Amazon Technologies, Inc.

Andrew Kyle Driggs

Eric Jason Brandwine

Matthew John Campagna

Nicholas Alexander Allen

Gregory Alan Rubin

A service provider provides virtual computing services using a fleet of one or more host computer systems. Each of the host computer systems may be equipped with a trusted platform module ('TPM'). The service provider, the host computer systems, and the virtual computing environments generate attestations that prove the integrity of the system. The attestations are signed with a one-time-use cryptographic key that is verifiable against the public keys of the service provider, a host computer system, and a virtual computing environment. The public key of the host computer system is integrated into a hash tree that links the public key of the host computer system to the public key of the service provider. The public key of the virtual computing environment is signed using a one-time-use graphic key issued to the host computer system that hosts the virtual computing environment.

Host attestation

A key distribution service operated by a signature authority distributes one-time-use cryptographic keys to one or more delegates that generate digital signatures on behalf of the signature authority. The key distribution service uses a root seed value to generate subordinate seeds. The subordinate seeds are used to generate a set of cryptographic keys. Hashes are generated for each key, and the hashes are arranged into a Merkle tree with a root hash controlled by the signature authority. In response to a request from a delegate, the signature authority provides a subordinate seed to the delegate. The delegate uses the subordinate seed to generate one or more cryptographic keys. The cryptographic keys are used to generate digital signatures which are verifiable up to the root hash of the Merkle tree. Additional subordinate seeds may be distributed to entities by the signature authority when appropriate.

Key distribution in a distributed computing environment

A signature authority generates revocable one-time-use keys that are able to generate digital signatures. The signature authority generates a set of one-time-use keys, where each one-time-use key has a secret key and a public key derived from a hash of the secret key. The signature authority generates one or more revocation values that, when published, proves that the signature authority has the authority to revoke corresponding cryptographic keys. The signature authority hashes the public keys and the revocation values and arranges the hashes in a hash tree where the root of the hash tree acts as a public key of the signature authority. In some implementations, the one-time-use cryptographic keys are generated from a tree of seed values, and a particular revocation value is linked to a particular seed value, allowing for the revocation of a block of one-time-use cryptographic keys associated with the particular seed.

Key revocation

An organizational signature authority delegates signature authority to one or more subordinate signature authorities by rolling up public keys from the subordinate signature authorities into a public key for the organization. A subordinate signature authority of the organizational signature authority generates cryptographic keys for use by the subordinate signature authority, and cryptographically derives a public key for the subordinate signature authority based at least in part on the cryptographic keys. In some examples, the subordinate signature authority acquires public keys from a lower subordinate signature authority, and the public key of the subordinate signature authority is cryptographically derived in part from the public key of the lower subordinate signature authority. The public key of the subordinate signature authority is provided to the organizational signature authority. A hash tree is generated from the public keys of the subordinate signature authorities to create the public key for the organization.

Public key rollup for merkle tree signature scheme

A signature authority generates a master seed value that is used as the root of a seed tree of subordinate nodes. Each subordinate node of the seed tree is generated from the value of its parent node using a cryptographic hash or one-way function. The signature authority selects subordinate seed values which are distributed to one or more key generators, each of which generates a set of one-time-use cryptographic keys. Each key generator generates a hash tree from its set of one-time-use cryptographic keys, and the root of its hash tree is returned to the signature authority. The signature authority integrates the hashes provided by the key generators into a comprehensive hash tree. The root of the comprehensive hash tree acts as a public key for the signature authority.

Signature delegation

A signature authority generates a master seed value that is used to generate a seed tree of subordinate nodes. Each subordinate node of the seed tree is generated from the value of its parent node using a cryptographic hash or one-way function. The signature authority selects subordinate seed values from the seed tree which are distributed to one or more subordinates, each of which generates a set of one-time-use cryptographic keys from the provided seed. Each subordinate generates a hash tree from its set of one-time-use cryptographic keys, and returns the root of its hash tree to the signature authority. The signature authority integrates the hashes provided by the key generators into a comprehensive hash tree, and the root of the hash tree acts as a public key for the signature authority.

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Andrew Kyle Driggs