Secure data parser method and system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9449180-B2
Application number	US-14836508-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 18, 2008
Priority date	Sep 20, 1999
Publication date	Sep 20, 2016
Grant date	Sep 20, 2016

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and system for securing sensitive data from unauthorized access or use. The method and system of the present invention is useful in a wide variety of settings, including commercial settings generally available to the public which may be extremely large or small with respect to the number of users. The method and system of the present invention is also useful in a more private setting, such as with a corporation or governmental agency, as well as between corporation, governmental agencies or any other entity.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for securing data, comprising:
a) encrypting a data set to provide an encrypted data set;
b) generating two or more portions of data from the encrypted data set, wherein the two or more portions of data each contain a substantially randomized distribution of the encrypted data set;
c) encrypting one or more of the portions of data from step b); and
d) storing the two or more portions of data from step c) at one or more locations on one or more data depositories, whereby the data set is restorable from at least two of the two or more portions of data from step b), wherein restoring the data set comprises:
decrypting the one or more portions of data from step c),
reconstituting the encrypted data set by recombining data from the at least two of the two or more portions of data that was substantially randomly distributed in step b), and
decrypting the encrypted data set into the data set.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating two or more portions of data from the encrypted data set comprises generating at least four portions of data.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein step b) and step c) are repeated one or more times before the storing of step d), and wherein the encrypting of step c) is performed using an encryption algorithm that is different from the encryption algorithm in step a).

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein storing the two or more portions of data comprises storing the two or more portions of data on different locations of the same data depository.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein storing the two or more portions of data comprises storing the two or more portions of data on different data depositories.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein storing the two or more portions of data comprises storing the two or more portions of data on different data depositories in different geographic locations.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the encryption of step c) provides an encryption key, and wherein the encryption key is stored in step d) together with the data encrypted using said encryption key in step c).

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the encryption of step c) provides an encryption key, and wherein the encryption key is stored in step d) separately from the data encrypted using said encryption key in step c).

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data set of step a) comprises data selected from the group consisting of encryption key data, text, video, audio, images, biometrics, and digital data.

10. A method for securing data, comprising:
a) generating two or more portions of data from a data set, wherein the two or more portions of data each contain a substantially random distribution of the data set;
b) encrypting one or more of the portions of data of step a); and
c) storing the two or more portions of data on one or more locations on one or more data depositories, whereby the data set is restorable from at least two of the two or more portions of data, wherein restoring the data set comprises:
decrypting the one or more portions of data from step b), and
reconstituting the data set by recombining data from the at least two of the two or more portions of data that was substantially randomly distributed in step a).

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein generating two or more portions of data from the data set comprises generating at least four portions of data.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein step a) and step b) are repeated one or more times before the storing of step c), and wherein the encryption of step b) is repeated using a different encryption algorithm.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein storing the two or more portions of data comprises storing the two or more portions of data on different locations of the same data depository.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein storing the two or more portions of data comprises storing the two or more portions of data on different data depositories.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein storing the two or more portions of data comprises storing the two or more portions of data on different data depositories in different geographic locations.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein the encryption of step b) provides an encryption key, and wherein the encryption key is stored in step c) together with the data encrypted using said encryption key in step b).

17. The method of claim 10 , wherein the encryption of step b) provides an encryption key, and wherein the encryption key is stored in step c) separately from the data encrypted using said encryption key in step b).

18. The method of claim 10 , wherein the data set of step a) comprises data selected from a group consisting of encryption key data, text, video, audio, images, biometrics, and digital data.

19. The method of claim 10 , wherein the encryption of step b) is performed using an encryption algorithm selected from a group consisting of RS 1, RC4™, and OTP.

20. A method for securing data, comprising:
a) generating an encryption master key and encrypting a data set using the encryption master key;
b) generating two or more portions of data from the encrypted data set and the encryption master key according to one separating pattern and appending an encryption master key portion to an encrypted data set portion, wherein the two or more portions comprise a substantially random distribution of data from the encrypted data set;
c) generating one or more encryption keys for the portions of data from step b) and encrypting said portions of data using said one or more encryption keys; and
d) storing the encrypted portions of data from step c) and the encryption keys from step c) on at least one data depository, whereby the data set is restorable from at least two portions of the two or more portions of data, wherein restoring the data set comprises:
decrypting the encrypted portions of data,
reconstituting the encrypted data set by recombining data from the at least two portions of the two or more portions of data that was substantially randomly distributed in step b), and
decrypting the encrypted data set into the data set.

21. A method for securing data, comprising:
a) generating an encryption master key and encrypting a data set using the encryption master key;
b) generating two or more portions of data from the encrypted data set and the encryption master key according to one separating pattern and storing encryption master key portions on one or more locations of one or more data depositories, wherein the two or more portions comprise a substantially random distribution of data from the encrypted data set;
c) generating one or more encryption keys for the encrypted data set portions of step b) and encrypting said portions of data using said encryption key; and
d) storing the encrypted portions from step c) and the encryption keys from step c) on at least one location of at least one data depository, wherein said data depositories are different from the data depositories of step b), whereby the data set is restorable from at least two portions of the two or more portions of data, wherein restoring the data set comprises:
decrypting the encrypted portions from step c),
reconstituting the encrypted data set by recombining data from the at least two portions of the two or more portions of data that was substantially randomly distributed in step b), and
decrypting the encrypted data set into the data set.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the storing of encrypted data portions in step d) is on

Assignees

• O'Hare Mark S
• Orsini Rick L
• Van Zandt John
• Davenport Roger S
• Security First Corp

Inventors

• O'Hare Mark S
• Orsini Rick L
• Van Zandt John
• Davenport Roger S

Classifications

• H04L63/0428

  wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload · CPC title

• H04L2209/68

  Special signature format, e.g. XML format · CPC title

• H04L63/10

  for controlling access to devices or network resources · CPC title

• G06F21/32

  using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints · CPC title

• H04L9/3247

  involving digital signatures · CPC title