Reports

A Real World Identity Management System with Master Secret Revocation

Androulaki, Elli; Vo, Binh D.; Bellovin, Steven Michael

Cybersecurity mechanisms have become increasingly important as online and offline worlds converge. Strong authentication and accountability are key tools for dealing with online attacks, and we would like to realize them through a token-based, centralized identity management system. In this report, we present a privacy-preserving group of protocols comprising a unique per user digital identity card, with which its owner is able to authenticate himself, prove possession of attributes, register himself to multiple online organizations (anonymously or not) and provide proof of membership. Unlike existing credential-based identity management systems, this card is revocable, i.e., its legal owner may invalidate it if physically lost, and still recover its content and registrations into a new credential. This card will protect an honest individual's anonymity when applicable as well as ensure his activity is known only to appropriate users.

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Academic Units
Computer Science
Publisher
Department of Computer Science, Columbia University
Series
Columbia University Computer Science Technical Reports, CUCS-008-10
Published Here
July 12, 2010