New patent: Auto-escrowable and auto-certifiable cryptosystems with fast key generation

[Bo Elkjaer]

Patent 6,243,466, granted june 5. 2001.

Auto-escrowable and auto-certifiable cryptosystems with fast key
generation 


Abstract
A method is provided for an escrow cryptosystem that is overhead-free,
does not require a cryptographic tamper-proof hardware implementation
(i.e., can be done in software), is publicly verifiable, and cannot be
used subliminally to enable a shadow public key system. A shadow public
key system is an unescrowed public key system that is publicly displayed
in a covert fashion. The keys generated by the method are auto-recoverable
and auto-certifiable (abbrev. ARC). The ARC Cryptosystem is based on a key
generation mechanism that outputs a public/private key pair, and a
certificate of proof that the key was generated according to the
algorithm. Each generated public/private key pair can be verified
efficiently to be escrowed properly by anyone. The verification procedure
does not use the private key. Hence, the general public has an efficient
way of making sure that any given individual's private key is escrowed
properly, and the trusted authorities will be able to access the private
key if needed. Since the verification can be performed by anyone, there is
no need for a special trusted entity, known in the art as a "trusted third
party". Furthermore, the system is designed so that its internals can be
made publicly scrutinizable (e.g., it can be distributed in source code
form). This differs from many schemes which require that the escrowing
device be tamper-proof hardware. The system has a novel feature that the
system parameters can be generated very efficiently and at the same time
provide a very high level of security. Another novel feature is a method
for making the certificates of recoverability publishable. The system is
applicable for law-enforcement, file systems, e-mail systems, certified
e-mail systems, and any scenario in which public key cryptography can be
employed and where private keys or information encrypted under public keys
need to be recoverable. 

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EOT