Computer readable storage medium for generating an access key, computer implemented method and computing device

1. A computer readable non-transitory storage medium having stored therein instructions, which when executed by a computing device cause the computing device to perform a method of generating an access key, the method comprising the steps of:

accessing an input value from a user;

calculating an asymmetric cryptographic key pair by applying a cryptographic one-way function to the input value, wherein the cryptographic key pair comprises a public key and a private key, wherein the cryptographic one-way function is an injective function;

generating the private key based on the input value; and

outputting the public key for providing the access key used as a pseudonym, associated with an identity of said user identity, wherein the association is not known to any third party.

2. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises the steps of depositing data into a database using the access key.

3. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 2 , wherein the method further comprises the step of generating a digital signature for the data using the private key, and wherein the digital signature is deposited into the database with the data.

4. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 3 , wherein the method comprises the step of verifying the authenticity of the data using the access key.

5. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 2 , wherein the access key is used as a pseudonym by the database.

6. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the input value is the private key.

7. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 6 , wherein the asymmetric cryptographic key pair is calculated by calculating the public key using the input value and a first base point using elliptic curve cryptography.

8. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the cryptographic one-way function comprises an embedding and/or randomizing function.

9. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises the steps of:

receiving a user-selected secret;

storing the user-selected secret in a memory;

computing the private key by applying an embedding and randomizing function onto the secret;

storing the private key in the memory, wherein the private key is the input value;

computing the public key using the private key using the cryptographic one-way function; and

erasing the secret and the private key from the memory.

10. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the embedding and randomization function comprises a binary Cantor pairing function for embedding the secret.

11. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the embedding and randomizing function is adapted for encrypting at least the secret using a symmetric cryptographic algorithm by means of a symmetric key for randomizing the secret.

12. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 9 , the embedding and randomizing function comprising encrypting at least the secret using AES by means of a user-specific symmetric key for embedding and randomizing the secret.

13. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the embedding and randomizing function comprises:

applying a first one-way function on the secret to provide a first value,

providing a random number,

embedding the random number and the first value by combining them to provide a combination,

applying a second one-way function on the combination to provide a second value, wherein the second value constitutes the private key.

14. The computer readable non-transitory storage medium of claim 13 , further comprising providing a set of domain parameters comprising a first base point for the elliptic curve cryptography, computing a first public key for providing a first access key by the elliptic curve cryptography using the domain parameters and the first base point, replacing the first base point by a second base point in the domain parameters, and computing a second public key by elliptic curve cryptography using the second base point to provide a second access key.

15. A computer implemented method of generating an access key, the method comprising the following steps executed on a processor:

accessing an input value from a user;

calculating an asymmetric cryptographic key pair by applying a cryptographic one-way function to the input value, wherein the cryptographic key pair comprises a public key and a private key, wherein the cryptographic one-way function is an injective function;

generating the private key based on the input value; and

outputting the public key for providing the access key used as a pseudonym associated with an identity of said user identity, wherein the association is not known to any third party.

16. A computing device comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the memory contains instructions for performing a method of generating an access key, the method comprising the following steps executed on a processor:

accessing an input value from a user;

calculating an asymmetric cryptographic key pair by applying a cryptographic one-way function to the input value, wherein the cryptographic key pair comprises a public key and a private key, wherein the cryptographic one-way function is an injective function;

generating the private key based on the input value; and

outputting the public key for providing the access key used as a pseudonym associated with an identity of said user identity, wherein the association is not known to any third party.

17. The computing device of claim 16 , wherein the computing device is one of: a cellular telephone, a smart card, a security token, a personal digital assistant, an RFID tag, and RFID card, a computer, and a computer system.

18. The computing device of claim 16 , wherein computing device comprises memory, wherein the input value is stored within the memory.

19. The computing device of claim 16 , wherein a user-selected secret is received from a user interface; and wherein the input value is derived from the user selected secret.

20. The computing device of claim 16 , wherein the computing device comprises:

a user interface for entering a user-selected secret,

a memory for storing the user-selected secret and a private key,

a processor operable for executing instructions stored in the memory, wherein the memory contains instructions for performing the steps of:

a) receiving a user-selected secret;

b) storing the user-selected secret in the memory;

c) computing a private key by applying an embedding and randomizing function onto the secret;

d) storing the private key in the memory, wherein the private key is the input value;

e) computing a public key using the private key using the cryptographic one-way function, the public key and the private key forming an asymmetric cryptographic key;

f) outputting the public key for providing the access key; and

g) erasing the secret and the private key from the memory.