Legitimacy verification of a node in a distributed network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10700860-B2
Application number	US-201715839860-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 13, 2017
Priority date	Dec 13, 2016
Publication date	Jun 30, 2020
Grant date	Jun 30, 2020

Abstract

According to an example, a method and a secure element legitimacy verification of a node in a distributed network is provided. The distributed network comprises a plurality of nodes and a secure element, which are connected to a shared medium of the distributed network. Each of the plurality of nodes is provisioned with an identity certificate comprising a serial number. Each serial number is specific to the respective node. The secure element receives from one of the plurality of nodes a request for legitimacy verification including the serial number. The secure element compares the serial number included in the received request with a plurality of serial numbers comprises in a whitelist maintained at the secure element. The secure element transmits back to the requesting node a request response comprising an indication whether or not the serial number is comprised in the whitelist.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of legitimacy verification of a node in a distributed network, wherein the distributed network comprises a plurality of nodes and a secure element, which are connected to a shared medium of the distributed network, each of the plurality of nodes is provisioned with an identity certificate comprising a serial number, and each serial number is specific to the respective node, said method comprising:
receiving, with the secure element, from one of the plurality of nodes, a request for the legitimacy verification including the serial number, wherein the identity certificate is signed by a certificate authority and includes an indication of membership of receiver nodes;
comparing, with the secure element, the serial number included in the received request with a plurality of serial numbers in a whitelist maintained at the secure element;
transmitting, with the secure element, back to the requesting node, a request response comprising an indication whether or not the serial number is comprised in the whitelist.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
provisioning the secure element with an identity certificate comprising a public key, wherein a private key is associated with the public key and

the request for legitimacy verification further includes a challenge;
generating, with the secure element, a signature using the private key from a sequence comprising the challenge and an error sequence after the serial number included in the received request is not comprised in the whitelist, wherein the request response comprises the signature.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
generating, with the secure element, a signature using the private key from a sequence comprising the challenge and the serial number included in the received request after the serial number is comprised in the whitelist, wherein the request response comprises the signature.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
mutually authenticating an external server; and
accepting a request to update the whitelist after the mutual authentication.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
using the legitimacy verification of a node in a distributed network for legitimacy verification of one or more nodes participating in procedure of updating and distributing secret keys in the distributed network.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein each node of the plurality of nodes is member of at least one group of a plurality of groups, each group is associated with a secret group key, each node of the plurality of nodes stores only the one or more secret group keys, of which it is a member, and the updating and distributing secret keys in the distributed network further comprises:
generating, with the first node of the plurality of nodes, an authenticated update key request, wherein the authenticated update key request comprises an indication of a membership, of which the first node is member;
broadcasting, with the first node of the plurality of nodes, the authenticated update key request on the shared medium of the distributed network;
receiving, with each remaining node of the plurality of nodes, the authenticated key update;
performing, with each remaining node of the plurality of nodes, an authentication verification based on the authenticated key update request;
matching, with each remaining node of the plurality of nodes, the respective memberships with the indication of a membership of the first node comprised in the authenticated key update request;
after at least a partial matching of memberships, generating, with each remaining node of the plurality of nodes, an authenticated update key request response, which comprises an indication of the membership of the respective remaining node; and
generating, with each remaining node of the plurality of nodes, an authenticated update key request and broadcasting the authenticated update key request on the shared medium of the distributed network, wherein the authenticated update key request comprises an indication of a membership, of which the respective remaining node is member.

7. The method according to claim 6 , further comprising:
receiving, with the first node, an authenticated key update request response from the second node, wherein the second node is one of the remaining nodes having detected at least a partial match of the memberships;
performing, with the first node, an authentication verification based on the authenticated key update request;
generating, with the first node, an authenticated key update response including one or more secret keys according to a matching of the membership of the first node and the membership of the second node;
sending, with the first node, the authenticated key update response to the second node via a secure channel.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
sending, with the second node, the request for legitimacy verification to the secure element to validate the legitimacy of the first node to be connected to the distributed network.

9. A secure element connected to a shared medium of a distributed network, wherein the secure element is configured to:
receive from one of the plurality of nodes a request for legitimacy verification including the serial number,
compare the serial number included in the received request with a plurality of serial numbers in a whitelist maintained at the secure element, wherein an identity certificate for each serial number of the plurality of serial numbers is signed by a certificate authority and includes an indication of membership of receiver nodes,
transmit back to the requesting node a request response comprising an indication whether or not the serial number is comprised in the whitelist.

10. The secure element of claim 9 , wherein the secure element is provisioned with an identity certificate comprising a public key, a private key associated with the public key, the request for legitimacy verification further includes a challenge, and the secure element is further configured to:
generate a signature using the private key from a sequence comprising the challenge and an error sequence after the serial number included in the received request is not comprised in the whitelist, wherein the request response comprises the signature.

11. The secure element of claim 10 , wherein the secure element is further configured to:
generate a signature using the private key from a sequence comprising the challenge and the serial number included in the received request after the serial number is comprised in the whitelist, wherein the request response comprises the signature.

12. The secure element of claim 11 , wherein the secure element is further configured to
mutually authenticate an external server,
accept a request to update the whitelist after the mutual authentication.

13. The secure element of claim 12 , wherein the legitimacy verification of the node in the distributed network is used for legitimacy verification of one or more nodes participating in procedure of updating and distributing secret keys in the distributed network.

14. A system comprising a plurality of nodes and a secure element connected to a shared medium of a distributed network, wherein each node of the plurality of nodes is a member of at least one group of a plurality of groups, each group is associated with a secret group key, each node of the plurality of nodes stores only the secret group keys of each group of which it is a member, and for updating and distributing secret keys in the distributed network, the first node is configured to:
generate an authenticated update key request,

Assignees

• Nxp Bv

Inventors

• Walrant Thierry G C

Classifications

• H04L9/3271

  using challenge-response · CPC title

• H04L9/3242

  involving keyed hash functions, e.g. message authentication codes [MACs], CBC-MAC or HMAC · CPC title

• H04L9/0891 Primary

  Revocation or update of secret information, e.g. encryption key update or rekeying · CPC title

• H04L9/0833

  involving conference or group key (network architectures or network communication protocols for key management in group communication in a packet data network H04L63/065) · CPC title

• H04L9/0822

  using key encryption key · CPC title