Storing secret data on a blockchain
AssigneePolysign, Inc.
InventorsArthur Britto, David Schwartz, Zack Brunson, Lukas Stille, Arun Velagapalli, Nitin Mahendru, Kimon Papahadjopoulos
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Abstract
Systems, methods, and devices are provided that allow for high-availability, redundant, cryptographically secure storage of secret data and other data on a blockchain. In an embodiment, a plurality of shards of secret data are received from a user and encrypted with shard manager public keys. The encrypted shards are stored on an authoritative blockchain, allowing for secure storage and use of the secret data by the owner and/or the blockchain.
Claims18
A method of storing secret data on an authoritative blockchain, the method comprising:
- receiving a plurality of shards of secret data from a user, the plurality of shards being sufficient to construct the secret data;
- encrypting each shard of the plurality of shards with a public key of a public/private key pair to create a ciphertext of the shard, wherein each corresponding private key is known to a shard manager of the blockchain and not known to the user;
- and
- storing each ciphertext on the authoritative blockchain via a transaction submitted to the authoritative blockchain.
A method of storing an external secret on an authoritative blockchain, the method comprising:
- generating an import public/private key pair;
- receiving, by the blockchain, an import transaction comprising secret data encrypted with the public key of the import public/private key pair;
- and
- adding the import transaction to the blockchain.
A system for implementing an authoritative blockchain, comprising:
- a plurality of groups of HSMs, each group comprising one or more HSMs, each group operated and controlled by an independent validator entity, wherein each validator entity is separate and distinct from each other validator entity;
- a plurality of instructions encoded in each HSM in each group of HSMs that govern operation of the HSMs and specify criteria for use of data stored on the authoritative blockchain, wherein each validator entity is unable to access secret data stored according to the plurality of instructions on the respective HSMs operated and controlled by the each validator entity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.