hash tree that aggregates requests during a round into a root value that is stored in an append-only data structure in a repository. Each signing entity is associated with a leaf of the hash tree. After a signature is formed, the counter for the requesting signing entity is incremented, whereby the secret key that was used cannot be used again.

Blockchain-assisted hash-based data signature system and method

A distributed hash tree-based authentication system for digital input records has more than one upper-level core node, each of which receives at least one uppermost value from aggregators. Communicating with each other about which aggregator values they have received, the nodes try to reach agreement as to which of these values should be included in duplicated current intra-node hash tree evaluations so as to form a consistent top-level value used as the basis for digital signatures associated with the digital input records. The top-level value is then entered either directly, or after combination with other top-level values over a period, into a block of a blockchain.

Blockchain-supported, fail-safe synchronization in a data authentication infrastructure

A distributed hash tree-based authentication system for digital input records has more than one upper-level core node, each of which receives at least one uppermost value from aggregators. Communicating with each other about which aggregator values they have received, the nodes try to reach agreement as to which of these values should be included in duplicated current intra-node hash tree evaluations so as to form a consistent top-level value used as the basis for digital signatures associated with the digital input records.

Redundant fail-safe synchronization in a data authentication infrastructure

A client system is configured to obtain signatures for digital input records. An application program interface reformats each digital record, and this is used as an argument to a cryptographic hash function, from which a signature request is formed. The signature request is then submitted to a keyless, distributed hash tree infrastructure system, which returns a signature that includes recomputation values enabling recomputation from the result of the cryptographic hash function upward through the hash tree infrastructure to a root hash value at a calendar period corresponding to a time during which the signature request was originally submitted. An arbitrary subsequent test digital record is considered authenticated if, applying the cryptographic hash function to it, along with any other parameters included in the original computation, and recomputing an uppermost value using the recomputation values, the same composite calendar value is attained as when it was originally computed.

Document verification with distributed calendar infrastructure

A digital message is signed and, if a request is approved, receives a time stamp. The request is computed as a first function of the message and a current one of a sequence of passwords computed such that each password corresponds to an index unit. Each of the passwords may be computed as a function, such as a hash function, pseudo-random function, or encryption function, of the subsequent password, whereby the sequence terminates with an initial password that forms a public key parameter for the password sequence. At least one hash tree uses at least a subset of the passwords as inputs to a hash tree used to verify the passwords.

System and method for sequential data signatures

At least one node in a distributed hash tree document verification infrastructure is augmented with an identifier of an entity in a registration path. A data signature, which includes parameters for recomputation of a verifying value, and which is associated with a digital input record, will therefore also include data that identifies at least one entity in the hash tree path used for its initial registration in the infrastructure.

Document verification with ID augmentation

A code is added as a marking to a document and encodes an identifier that maps to a copy of the document stored in a database. Database copies of stored documents are preferably digitally signed. Using a device such as a smart phone, a user may extract the document identifier from the marking on a purported authentic version of the document and retrieve a copy of the document from the corresponding location in the database. The user can then visually compare the purported authentic version of the document with the retrieved database copy.

System and method for field-verifiable record authentication

A capture device such as a camera and/or sound recorder records an event, which includes a visual and/or audible presentation of a time value that is non-deterministic, yet a function of physical time. The non-deterministic time value (NDT) may be generated as a function of a calendar value created at time intervals as a root hash value of a distributed, hash-tree document authentication infrastructure. If the NDT value included in the recording of the event does not match the NDT value corresponding to the calendar value from which it was generated, the recording may be assumed to be altered. Digital time-stamping may be included for the recording of the event to reduce the opportunity for back-dating of the recording. NDT may also be generated simply for display by a clock, for example as an NDT time zone.

Non-deterministic time systems and methods

Transformations of digital records are used as lowest level inputs to a tree data structure having a root in a core system and having nodes computed as digital combinations of child node values. Signature vectors are associated with the digital records and have parameters that enable recomputation upward through the tree data structure to either a current calendar value or onward to a composite calendar value that is a function of calendar values in a calendar, which comprises a set of computed calendar values, such that the calendar values have a time correspondence. Recomputation yields the same value only if a candidate digital record is an exact version of the original digital record included in the original computation of the value, indicating authentication of the candidate digital record. The authentication process as such is independent of any trust authority that issues cryptographic keys.

A method of generating a keyless digital multi-signature is provided. The method includes receiving multiple signature generation requests from one or more client computers, building subtrees based on the signature generation requests, and constructing a search tree including the subtrees. The method also includes assigning explicit length tags to leaf nodes of the search tree to balance the search tree and applying a hash function to each of the search tree nodes. The root hash value and the height of the search tree make up a generated aggregate signature request, followed by receiving an aggregate signature based on the aggregate signature request. The keyless digital multi-signature is generated based on the aggregate signature and contains an implicit length tag to verify that the number of signature generation requests is limited. The aggregate signature is generated if the height of the search tree does not exceed a predetermined height limitation.

System and method for generating keyless digital multi-signatures

Transformations of digital records are used as lowest level inputs to a tree data structure having a root in a core system and having nodes computed as digital combinations of child node values. A combination of root values is published in a permanent medium. Signature vectors are associated with the digital records and have parameters that enable recomputation upward through the tree data structure to either a current root value or to the published value. Recomputation yields the same value only if a candidate digital record is an exact version of the original digital record included in the original computation of the value.

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Tallinn, Estonia

Ahto Buldas