Electrical computers and digital processing systems: support – Multiple computer communication using cryptography – Particular node for directing data and applying cryptography
Reexamination Certificate
2002-04-05
2004-03-23
Peeso, Thomas R. (Department: 2132)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: support
Multiple computer communication using cryptography
Particular node for directing data and applying cryptography
C713S155000, C713S156000, C713S168000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06711678
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention generally relates to the field of secure network communications. The invention relates more specifically to a method for pre-authenticating communications between a client and a middleware server in a network.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Recently, technology has been developed that allows for wireless devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), cell phones, and two-way pagers, to access computer networks; computer networks are no longer physically limited to a hard-wired environment. In the past, database or systems administrators for a computer network have been forced to work within the physical confines of a secure office computer network at a company or other organization. Access to a computer network through a wireless device allows the administrator to monitor and manage the computers within the network remotely. If the administrator does not happen to be physically near in the event of a crisis, then wireless access translates directly into a quicker response to problems and less downtime. This is extremely valuable to companies, such as banks, auction houses, brokerage firms, etc., which must keep their systems running uninterrupted in order to prevent a loss of revenue.
Thus, wireless devices provide an excellent solution to many old problems in systems and database administration, but they also introduce a new problem: how can communications within a network that includes wireless devices be kept secure? For a system or database to be administrated or managed remotely, communications within the network must be kept secure at all times and in all places to avoid a leak of confidential information. The difficulties of keeping a computer network secure are increased dramatically when wireless communications are allowed between computers within the network.
In the present state of the art in wireless communications, information is transmitted to and from a wireless device by electromagnetic radiation that will inevitably travel through public spaces. It is not desirable, and in some cases it may be a violation of law, for a company to allow public access to the information kept in its computer network. In addition, data must be transferred between a server inside, and a server outside a company's Intranet before it can be broadcast to a wireless device. Each connection must be secure to prevent unauthorized access to a secure computer network. Since private or confidential information may be kept in a computer within a secure computer network, it is extremely important that all communications within a network are secure.
Wireless devices present additional challenges to securing a computer network since they usually have fewer computing resources (e.g., processing power, memory, and bandwidth) available than do non-portable or handheld devices. Previous methods for securing a computer network have relied on algorithms that require a very fast processor or a long time to complete. Other methods have relied on a large amount of memory. The security methods used with non-wireless devices are not useful for securing a wireless device.
Currently, one of the most widely used methods for securing a computer network is with public key (also called “asymmetric”) encryption. The use of public key encryption, in which a secret key is securely exchanged between a client and a server using a public key, is so prevalent that most current versions of Web browsers, such as NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR or MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER, come preinstalled with “Certificates” for the most often visited “Certificate Authorities” on the Web.
Public key encryption is not well adapted for use within a computer network that includes wireless devices. Public key encryption is slow and difficult to implement in hardware. Public key encryption algorithms may run 10,000 times slower than a comparable private key (or “symmetric”) encryption algorithm. Even in the future, when wireless devices are built with the computational resources today available only for desktop computers, public key encryption methods would be undesirable. In part because of their wide use there are many known ways for circumventing public key encryption.
One serious vulnerability in the public key encryption method exists in a step of requesting and transferring a private key from an internal server to a client within a network. This vulnerability can be exploited by “hijacking” a private key request from the client to the internal server. The request is hijacked by an “impostor” server, a server that acts in place of the internal server intended for communication with the client. The impostor server sends its own private key back to the client, and subsequent communication between the client and the impostor server is carried out with that private key—the client has no way of knowing that the impostor server is not the internal server it had intended for communication, and all information transferred to the impostor server is available for inspection by the impostor server's owner, usually a competing or hostile company that has specifically targeted the client will engage in this kind of attack. Use of a public key encryption method, in this case, would make all of the confidential information transferred within the computer network directly available to that competitor.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a method for secure network communication between a client and an internal server. The method involves the use of a middleware server, which allows ill-performing and potentially insecure communications protocols to be off-loaded onto a more powerful machine running in a more secure environment, e.g., within a company's Intranet. There are three basic steps in the method: (1) using a middleware server for processing public key encrypted messages sent between the client and the internal server; (2) using the client and the internal server for processing private key encrypted messages sent between the client and the internal server; and (3) using the middleware server, relaying private key encrypted messages sent between the client and the internal server. The security of the method can be further improved in by adding the step of pre-authenticating the client with a server key by securely copying the server key from the middleware server to the client.
No particular private key encryption is necessary for the method of the present invention, and in different embodiments of the invention different private key (or symmetric) encryption algorithms may be used. Accordingly, an additional step of using algorithm identification information to specify a private key encryption algorithm used for processing private key encrypted messages sent between the client and the internal server may be implemented.
Connections requested by a client may not always be established. In an embodiment, the present invention also provides an optional step of using the middleware server to notify the client when a connection between the client and the internal server is not completed.
In an embodiment, a method for secure network communication between a client and an internal server using a middleware server, might be implemented with a set of steps that may include, but is not limited to the following set of steps. The steps do not necessarily have to be executed in the order specified below, and could be executed in a different order.
The method begins by using the middleware server to generate a server key. The server key is then stored in memory on the middleware server. The memory used for storing the server key might be a hard disk, floppy disk, read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), or some other form of memory designed to store digital information. The client is then pre-authenticated by securely copying the server key from the middleware server to the client, and by storing the server key in memory on the client. Subsequent communications between the client and the middleware server are carried out using the server key to encrypt and decrypt the communica
Expand Beyond Corporation
Gardner & Carton & Douglas LLP
Gurshman Grigory
Peeso Thomas R.
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