US 12,143,480 B1
Systems and methods for distributing symmetric keys via a quantum-secure key depot
Peter Bordow, Fountain Hills, AZ (US); and Jeff J. Stapleton, O'Fallon, MO (US)
Assigned to Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., San Francisco, CA (US)
Filed by Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., San Francisco, CA (US)
Filed on Jun. 13, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/806,672.
Int. Cl. H04L 9/08 (2006.01); H04L 9/40 (2022.01)
CPC H04L 9/0855 (2013.01) [H04L 9/083 (2013.01); H04L 9/0869 (2013.01); H04L 63/08 (2013.01)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method comprising:
receiving, by communications hardware of a key depot device and via quantum key distribution (QKD), an entangled particles set, wherein a corresponding entangled particles set is received by a host device;
generating, by a secure key generator of the key depot device, an initial symmetric key based on the entangled particles set, wherein the initial symmetric key facilitates secure communication between the key depot device and the host device, the host device having also generated the initial symmetric key based on the corresponding entangled particles set;
receiving, by the communications hardware of the key depot device, seed data from the host device, wherein the seed data is encrypted using the initial symmetric key;
establishing, by the communications hardware of the key depot device, a connection to a client device;
generating, by key derivation circuitry of the key depot device, a first symmetric key based at least on a portion of the seed data;
causing transmission, by the communications hardware of the key depot device, of the first symmetric key to the client device;
generating, by key allocation circuitry of the key depot device, a key allocation indication, wherein the key allocation indication identifies an authentication target and comprises an indication of the generation of the first symmetric key, and wherein generating the key allocation indication comprises:
populating, by the key allocation circuitry of the key depot device, the key allocation indication using an indicator of the authentication target and contextual information relating to generation of the first symmetric key, and
encrypting, by data protection circuitry of the key depot device, the key allocation indication using the initial symmetric key prior to causing transmission of the key allocation indication to the host device; and
causing transmission, by the communications hardware of the key depot device, of the key allocation indication to the host device.