AUTO-RECOVERABLE AUTO-CERTIFIABLE CRYPTOSYSTEMS

摘要

A method is provided for an escrow cryptosystem that is overhead-free, does not require a cryptographic tamper-proof hardware implementation (i.e., can be done in software), is publicly verifiable, and cannot be used subliminally to enable a shadow public key system. A shadow public key system is an unescrowed public key system that is publicly displayed in a covert fashion. The cryptosystem is overhead free since there is no additional protocol interaction between the user who generates his or her own key, and the certification authority or the escrow authorities (11, 12, 13) , in comparison to what is required to submit the public key itself in regular certified public key systems.