Cryptographic sealing for information secrecy and authentication

ABSTRACT

A new protection mechanism is described that provides general primitives for protection and authentication. The mechanism is based on the idea of sealing an object with a key. Sealed objects are self-authenticating, and in the absence of an appropriate set of keys, only provide information about the size of their contents. New keys can be freely created at any time, and keys can also be derived from existing keys with operators that include Key-And and Key-Or. This flexibility allows the protection mechanism to implement common protection mechanisms such as capabilities, access control lists, and information flow control. The mechanism is enforced with a synthesis of conventional cryptography, public-key cryptography, and a threshold scheme.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.4 OPERATING SYSTEMS
      D.4.6 Security and Protection
          Subjects: Access controls

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.4 OPERATING SYSTEMS
      D.4.6 Security and Protection
          Subjects: Cryptographic controls; Authentication; Information flow controls

  E. Data
  E.3 DATA ENCRYPTION
      Subjects: Public key cryptosystems

General Terms:
Security

Keywords:
conentional crypto-systems, cryptographic sealing, key, seal, secrecy, unseal