Granted Patent B1

US 10,320,569 · App. 15/968,720 · Granted Jun 11, 2019

Inventors: Christian T Wentz (Providence, RI); John William Stanton (New York, NY)

H04L9/3247H04L9/0643H04L9/30

Abstract

Claims (67)

1. A method of authenticating a digitally signed assertion using verified evaluators, the method comprising:

receiving, by a first processor coupled to a memory, at least a first digitally signed assertion;

identifying, by the first processor, at least a cryptographic evaluator of a plurality of cryptographic evaluators communicatively coupled to the first processor;

assigning, by the first processor, at least a confidence level to the at least a cryptographic evaluator, wherein assigning the at least a confidence level to the at least a cryptographic evaluator further comprises:

evaluating at least a second digitally signed assertion signed by a cryptographic evaluator of the at least a cryptographic evaluator; and

assigning a confidence level to the cryptographic evaluator as a function of the evaluation of the at least a second digitally signed assertion;

providing, by the first processor, the at least a first digitally signed assertion to the at least a cryptographic evaluator;

receiving, by the first processor and from the at least a cryptographic evaluator, at least an appraisal of the at least a first digitally signed assertion; and

authenticating, by the first processor, the at least a first digitally signed assertion as a function of the at least an appraisal and the at least a confidence level.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the at least a first digitally signed assertion further comprises receiving a temporally sequential listing of assertions containing the at least a first digitally signed assertion.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the temporally sequential listing includes a temporally ordered plurality of sub-listings, wherein each sub-listing of the temporally ordered plurality of sub-listing contains at least a digitally signed assertion.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the temporally sequential listing is immutable.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying the at least a first cryptographic evaluator further comprises identifying the first cryptographic evaluator among a plurality of cryptographic evaluators.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein:

the plurality of cryptographic evaluators is connected to the first processor via a network; and

identifying the at least a first cryptographic evaluator further comprises identifying at least a proximate cryptographic evaluator of the plurality of cryptographic evaluators in a graph representing the network.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein identifying the at least cryptographic evaluator further comprises identifying at least a geographically proximate cryptographic evaluator of the plurality of cryptographic evaluators.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein identifying the at least a cryptographic evaluator further comprises identifying a temporally proximate cryptographic evaluator.

9. The method of claim 5 , wherein the at least a cryptographic evaluator further comprises a plurality of cryptographic evaluators, and identifying plurality of cryptographic evaluator furthers comprises minimizing total communication latency.

10. The method of claim 5 , wherein identifying the at least a cryptographic evaluator further comprises:

establishing an aggregate confidence-level threshold;

determining confidence levels of one or more cryptographic evaluators of the plurality of cryptographic evaluators; and

identifying at least a cryptographic evaluator of the one or more cryptographic evaluators, the at least a cryptographic evaluator having an aggregate confidence level exceeding the aggregate confidence-level threshold.

11. The method of claim 5 , wherein identifying the at least a cryptographic evaluator further comprises:

generating a cost function of confidence level and communication latency; and

minimizing the cost function.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein assigning the at least a confidence level further comprises determining an identity of the at least a cryptographic evaluator, and assigning the confidence level as a function of the identity of the at least a cryptographic evaluator.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising determining a confidence level in the identity of the at least a cryptographic evaluator, and wherein assigning the at least a confidence level further comprises assigning the at least a confidence level as a function of the at least a confidence level in the identity.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein identifying the at least a cryptographic evaluator further comprises implementing a trusted third party scheme.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein identifying the at least a cryptographic evaluator further comprises implementing a direct anonymous authentication scheme.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein identifying the at least a cryptographic evaluator further comprises identifying a first cryptographic evaluator using a first identification protocol and identifying a second cryptographic evaluator using a second identification protocol, wherein the first identification protocol is distinct from the second identification protocol.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the first digitally signed assertion is contained in a temporally sequential listing of digitally signed assertions; and

the second digitally signed assertion is contained in the temporally sequential listing of digitally signed assertions.

18. The method of claim 12 further comprising determining that the at least a cryptographic evaluator is disinterested from the at least a first digitally signed assertion.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein assigning the at least a confidence level further comprises receiving a consensus evaluation of the at least a confidence level from a network of cryptographic evaluators.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein assigning the at least a confidence level further comprises

evaluating an assertion, in a temporally sequential listing of assertions, assigning a recorded confidence level to a cryptographic evaluator of the at least a cryptographic evaluator; and

assigning the confidence level as a function of the recorded confidence level.

21. The method of claim 1 , wherein assigning the at least a confidence level further comprises performing a trusted time evaluation of at least an action performed by the at least a cryptographic evaluator.

22. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the at least an appraisal further comprises receiving at least an appraisal of a temporally sequential listing of assertions containing the at least a first digitally signed assertion.

23. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the at least an appraisal further comprises receiving at least an appraisal of a digital signature of the at least a first digitally signed assertion.

24. The method claim 1 , wherein receiving the at least an appraisal further comprises receiving at least an appraisal of information contained in the at least a first digitally signed assertion.

25. The method of claim 1 , wherein authenticating the at least a first digitally signed assertion further comprises:

receiving, from the at least a cryptographic evaluator, an appraisal confidence level; and

authenticating the at least a first digitally signed assertion as a function of the appraisal confidence level.

26. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the at least a cryptographic evaluator further comprises a plurality of cryptographic evaluators;

the plurality of the cryptographic evaluators has a number of cryptographic evaluators; and

wherein authenticating the at least a first digitally signed assertion further comprises authenticating the at least a first digitally authentication as a function of the number of cryptographic evaluators.

27. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least a cryptographic evaluator further comprises a plurality of cryptographic evaluators, and wherein authenticating the at least a first digitally signed assertion further comprises:

determining an aggregate confidence level of the plurality of cryptographic evaluators; and

authenticating the at least a first digitally signed assertion as a function of aggregate confidence level.

28. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the at least a cryptographic evaluator includes a first cryptographic evaluator having a first confidence level and producing a first appraisal of the at least an appraisal and a second cryptographic evaluator having a second confidence level and producing a second appraisal of the at least an appraisal;

the first confidence level is different from the second confidence level; and

authenticating the at least a first digitally signed assertion further comprises weighting the first appraisal by the first confidence level and second appraisal by the second confidence level.

29. A system for authenticating a digitally signed assertion using a verified evaluator, the system comprising:

a first processor coupled to a memory, the first processor communicatively coupled to a plurality of cryptographic evaluators;

wherein the first processor is designed and configured to:

receive at least a first digitally signed assertion;

assign at least a confidence level to at least a cryptographic evaluator of the plurality of cryptographic evaluators, wherein assigning the at least a confidence level to the at least a cryptographic evaluator further comprises:

evaluating at least a second digitally signed assertion signed by a cryptographic evaluator of the at least a cryptographic evaluator; and

assigning a confidence level to the cryptographic evaluator as a function of the evaluation of the at least a second digitally signed assertion;

provide the at least a digitally signed assertion to the cryptographic evaluator;

receive, from the at least a cryptographic evaluator, at least an appraisal of the at least a first digitally signed assertion; and

authenticate the at least a first digitally signed assertion as a function of the at least an appraisal and the at least a confidence level.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (1)

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