Conducting secure interactions utilizing reliability information

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11477184-B2
Application number	US-202016912437-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 25, 2020
Priority date	Nov 7, 2017
Publication date	Oct 18, 2022
Grant date	Oct 18, 2022

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention are directed assessing reliability between two computing devices. A distributed database may maintain reliability associations between pairs of computing devices. Each reliability association may indicate a particular device has determined (e.g., locally) that another device is reliable. In order to determine an amount of reliability between a first computing device and a second computing device, an ordered combination of the reliability associations may be determined utilizing the distributed database. The ordered combination of reliability associations may identify a reliability path between the first computing device and the second computing device. An amount of reliability may be determined based on the reliability path. An interaction between the devices may be allowed or restricted based at least in part on the amount of reliability between the computing devices.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
obtaining, by a first computing device, a plurality of reliability associations from a distributed database, each of the plurality of reliability associations indicating a degree of trust between two computing devices;
determining, by the first computing device, a reliability path between the first computing device and a second computing device based at least in part on the plurality of reliability associations, the first computing device being unknown or having no previous relationship to the second computing device, and the reliability path comprising a sequence of computing devices including the first computing device, two or more other computing devices different from the second computing device, and the second computing device;
obtaining, by the first computing device, a protocol set for generating a symmetric key based at least in part on respective inputs provided by the computing devices of the reliability path, the protocol set defining a plurality of functions, each of the plurality of functions defining a number and a corresponding order of the respective inputs to be used to generate the symmetric key;
receiving, by the first computing device, the respective inputs provided by the computing devices of the reliability path;
generating, by the first computing device, the symmetric key based at least in part on a function defined by the protocol set and selected from among the plurality of functions, the function utilizing a combination of the respective inputs provided by the computing devices of the reliability path, the function being selected from the plurality of functions based at least in part on a length of the reliability path; and
utilizing, by the first computing device, the symmetric key to encrypt and decrypt data communicated between the first computing device and the second computing device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein different functions are utilized over time to generate symmetric keys based at least in part on the protocol set.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein a number of the respective inputs utilized to generate the symmetric key differs over time according to the protocol set.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the protocol set identifies an input corresponding to a specific computing device having a particular position within a given reliability path is to be utilized for a particular variable of the function.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the distributed database is stored on a blockchain that is accessible to the first computing device.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the distributed database stores the protocol set, and wherein the protocol set specifies instructions for determining the reliability path, instructions for assessing an amount of reliability of a particular computing device based on a given reliability path, and instructions for generating the symmetric key.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing, by the first computing device to the distributed database, information identifying one or more reliability associations that are established between the first computing device and one or more computing devices, wherein providing the information identifying the one or more reliability associations to the distributed database causes the distributed database to store the information.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second computing device is configured to generate the symmetric key according to the function, and wherein the second computing device encrypts data transmitted to the first computing device with the symmetric key.

9. A computing device comprising:
a hardware processor, and
a non-transitory computer readable medium coupled to the hardware processor, the non-transitory computer readable medium comprising code for causing the hardware processor to perform operations comprising:
obtaining a plurality of reliability associations from a distributed database, each of the plurality of reliability associations indicating a degree of trust between two computing devices;
determining a reliability path between the computing device and a second computing device based at least in part on the plurality of reliability associations, the computing device being unknown or having no previous relationship to the second computing device, and the reliability path comprising a sequence of computing devices including the computing device, two or more other computing devices different from the second computing device, and the second computing device;
obtaining a protocol set for generating a symmetric key based at least in part on respective inputs provided by the computing devices of the reliability path, the protocol set defining a plurality of functions, each of the plurality of functions defining a number and a corresponding order of the respective inputs to be used to generate the symmetric key;
receiving, by the computing device, the respective inputs provided by the computing devices of the reliability path;
generating, by the computing device, the symmetric key based at least in part on a function defined by the protocol set and selected from among the plurality of functions, the function utilizing a combination of the respective inputs provided by the computing devices of the reliability path, the function being selected from the plurality of functions based at least in part on a length of the reliability path; and
utilizing, by the computing device, the symmetric key to encrypt and decrypt data communicated between the computing device and the second computing device.

10. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein different functions are utilized over time to generate symmetric keys based at least in part on the protocol set.

11. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein a number of the respective inputs utilized to generate the symmetric key differs over time according to the protocol set.

12. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the protocol set identifies an input corresponding to a specific computing device having a particular position within a given reliability path is to be utilized for a particular variable of the function.

13. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the distributed database is stored on a blockchain that is accessible to the computing device.

14. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the distributed database stores the protocol set, and wherein the protocol set specifies instructions for determining the reliability path, instructions for assessing an amount of reliability of a particular computing device based on a given reliability path, and instructions for generating the symmetric key.

15. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the hardware processor performs further operations comprising providing, to the distributed database, information identifying one or more reliability associations that are established between the computing device and one or more computing devices, wherein providing the information identifying the one or more reliability associations to the distributed database causes the distributed database to store the information.

16. The computing device of claim 9 , wherein the second computing device is configured to generate the symmetric key according to the function, and wherein the second computing device encrypts data transmitted to the first computing device with the symmetric key.

Assignees

• Visa Int Service Ass

Inventors

• Wang Quan
• Howard Kelvan
• Wald Jerry

Classifications

• H04L9/50 Primary

  using hash chains, e.g. blockchains or hash trees · CPC title

• H04L63/08 Primary

  for authentication of entities (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32) · CPC title

• H04L9/3239

  involving non-keyed hash functions, e.g. modification detection codes [MDCs], MD5, SHA or RIPEMD · CPC title

• H04L9/006

  involving public key infrastructure [PKI] trust models (network architecture or network communication protocol for supporting authentication of entities using certificates in a packet data network H04L63/0823) · CPC title

• H04W12/66

  Trust-dependent, e.g. using trust scores or trust relationships · CPC title