US 11,757,625 B2
Multi-factor-protected private key distribution
Attila Vass, San Francisco, CA (US); Jochen Kornitzky, Berlin (DE); and Rolf Herken, San Francisco, CA (US)
Assigned to MINE ZERO GMBH, Berlin (DE)
Filed by MINE ZERO GmbH, Berlin (DE)
Filed on May 24, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/328,436.
Application 17/328,436 is a continuation of application No. 16/325,338, granted, now 11,018,855, previously published as PCT/US2017/047430, filed on Aug. 17, 2017.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/376,210, filed on Aug. 17, 2016.
Prior Publication US 2022/0006621 A1, Jan. 6, 2022
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. H04L 9/08 (2006.01); H04L 9/14 (2006.01); H04L 9/32 (2006.01)
CPC H04L 9/0825 (2013.01) [H04L 9/088 (2013.01); H04L 9/0863 (2013.01); H04L 9/14 (2013.01); H04L 9/3226 (2013.01); H04L 9/3242 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of enabling access to a PKI private key usable by a user's digital computing device operable to communicate with a digital communications network, to enable the user of the digital computing device to obtain secure access to a service or resource of a provider entity operable to communicate with the network, the method of enabling access comprising:
at the user's digital computing device, utilizing a plurality of secret inputs to compute first and second cryptographically secure hashes and a location reference;
transmitting a first of the secure hashes and the location reference from the user's device to an authentication server;
at the authentication server, utilizing the first secure hash and the location reference to look up an encrypted data item;
transmitting the encrypted data item and an encrypted cryptographic salt parameter to the user's device; and
at the user's device, decrypting the encrypted data item using the second secure hash, at least one of the plurality of secret inputs and the cryptographic salt parameter, so as to enable access to the PKI private key;
wherein the first secure hash is required to compute the location reference to the storage location of the encrypted data item.