Systems and methods for establishing ownership and delegation ownership of IOT devices using domain name system services

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9935950-B2
Application number	US-201514595178-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 12, 2015
Priority date	Jan 12, 2015
Publication date	Apr 3, 2018
Grant date	Apr 3, 2018

Abstract

Provided is a method for establishing ownership of a component of an internet of things (“IoT”) device. The method comprises receiving, at a registration service, a request to register the component of the IoT device, the request comprising a public key of the component of the IoT device, an identifier of the component of the IoT device, and a public key of an owner of the component of the IoT device; determining a qualified name for the component of the IoT device based on a name associated with the owner of the component of the IoT device; generating one or more domain name system (“DNS”) records for the component of the IoT device, the one or more DNS records comprising an authentication file that identifies a chain of ownership of the component of the IoT device; and storing the one or more DNS records in a registry.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for establishing ownership of a component of an internet of things (“IoT”) device, the method comprising:
receiving, at a registration service, a request to register the component of the IoT device, the request comprising a public key of the component of the IoT device, an identifier of the component of the IoT device, and a public key of an owner of the component of the IoT device;
generating, via the registration service, an authorization file that includes rights information associated with the component of the IoT device;
determining a qualified name for the component of the IoT device based on a name associated with the owner of the component of the IoT device;
generating one or more domain name system (“DNS”) records for the component of the IoT device, the one or more DNS records comprising the authorization file and an authentication file that identifies a chain of ownership of the component of the IoT device; and
storing the one or more DNS records in a registry.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the qualified name is a domain name based on the name of the owner.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more DNS records comprises a DNS-Based Authentication of Named Entities (“DANE”) record and attribute record (TXT) that describes the attributes of the component of the IoT device, wherein the DNS-Based DANE record comprises a TLSA record or SMIMEA record.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more DNS records can be utilized to verify the authenticity of messages signed by the component of the IoT device.

5. The method of claim 1 , the method further comprising:
receiving, at the registration service, a request to transfer ownership of the component of the IoT device, wherein the request includes the ID of the device that is to be transferred, the name and public key of a new owner of the component of the IoT device and wherein the request is signed with the private key of the current owner of the component of the IoT device;
verifying the request with the public key of the current owner of the component of the IoT device; and
updating the one or more DNS records to reflect the change in ownership of the owner to the new owner.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein updating the one or more DNS records comprises updating the authentication file to associate the public key of the new owner with the component of the IoT device.

7. The method of claim 5 , the method further comprising:
determining a new qualified name for the component of the IoT device based on a name associated with the new owner of the component of the IoT device.

8. The method of claim 5 , the method further comprising:
creating one or more change name (“CNAME”) records in the DNS so as to redirect DNS lookups based on the name of a prior owner to the DNS entries for the new owner.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing instructions which, when executed on a processor, perform a method for establishing ownership of a component of an internet of things (“IoT”) device, the method comprising:
receiving, at a registration service, a request to register the component of the IoT device, the request comprising a public key of the component of the IoT device, an identifier of the component of the IoT device, and a public key of an owner of the component of the IoT device;
generating, via the registration service, an authorization file that includes rights information associated with the component of the IoT device;
determining a qualified name for the component of the IoT device based on a name associated with the owner of the component of the IoT device;
generating one or more domain name system (“DNS”) records for the component of the IoT device, the one or more DNS records comprising the authorization file and an authentication file that identifies a chain of ownership of the component of the IoT device; and
storing the one or more DNS records in a registry.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the qualified name is a domain name based on the name of the owner.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the one or more DNS records comprises a DNS-Based Authentication of Named Entities (“DANE”) record and attribute record (TXT) that describes the attributes of the component of the IoT device, wherein the DNS-Based DANE record comprises a TLSA record or SMIMEA record.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the one or more DNS records can be utilized to verify the authenticity of messages signed by the component of the IoT device.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , the method further comprising:
receiving, at the registration service, a request to transfer ownership of the component of the IoT device, wherein the request includes the ID of the device that is to be transferred, the name and public key of a new owner of the component of the IoT device and wherein the request is signed with the private key of the current owner of the component of the IoT device;
verifying the request with the public key of the current owner of the component of the IoT device; and
updating the one or more DNS records to reflect the change in ownership of the owner to the new owner.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein updating the one or more DNS records comprises updating the authentication file to associate the public key of the new owner with the component of the IoT device.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 , the method further comprising:
determining a new qualified name for the component of the IoT device based on a name associated with the new owner of the component of the IoT device.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 , the method further comprising:
creating one or more change name (“CNAME”) records in the DNS so as to redirect DNS lookups based on the name of a prior owner to the DNS entries for the new owner.

17. A system comprising:
one or more processors; and
memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, perform a method for establishing ownership of a component of an internet of things (“IoT”) device, the method comprising:
receiving, at a registration service, a request to register the component of the IoT device, the request comprising a public key of the component of the IoT device, an identifier of the component of the IoT device, and a public key of an owner of the component of the IoT device;
generating, via the registration service, an authorization file that includes rights information associated with the component of the IoT device;
determining a qualified name for the component of the IoT device based on a name associated with the owner of the component of the IoT device;
generating one or more domain name system (“DNS”) records for the component of the IoT device, the one or more DNS records comprising the authorization file and an authentication file that identifies a chain of ownership of the component of the IoT device; and
storing the one or more DNS records in a registry.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the qualified name is a domain name based on the name of the owner.

19. The system of claim 17 , wherein the one or more DNS records comprises a DNS-Based Authentication of Named Entities (“DANE”) record and attribute record (TXT) that describes the attributes of the compone

Assignees

• Verisign Inc

Inventors

• Yacoub Souheil Ben
• James Stephen Daniel

Classifications

• H04L63/12

  Applying verification of the received information (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for data integrity or data verification H04L9/32) · CPC title

• H04L63/102

  Entity profiles · CPC title

• H04L61/3025 Primary

  Domain name generation or assignment · CPC title

• H04W4/70

  Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC] · CPC title

• H04L67/12

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title