Entrust Technologies Limited

Irdeto B.v.

Northern Telecom Limited

Entrust Corporation

Irdeto Canada Corporation

Michael James Wiener

Yuan Xiang Gu

Harold J Johnson

Carlisle M Adams

Roland Thomas Lockhart

Paul C Van Oorschot

Yongxin Zhou

Clifford Liem

Grant Stewart Goodes

Yaser Eftekhari Roozbehani

Hongrui Dong

Josanne Mary Otway

James Muir

Ian H Curry

Warwick S Ford

Sam Martin

Mark Christopher Batten-Carew

Phillip Alan Eisen

Philip Alan Eisen

A secure and fault-tolerant, or variation-tolerant, method and system to turn a set of N shares into an identifier even when only M shares from this set have a correct value. A secret sharing algorithm is used to generate a number of candidate identifiers from subsets of shares associated with asset parameters of a collection of assets. The most frequently occurring candidate identifier is then determined to be the final identifier. The method has particular applicability in the fields of node locking and fingerprinting.

Change-tolerant method of generating an identifier for a collection of assets in a computing environment using a secret sharing scheme

A method and system for renewing software at the component-level is provided. A client program includes a base component for loading a software component into at least one loadable region of the program to update the program. Code in the software component is for writing state data associating the state of the update in storage, upon execution of the software component, and testing the state data to verify condition of the updated program and disallowing rollback and roll-forward attacks, the state data comprising hash chain values. The state data for verifying the correctness of the updated program is entangled with application data used for the program functionality. A server includes: an update pool having a plurality of software updates deployed in each client, and a policy control for monitoring and controlling at least one of: the length of time the client runs until the software update is invoked, a chain of the updates; and the granularity of the update.

Updating software components in a program

There is provided a method of performing a cryptographic algorithm in software, the cryptographic algorithm comprising one or more processing steps, wherein each processing step is arranged to process a respective input to the processing step so as to generate an output corresponding to the input, characterized in that, for each of at least one of the one or more processing steps, the method comprises: providing a respective input for the processing step as an input to a plurality of implementations of the processing step, wherein each implementation is arranged to output a corresponding intermediate result represented using a respective predetermined output representation; and using the representation of the intermediate results to generate a result for the processing step that is based on each of the intermediate results, wherein, if each intermediate result is the output that corresponds to the input for the processing step then the result for the processing step is the output that corresponds to the input for the processing step. Additionally provided is a method of enabling a data processor to perform a cryptographic algorithm in software, the method comprising: generating an implementation of the cryptographic algorithm, the implementation being arranged such that execution of the implementation by a processor causes the processor to carry out a method according to any one of the preceding claims; and configuring the data processor to execute the implementation of the cryptographic algorithm. There is further provided a system and computer program for carrying out such methods, as well as a computer readable medium for storing such a computer program.

Tamper resistant cryptographic algorithm implementation

Systems and techniques for securing accessible computer-executable program code and systems are provided. One or more base functions may be generated and blended with existing program code, such that it may be difficult or impossible for a potential attacker to distinguish the base functions from the existing code. The systems and code also may be protected using a variety of other blending and protection techniques, such as fractures, variable dependent coding, dynamic data mangling, and cross-linking, which may be used individually or in combination, and/or may be blended with the base functions.

Securing accessible systems using base function encoding

Securing accessible systems using variable dependent coding

Securing accessible systems using dynamic data mangling

An adaptable cryptographic method and system provides updated digital signature key pairs in a public key system by providing, through a multi-client manager unit, selectable expiry data such as digital signature certificate lifetime data, public key expiry data and private key expiry data as selectable on a per client basis. The multi-client manager unit stores selected public key expiry data and private key expiry data for association with a new digital signature key pair and associates the stored selected expiry data with the new digital signature key pair to facilitate a transition from an old digital signature key pair to a new digital signature key pair.

Method and system for providing updated encryption key pairs and digital signature key pairs in a public key system

A method and apparatus for controlling release of time-sensitive information is accomplished by a server that establishes access information for a specific future time which only becomes active once the specific future time has passed. When the specific future time has passed, the server releases the access information such that an end-user or end-users may utilize the access information to obtain time-sensitive information. The access information may be a random number which can be used to calculate a decryption key and an encryption key. The encryption key can be released by the server at any time such that an end-user may encrypt time sensitive information for release at the specific future time, but the random number is not released until the specific future time has passed. When the random number is released, end-users may generate the decryption key and subsequently decrypt the time-sensitive information.

