British Telecommunications Public Limited Company

Joshua Daniel

Gery M Ducatel

Theo Dimitrakos

Fadi El-Moussa

Xiaofeng Du

Ali Sajjad

Mohammad Zoualfaghari

Paul J Kearney

Gery Ducatel

Jonathan Tate

Iain Monteath

A computer implemented method of a secure computing component to provide access to a cryptographic key, the key being associated with the secure component by a digitally signed record in a blockchain wherein the blockchain is accessible via a network and includes a plurality of records validated by miner computing components, the method including receiving a request from another secure computing component to associate the key with the other component, the request having associated identification information for a requester of the key; responsive to a verification of an entitlement of the requester, generating a new record for storage in the blockchain, the new record associating the key with the other component and being validated by the miner components; and further responsive to the verification, securely transferring the key to the other component so as to provide access to the key to the key requester via the other component.

Hardware security module management

A computer implemented method for access control for a restricted resource in a computer system, the method including receiving a first set of records for the computer system, each record detailing an occurrence in the computer system during a training time period when the resource is accessed in an approved manner; generating a sparse distributed representation of the set of records to form a training set for a hierarchical temporal memory (HTM); training the HTM based on the training set in order that the trained HTM provides a model of the operation of the computer system during the training time period; receiving a second set of records for the computer system, each record detailing an occurrence in the computer system during an operating time period for the computer system in use by a consumer of the resource; generating a sparse distributed representation of the second set of records to form an input set for the trained HTM; executing the trained HTM based on the input set to determine a degree of recognition of the records of the input set; and responsive to a determination that a degree of recognition of one or more records of the input set is below a threshold degree, identifying the operation of the computer system by the consumer as unauthorized.

Hierarchical temporal memory for access control

A computer implemented method of a network access point for secure network access by a mobile computing device, the mobile device being associated with the access point by a digitally signed record in a blockchain wherein the blockchain is accessible via a network and includes a plurality of records validated by miner computing components, the method including receiving a request from another network access point to associate the mobile device with the other access point, the request having associated identification information for the mobile device; responsive to a verification of an entitlement of the mobile device to access the network, generating a new record for storage in the blockchain, the new record associating the mobile device with the other access point and being validated by the miner components such that the other access point provides access to the network for the mobile device based on the validation of the new record.

Network access point

A computer implemented method of a network access point for secure network access by a mobile computing device, the mobile device being associated with the access point by a digitally signed record in a blockchain wherein the blockchain is accessible via a network and includes a plurality of records validated by miner computing components, the method including receiving a request from another network access point to associate the mobile device with the other access point, the request having associated identification information for the mobile device; responsive to a verification of an entitlement of the mobile device to access the network, generating a new record for storage in the blockchain, the new record associating the mobile device with the other access point and being validated by the miner components such that the other access point provides access to the network for the mobile device based on the validation of the new record, wherein the network access point provides access to a local network inaccessible to the other network access point; and permitting access to the local network by the mobile device via the other network access point.

Home network access

A computer implemented method of a receiving secure computing component to provide access to a cryptographic key for a key requester, the key being associated with an owning secure computing component by a digitally signed record in a blockchain wherein the blockchain is accessible via a network and includes a plurality of records validated by miner computing components, wherein the key requester has associated a quantity of cryptocurrency by a digitally signed record in the blockchain, the method including: receiving a request from the key requester to access the key; generating a first new record for storage in the blockchain to transfer a predetermined quantity of cryptocurrency associated with the requester to be associated with the receiving component, the first new record being validated by the miner components; responsive to the validation of the first new record, communicating a request to the owning component to transfer the key to the receiving component; responsive to securely receiving the key at the receiving component and a validation of a second new record in the blockchain, the second new record associating the key with the receiving component, providing the requester with secure access to the key.

Expendable cryptographic key access

A computer implemented method of a first network access point to provide network access for a mobile device, the mobile device associated with a second network access point by a digitally signed record in a blockchain wherein the blockchain is accessible via a network and includes a plurality of records validated by miner computing components, wherein the mobile device has associated a quantity of cryptocurrency by a digitally signed record in the blockchain, the method including receiving a request from the mobile device to access the network; generating a first new record for storage in the blockchain to transfer a predetermined quantity of cryptocurrency associated with the requester to be associated with the first access point, the first new record being validated by the miner components; responsive to the validation of the first new record, notifying the second access point of the request of the mobile device to access the network; responsive to a validation of a second new record in the blockchain, the second new record associating the mobile device with the first access point, providing the mobile device with access to the network.

Expendable network access

A computer implemented method of generating cryptographic keys for a plurality of hardware security modules (HSMs), the method including generating a plurality of cryptographic keys for use by the HSMs in providing cryptography functions, wherein the cryptographic keys are generated based on numerical data generated by a hardware random number generator; and storing the generated cryptographic keys in a secure key store, such that a key in the key store utilized by an HSM is flagged as utilized to prevent other HSMs utilizing the same key, so as to provide a rate of generation and storage of the cryptographic keys unconstrained by the resources of any HSM.

