Systems and methods for distributed trust model and framework

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12598071-B2
Application number	US-202418823368-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 3, 2024
Priority date	Nov 30, 2017
Publication date	Apr 7, 2026
Grant date	Apr 7, 2026

Abstract

A trust management system is provided for a network communication ecosystem having a plurality of participating entities. The trust management system includes a trust specification engine configured to define and manage trust relationships between a first entity and a second entity of the plurality of participating entities, a trust analysis engine configured to process the results of a trust query from the first entity to the second entity, a trust evaluation engine configured to evaluate the trust relationships managed by the trust specification engine, and a trust monitor configured to (i) monitor one or more trust triggers occurring relevant to at least one of the first and second entities, and (2) update a trust relationship between the first and second entities based on one or more monitored trust triggers.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method for managing trust between first and second electronic devices configured for electronic communication within a communication ecosystem, comprising the steps of:
calculating, at a first time value, a first trust relationship between the first electronic device and the second electronic device based on a temporally variable context of the second electronic device with respect to the first electronic device at the first time value and a first type of access requested by the second electronic device to the first electronic device; establishing a first level of access of the second electronic device to the first electronic device based on the calculated first trust relationship; monitoring the temporally variable context of the second electronic device over time; determining, at a second time value subsequent to the first time value, a second trust relationship between the first electronic device and the second electronic device based on the temporally variable context of the second electronic device with respect to the first electronic device at the second time value and the same first type of requested access; and reconfiguring, based on the determined second trust relationship, a second level of access for the second electronic device to the first electronic device different from the first level of access.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first electronic device is a cable modem termination system (CMTS) managed by a network infrastructure of the network communication ecosystem, and wherein the second electronic device is a modem configured to request access from the CMTS to the network infrastructure.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first electronic device is a cable modem termination system (CMTS) managed by a network infrastructure of the network communication ecosystem, and wherein the second electronic device is one of an access point (AP) and a residential gateway device (RG) in operable communication with an endpoint connecting device.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the AP or RG is configured to extend a root of trust to the endpoint connecting device.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first electronic device is a modem, and wherein the second electronic device is one of (i) an endpoint device capable of connection with an Internet of Things (IoT), and (ii) an access point (AP) in operable communication with the endpoint device.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the modem is configured to extend its root of trust to the endpoint device.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising a step of analyzing a trust query, submitted by the first electronic device, regarding the temporally variable context of the second electronic device.

8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising a step of storing, within an immutable database, trust-related data transmitted within the trust management system.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the temporally variable context includes considerations of the network communication ecosystem comprising one or more of (i) an architectural configuration, a topological configuration, at least one internal security indicator, and at least one external security indicator, and wherein the considerations are dynamically changeable over time.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the calculated first trust relationship and the determined second trust relationship each comprise a measurable non-binary numerical value.

11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising a step of measuring the first and second trust relationships probabilistically.

12 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising a step of generating a probabilistic trust model to evaluate the first and second trust relationships.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the probabilistic trust model assigns an a priori probability value to the first trust relationship at the first time value.

14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the probabilistic trust model calculates a trust indicator vector from the assigned a priori probability value to a monitored probability value for the second trust relationship at the second time value.

15 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the probabilistic trust model evaluates one or more trust indicators relating to the second electronic device at the second time value to determine a trust probability value for the second trust relationship at the second time value.

16 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the one or more trust indicators include one or more of indicators for (a) cable, wireless, and passive optical network (PON) systems, (b) communication network service providers, and/or (c) virtualized, cloud, enterprise, and government ecosystem environments.

17 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the probabilistic trust model includes an access type graph.

18 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising a step of updating the access type graph with information indicating the first and second trust relationships.

19 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the probabilistic trust model includes a manufacturer trust computation.

20 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first electronic device includes a synthetic device identity, and further comprising a step of enabling the synthetic device identity based on at least one of manufacturer usage description (MUD), active fingerprinting techniques, and passive fingerprinting techniques.

Assignees

• Cable Television Laboratories Inc

Inventors

• Ray Indrajit
• Goeringer Steven J

Classifications

• H04L9/50 Primary

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

• H04L9/3239

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

• H04L9/3265

  using certificate chains, trees or paths; Hierarchical trust model · CPC title

• H04L9/321 Primary

  involving a third party or a trusted authority · CPC title