Controlling access to protected objects

1. A method of regulating access, by a server having a processor and a key store that stores a key, to an object encrypted with the key and stored on a device operated by a user, the method comprising:

executing, on the processor, instructions that cause the server to:

receive a request of a user to establish an assignment, to a particular device of a user, of an access privilege authorizing the particular device to access the object;

store a record of the assignment of the access privilege to the particular device of the user of the access privilege to access the object;

receive a request from the particular device to access the key;

verify that the access privilege requested by the user authorizes the particular device to access the object; and

responsive to verifying the access privilege:

generate a ticket granting access to the key and indicating the access privilege assigned to the particular device for access to the object, and

send the ticket to the particular device; and

responsive to receiving the ticket from the particular device:

verify the ticket, and

responsive to verifying the ticket, send the key to the particular device.

2. The method of claim 1 :

the server configured to store at least one credential of the user; and

wherein the instructions further cause the server to authenticate the user by:

receiving a submitted credential from the user, and

comparing the submitted credential with the at least one credential of the user.

3. The method of claim 2 , at least one credential of the user selected from a credential set comprising:

a secret known by the user;

a token possessed by the user;

a contact identifier whereby the user may be contacted; and

a biometric identifier identifying at least one physiological feature of the user.

4. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

generating the key, and

instructing the device to encrypt at least one object with the key.

5. The method of claim 1 , comprising: receiving from the device a key generated by the device and with which at least one object has been encrypted.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

the access privilege further specifies a component identifier establishing a component integrity of at least one component of the device; and

verifying the access specifically by the device to the object further comprising: verifying the component identifier establishing the component integrity of the at least one component of the device.

7. The method of claim 1 :

the ticket having a duration; and

verifying the ticket comprising: verifying the duration of the ticket.

8. The method of claim 1 :

the device having at least one device identifier;

the ticket specifying at least one device identifier of the device to which the ticket is issued; and

verifying the ticket comprising:

receiving at least one device identifier of the device, and

verifying that the ticket specifies at least one device identifier received from the device.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein executing the instructions further causes the server to, responsive to failing to identify the ticket received from the device:

re-authenticate the user;

re-verify that the access privilege establishes that the device is authorized to access the object; and

responsive to re-authenticating the user and re-verifying the access privilege:

generate a renewed ticket granting access to the key, and

send the renewed ticket to the device.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein executing the instructions further causes the server to, responsive to detecting an unauthorized access attempt relating to the object:

send to the device a request to encrypt the object with a second key; and

responsive to receiving the second key from the device, replace the first key in the key store with the second key.

11. A method of accessing objects on a device operated by a user and having a processor and a data store using a server having a key store, the method comprising:

executing on the processor instructions that cause the device to:

receive a key;

encrypt at least one object with the key to generate an encrypted object;

store the encrypted object in the data store;

send the key to the server;

responsive to a request to access the object:

submit to the server:

at least one credential authenticating the user, and

an identifier device identifier of the device; and

receiving a ticket from the server indicating an access privilege that has been assigned particularly to the device for accessing the object responsive to a request of the user of the device to establish an assignment of an access privilege, particular to the device, to authorize the device to access the object;

sending the ticket to the server; and

responsive to receiving a key from the server:

decrypting the encrypted object with the key to generate an unencrypted object, and

presenting the unencrypted object in response to the request.

12. The method of claim 11 , receiving the key comprising: receiving the key from the server.

13. The method of claim 11 :

the device comprising a biometric sensor configured to detect at least one biometric identifier of a user;

the at least one credential authenticating the user comprising a biometric identifier stored by the server and representing the user; and

submitting the at least one credential authenticating the user to the server comprising:

using the biometric sensor, detecting at least one biometric of the user, and

submitting the at last one biometric to the server for comparison with a corresponding biometric identifier of the user.

14. The method of claim 11 :

the device configured to test at least one device component of the device to generate a component integrity credential identifying a component integrity of the device component;

the access privilege assigned to the device further comprising a verified component integrity credential of the device stored by the server and representing a component integrity of the device component; and

submitting the access request of the device to the server comprising:

detecting at least one component integrity credential of at least one device component, and

submitting the at least one component integrity credential to the server for comparison with a corresponding verified component integrity credential.

15. The method of claim 11 :

the device comprising a secured data store; and

wherein executing the instructions further causes the device to:

responsive to receiving a key, store the key in the secured data store;

responsive to generating the unencrypted object, store the unencrypted object in the secured data store; and

responsive to receiving a request to perform an operation on the object:

verify the ticket, and

responsive to verifying the ticket, perform the operation on the object.

16. The method of claim 11 , the instructions configured to, after decrypting an encrypted object:

re-verify the ticket, and

responsive to failing to re-verify the ticket:

discard the key, and

discard the unencrypted object.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein executing the instructions further causes the device to, responsive to failing to re-verify the ticket:

resubmit at least one credential authenticating the user to the server, and

receive a renewed ticket from the server.

18. The method of claim 11 , wherein executing the instructions further causes the device to, responsive to detecting an unauthorized access attempt related to an object:

discard tickets, keys, and unencrypted objects associated with the object, and

report the unauthorized access attempt to the server.

19. The method of claim 11 , wherein executing the instructions further causes the device to, responsive to receiving from the server a request to encrypt the object with a second key:

generate a second key;

decrypt the object using the key;

encrypt the object using the second key to generate a second encrypted object;

store the second encrypted object in the data store; and

send the second key to the server.

20. A server that regulates access to an object encrypted with a key, the server comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing:

a key store for the key; and

instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the server to fulfill a request from a device of a user to access the key, wherein the request includes a trust identifier establishing that the user has authorized the device to access the object by:

receiving a request of a user to establish an assignment, to a particular device of the user, of an access privilege authorizing the particular device to access the object;

storing a record of the assignment of the access privilege to the particular device of the user of the access privilege to access the object;

verifying that the access privilege requested by the user authorizes the particular device to access the object;

responsive to verifying the access privilege:

generating a ticket granting access to the key and indicating the access privilege requested by the user for the particular device to access to the object, and

sending the ticket to the device; and

responsive to receiving the ticket from the device:

verifying the ticket, and

responsive to verifying the ticket, sending the key to the particular device.