Cryptographic key generation and storage

A computer implemented method of generating cryptographic keys for a hardware security module (HSM), the method including generating a plurality of cryptographic keys and storing the cryptographic keys for use by the HSM in providing cryptography functions, wherein the cryptographic keys are generated based on numerical data generated by a hardware random number generator, such that a rate of generation of the cryptographic keys unconstrained by the resources of the HSM, wherein the hardware random number generator operates based on a plurality of statistically random entropy data sources originating from natural phenomena so as to increase a degree of randomness of the numerical data.

Cryptographic key generation using multiple random sources

A computer implemented method of access control for a restricted resource of a resource provider in a network connected computer system, wherein a blockchain data structure accessible via the network stores digitally signed records validated by network connected miner software components, the method including: identifying an access control role definition for access to the resource, the role including a specification of access permissions; defining a cryptocurrency for indicating authorization to access the resource, the cryptocurrency being formed of tradeable units of value associated with records in the blockchain and wherein transfer of the cryptocurrency between records in the blockchain is validated by the miners; receiving a request from an authenticated resource consumer for authorization to access the resource; and submitting a blockchain transaction to the miner components to transfer a quantity of cryptocurrency to a consumer record in the blockchain, the transaction including an identification of the role, such that the consumer record identifies that the consumer is authorized to access the resource in accordance with the role definition.

Access control

A computer implemented method to detect a computer system in execution operating in a manner that is not compliant with a definition of a set of compliant operations, the method including receiving a first set of records for the computer system, each record detailing an occurrence in the computer system during a first predetermined time period; generating a sparse distributed representation of the set of records to form a training set for a hierarchical temporal memory (HTM); training the HTM based on the training set in order that the trained HTM provides a model of the operation of the computer system during the predetermined time period; selecting at least a subset of operations in the set of compliant operations and causing the invocation of each operation of the subset in the computer system over a second predetermined time period to generate a second set of records of occurrences in the computer system; generating a sparse distributed representation of the set of records to form an input set for the trained HTM; executing the trained HTM based on the input set to determine a degree of recognition of the records of the input set; and responsive to a determination that a degree of recognition of one or more records of the input set is below a threshold degree, identifying the operation of the computer system as non-compliant.

Anomaly detection for computer systems

An access control method for a restricted resource in a computer system having an operating system providing isolation between software processes executable in the operating system such that a first process executing in the operating system is prevented from accessing resources of a second process executing in the operating system, the method including receiving a software component for execution as an isolated process in the operating system; receiving a baseline profile for the software component defining characteristics of the software component at a runtime for identifying performance of the software component; generating a runtime profile of the software component in execution in the operating system defining characteristics of the component in execution; and permitting access by the software component to the restricted resource based on a comparison of the baseline profile and the runtime profile such that the software component exhibiting undesirable performance is precluded from accessing the restricted resource.

Software container access control

A method in a computer system having an operating system providing isolation between software processes executable in the operating system such that a first process executing in the operating system is prevented from accessing resources of a second process executing in the operating system, the method including receiving a software component for execution as an isolated process in the operating system; receiving a baseline profile for the software component defining one or more characteristics of the software component at a runtime for identifying performance of the software component; generating a runtime profile of the software component in execution in the operating system defining characteristics of the component in execution; and flagging the software component in execution based on a comparison of the baseline profile and the runtime profile so as to identify an undesirable performance of the software component.

Software container profiling

A computer implemented method for code distribution by a base station to a target device via a network, the distribution being made via one or more distribution servers arranged between the base station and the target device on the network, is disclosed.

Untrusted code distribution

A computer implemented method for access control for a consumer accessing a restricted resource in a network connected computer system, the method including receiving a continuous sequence of data records relating to use, by the consumer, of the restricted resource, the resource being accessed by the consumer over an access network; continuously comparing the data records with an access control policy for the restricted resource; in response to a determination that the behavior is non-compliant with respect to the policy, generating and communicating a shared secret to the consumer, the shared secret being communicated via a communications channel other than the access network; receiving a response to a challenge from the user via the access network; and notifying the computer system that access to the resource by the consumer should be precluded based on a comparison of the response to the challenge and the shared-secret.

Out-of-band challenge in a computer system

A computer implemented method to execute a software application in a network attached computing environment, the application being defined by a set of required software services to constitute the application, the required services being selected from services indicated in a component registry, the method including recording a block to a blockchain data structure, the new block identifying at least a subset of the set of required services; receiving one or more further blocks from the blockchain data structure, each of the further blocks referencing a service provider for providing one or more of the required services; and selecting one or more service providers identified in the blockchain and defining a specification for an application assembler component to assemble the software application, the specification identifying selected service providers.

Growing community of inventors

London, United Kingdom

Joshua Daniel