This invention relates to new methods for protecting vital information only
known to concerned parties such as password, PIN, or credit card number
transferred over a network from being cracked by wire-tapping or some other
means, or software products or contents (music, images, etc) distributed
across a network or written on CD-ROM from illegal usage or illegal
reproduction (piracy).
Background
In the prior art, vital information such as password, PIN, or credit card
number is transferred over a network with no encryption (as is) or with one of
published or proprietary encryption techniques, with key(s) (public key and
private key; the former is known to anybody, and the latter is known to each
of concerned parties only), or without keys (such as in proprietary one-time
password generator), which are considered to be mathematically very difficult
to crack (i.e., taking a great amount of time to find the original
information). This is also true for software products or contents (music,
images, etc) transferred across a network or written on CD-ROM (e.g.
protection is carried out through a CD key printed on a label of each CD-ROM
or no protection is provided at all) or other conventional media. Most of
regular commercial software products and contents CD-ROMs are protection-free
to allow the pirate business.
Such published encryption methods include:
- Cryptographic Apparatus
and Method (U.S. Patent No. 4,200,770),
- Public Key Cryptographic
Apparatus and Method (4,218,582),
- Exponentation cryptographic Apparatus
and Method (4,424,414),
- Cryprographic Communications System and Method
(4,405,829), and Method for Identifying Subscribers and for Generating and
Verifying Electronic Signatures in a Data Exchange System (4,995,082).
However, the prior art as such requires a great amount of computation in
encryption and decryption and may be subject to being cracked in some cases.
In addition, in order to improve security, the number of bits in a key must be
increased, which would further lengthen the computation time and complicate
the logic to implement the algorithm.
The information already known to concerned parties such as password, PIN,
or creadit card number need not be deciphered if the both parties use the same
encoding method.
Also, software products or contents can be protected from illegal usage or
illegal reproduction by attaching special information which is only enciphered
for the same reason as above when both manufactured and used.
Hence, this invention uses any theoretically undecipherable encoding method
based on the fractal theory to work around the possibility of being cracked,
while allowing concerned parties to share vital information or to use software
products or contents, with drastically shorter computation time and much
simpler logic to implement the algorithm. Disclosure of Invention The present
invention uses any theoretically undecipherable encoding method based on the
fractal theory. In general, any of such methods is used mainly for image
compression (because they were invented for such purpose), which are proved
not to be completely decoded (there is no way to restore complete original
images; Ref. Fractal Image Compression - Theory And Application, Editor
Yuval Fisher, published by Springer-Verlag, 1994). In the present invention,
this nature of the fractal encoding is applied to protecting vital/commercial
information from illegal usage or illegal reproduction, whereby only concerned
parties, who are permitted to know or use vital information, or software
products or contents, can apply the same method to encode the same information
to get the same result (there is no decoding process involved), while
providing no clues to this information to those not concerned, unless of
course they happen to know the vital information by some other means like a
simple guessing, eavesdropping, overlooking, or threatening any of which is
beyond the scope of the present invention.
THIS TYPE OF APPLICATION OF THE FRACTAL ENCODING METHODS TO THE PROTECTION
OF VITAL INNFORMATION/COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS IS TOTALLY NEW AND UNIQUE TO THE
PRESENT INVENTION.
Best Mode of Carrying Out the Invention
The present invention is provided as a software program such as a DLL. It
may also be implemented as a firmware. Several embodiments of the present
invention are disclosed herein.
First, vital information such as password, PIN, or credit card number
transferred over a network can be protected by using the same encoding method
based on fractal theory on both ends (sender and recipient). In this case,
vital information will be encoded along with other known information such as a
timestamp or a certain predefined one-time data to avoid anybody else's using
the encoded information as a valid transaction. This invention is useful for
user authentication, electronic banking, and electronic commerce. An example
follows:
(1) "Center" sends "Enter Password:"+timestamp to "Terminal".
(2) "Terminal" returns Password+timestamp encoded with the present
invention.
(3) "Center" encodes stored password+timestamp and checks if the received
encoded password + timestamp matches this encoded password+timestamp with the
present invention.
(4) If they match, password proves correct. Otherwise, password proves
incorrect.
Secondly, commercial software products or contents distributed across a
network can be protected from illegal usage (like as freeware) or illegal
reproduction (piracy) by a recipient, by using this encoding method to
generate media-unique information on the media where products or contents are
installed (downloaded). The generation of media-unique information may be
achieved upon registration or license provision (without it, the products or
contents should be disabled). An example follows:
(1) "User" downloads software products or contents from "Center" or "Home
Page", which are disabled when downloaded.
(2) Then "User" requests registration or license for the products or
contents.
(3) At this timing, media-unique information is generated with the present
invention, such as a DLL supplied by manufacturer.
(4) Now, software products or contents are enabled.
Thirdly, by using this method to write additional media-unique information,
say as TRACK00.CDA, when music or images are written on CD-ROM, only legally
obtained media can be used while prohibiting illegal reproduction to be made.
(Actually, reproduction can be made, but since media-unique information is
different from CD-ROM to CD-ROM, copied information will be considered invalid
by players which would implement the present invention.) In this case, the
standard pertaining to the CD-ROM format and the devices to play the contents
on CD-ROM may be affected. An example follows:
(1) "Manufacturer" writes media-unique information on CD-ROM with the
present invention as TRACK00.CDA along with the contents.
(2) "User"'s player checks if TRACK00.CDA contains valid information.
(3) If so, the contents (music, images, etc) can be played (legal CD-ROM).
Otherwise, the contents can not be played (illegal CD-ROM).
Industrial Applicability
The present invention of applying the fractal encoding methods for
protecting vital information/commercial products from illegal
usage/reproduction can be applied to user authentication, electronic banking,
electronic commerce, and software products/contents distribution over a
network, e.g., Internet. It can also be applied to authentication of contents
written on CD-ROM such as music and images.
Claims:
1. A new method for protecting vital information such as password, PIN, or
credit card number transferred over a network by using any fractal
theory-based undecipherable encoding method on both ends (sender and
recipient).
2. A new method for prohibiting illegal reproduction of software products
or contents distributed over a network by using any fractal theory-based
undecipherable encoding method on recipient side to write media-unique
information on the media where software products or contents are installed
(downloaded) upon registration or license provision. This encoding method will
be provided by sellers of software products or contents along with software
products or contents when downloaded.
3. A new method for prohibiting illegal reproduction of contents on CD-ROM
such as music or images by using any fractal theory-based undecipherable
encoding method to write media-unique information on the media upon
production. This will involve the alteration to the standard pertaining to the
CD-ROM format and the devices to play the contents on CD-ROM to handle this
additional information. Abstract New methods using any encoding method based
on the fractal theory, proved to be theoretically undecipherable, for
protecting vital information only known to concerned parties such as password,
PIN, or credit card number transferred over a network from being cracked by
wire-tapping or some other means, or software products or contents (music,
images, etc) distributed across a network or written on CD-ROM from illegal
usage or illegal reproduction (piracy). This invention is materialized as a
software program such as a DLL (dynamic link library), and may be implemented
as a firmware.