Method and apparatus for controlling release of time sensitive information

A data management system and method for a limited cryptographic storage unit, such as a smartcard or other hardware token, includes a cryptographic data manager that interfaces with the limited capacity cryptographic storage unit and a data overflow memory coupled to the cryptographic data manager. The cryptographic data manager stores cryptographic data, such as decryption private keys or other secret cryptographic data, in the overflow memory from the limited capacity cryptographic storage unit based on a limited capacity storage unit data update condition. The cryptographic data manager may serve as a secondary cryptographic data manager that receives the cryptographic data from an original cryptographic data storage device, or primary storage device such as a server that generates the cryptographic data, that stores a history of the cryptographic data.

Data management system and method for a limited capacity cryptographic storage unit

A multi-factor biometric authenticating device and method generates error correction based partial encryption key seed data based on a plurality of sample biometric inputs, such as raw biometric data The error correction based partial encryption key seed data serves as a partial seed for generating a secret encryption key for encrypting user data. The first partial seed is combined with a second partial encryption seed to generate the secret encryption key. The device stores the error correction based partial encryption key seed data and does not store the secret encryption key.

Multi-factor biometric authenticating device and method

A method and system for protecting a multipurpose data string used for both decrypting data and for authenticating a user utilizes a remote storage element that contains a long random data string or password protected by a short easy to remember access data, such as a personal identification number or other user authentication mechanism. The remote storage element contains data used for both initially encrypting secret private keys and for later decrypting the encrypted secret private keys, or other secret data, so they can be used to decrypt data transferred within a computer network, or be used for digitally signing data transferred within a computer network.

System and method for protecting a multipurpose data string used for both decrypting data and for authenticating a user

A method and apparatus constructs a preferred certificate chain, such as a list of all certificate authorities in a shortest trusted path, based on generated certificate chain data, such as a table of trust relationships among certificate issuing units in a community of interest, to facilitate rapid validity determination of the certificate by a requesting unit. In one embodiment, requesting units, such as certificate validation units or subscribers, send queries to a common certificate chain constructing unit. Each query may identify a beginning and target certification authority in the community. The certificate chain constructing unit then automatically determines the certification chain among certification issuing units between the beginning and target certification authorities for each query and provides certificate chain data to the requesting unit. The requesting unit then performs validity determination on the certificate to be validated based on the certificate chain data.

Method and apparatus for use in determining validity of a certificate in

A method of encrypting or decrypting an input message block of binary data of predetermined length 2n into an output message block by dividing the message block into two equal size halves, performing one or more transformation rounds on the message block halves, each transformation round further comprising the steps of determining a key, processing the first half data block using a hash function to obtain a modified first half data block of length n, and combining the modified first half data block with the second half data block to obtain a modified second half data block of length n; and, lastly, appending the first modified half data block to the second modified half data block to obtain the output message block.

Design principles of the shade cipher

The invention allows for transporting, in different degrees of security strength, a symmetric key encrypted using an asymmetric encryption technique, and along with this transporting ciphertext derived from plaintext encrypted under this symmetric key. The encryptor encrypts the plaintext using a symmetric whose strength is commensurate with the trust level of the environment in which the encryptor is located. The encryptor encrypts this symmetric key for one or more intended recipients using an asymmetric technique commensurate with a high-trust environment. In the case of the encryptor residing in the low-trust environment, the encryptor additionally encrypts this symmetric key using an asymmetric encryption public key of the originator itself (or alternatively, that of a third party). Decryption equipment in all environments uses the decryption process corresponding to an algorithm identifier included by the originator. In all cases, the asymmetric encryption/decryption process used for each specific recipient is of a strength commensurate with the trust level of that recipient's own environment.

Key management system for mixed-trust environments

A new design procedure for constructing a family of DES-like Substitution-Permutation Network (SPN) cryptosystems with desirable cryptographic properties including provable resistance to differential cryptanalysis, linear cryptanalysis, and related-key cryptanalysis is described. New cryptosystems called CAST ciphers, constructed according to the procedure, are also described. Details of the design choices in the procedure are given, including those regarding the component substitution boxes (s-boxes), the overall framework, the key schedule, and the round function. A fully specified example CAST cipher, an output of this design procedure, is presented as an aid to understanding the concepts and to encourage detailed analysis by the cryptologic community.

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Ottawa, Canada

Michael James Wiener