Abstract:
A method and system is disclosed for utilizing an ephemeral encryption or decryption agent so as to preclude access by the ephemeral encryption agent or decryption agent, respectively, to the information being ephemerally encrypted or decrypted. To preclude access by the ephemeral encryption agent, a blinding function is applied to the information prior to forwarding such information to the encryption agent for encryption. To preclude access to the information by the ephemeral decryption agent, a blinding function is applied to the encrypted information prior to forwarding the encrypted information to the decryption agent for decryption. Once the information has been returned, the information is unblinded, leaving an encrypted or decrypted message respectively.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     Not Applicable  
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
       [0002]     Not Applicable  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     The present invention pertains to protecting data in computer networks and more particularly, to a method and system for protecting data such that the data is made unrecoverable after a predetermined finite period of time, or when desired.  
         [0004]     In recent years, individuals and businesses have increasingly employed computer and telecommunications networks, such as the World Wide Web (WWW), to store and access data remotely and to send and receive messages via e-mail or instant messaging services. Typically when a user remotely accesses data or sends a message or data to another computer, the data or message is sent through one or more intermediate systems within the network where the data is temporarily written to memory or data storage devices associated with those intermediate systems. The memory and data storage devices of the intermediate systems and the communications lines within the network are susceptible to the malicious actions of a third party in which the messages or data may be intercepted or otherwise accessed. To prevent these messages or data from being improperly accessed, various data encryption methods have been developed to prevent a third party from being able to access the clear data or message even if the data or message is intercepted or otherwise accessed. Some encryption methods are also used for integrity checking and/or authentication of a message or data by allowing a user to determine whether the message or data has been altered, while authentication allows a a user to verify the source of a message.  
         [0005]     While encryption protects encrypted data from being understood by someone not in possession of the decryption key, the longer such encrypted information is stored, the greater potential there may be for such a key to fall into the wrong hands. For example, key escrows are often maintained which keep records of keys. Such records may be stored for convenience in order to recover encrypted data when a key has been lost, for law enforcement purposes, to permit the police to eavesdrop on conversations regarding criminal activities, or for business management to monitor the contents of employee communications.  
         [0006]     In existing systems, there are various events that may result in a message remaining stored beyond its usefulness to a receiving party. First, there is no guarantee that a receiver of an encrypted message will promptly delete it after it has been read. Additionally, electronic mail and other types of messages may automatically be “backed-up” to a secondary storage system, either at the destination system or within one or more of the intermediate systems through which the e-mail has passed. These back-up copies are stored for often indeterminate times, and are outside the control of the message originator. Thus, it is apparent that even under ordinary circumstances, a message may remain in existence well beyond its usefulness, and that, as discussed above, such longevity may result in the privacy of the message being compromised. There is no way to guarantee that all copies of the data are deleted. However, if the data is encrypted, all that is necessary to ensure that the data is unrecoverable is to ensure that the decryption key is destroyed.  
         [0007]     Existing systems for secure communications, such as the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol, provide for authenticated, private, real-time communications. In the SSL protocol, a server system generates a short-term public/private key pair that is certified as authentic using a long-term private key belonging to the server. The client uses the short-term public key to encrypt a symmetric key for use during the session. The server periodically changes its short-term private key, discarding any previous versions. This renders any records of previous sessions established using the former short-term public key unrecoverable. Such a system is sometimes referred to as providing “perfect forward secrecy”. These existing systems, however, provide no mechanism for setting or determining a finite “lifetime”, in terms of decryptability, for stored encrypted data or messages independent of a real-time communications session.  
         [0008]     Ephemeral encryption has been developed to ensure that ephemeral keys, i.e., encryption and decryption key pairs that have a predetermined lifetime, are securely created, maintained, and destroyed by ephemeral agents (“ephemerizers”). Ephemerizers create, manage, and destroy encryption keys in a secure manner that prevents the keys from existing beyond the predetermined lifetime. In general, an ephemerizer is able to provide ephemeral encryption and decryption services to many users so as to amortize the cost of managing the ephemeral key pairs over the many users.  
         [0009]     Previous methods of ephemeral encryption require authentication of the client and the ephemerizer, which is computationally intensive. In addition, authentication requires that the ephemerizer see either the clear-text or the message encrypted with the long term key of the user. If another party than the intended user is able to obtain the message encrypted with the long term key of the user, then the other party can store this encrypted message and decrypt it at a later time when the long term key of the user may become available due to theft or coercion.  
         [0010]     It would be desirable therefore to have a system in which data has a finite lifetime and in which during the finite lifetime only the authorized user can make use of the ephemerizer to obtain either a clear-text message or a message encrypted with the long term key of the user. The encrypted message should be effectively protected after the ephemeral key is destroyed, assuming the authorized user protected the long term key during the lifetime of the ephemeral key and kept no copies of the message except for copies encrypted with the ephemeral key.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0011]     In accordance with the present invention, a method and system for performing blinded ephemeral encryption/decryption is disclosed. The presently disclosed system and method enables a user to encrypt a message in a way that ensures that the message cannot be decrypted after a finite period and in such a way that the encryption/decryption agent does not gain access to the message or to a message encrypted with the long term secret key. The encrypted message that will become unrecoverable is referred to herein as an ephemeral message. The ephemeral message is encrypted using an ephemeral key associated with an ephemeral encryption/decryption agent forming an encrypted ephemeral message. To decrypt the encrypted ephemeral message, the encrypted ephemeral message is blinded by a node and communicated to the ephemerizer. The ephemerizer decrypts the blinded encrypted ephemeral message using the ephemeral decryption key and returns the blinded ephemeral message to the node. The node then unblinds the blinded ephemeral message to obtain the original ephemeral message. The ephemeral message may be encrypted without the cooperation of an ephemeral encryption agent by using a public key of a public/private key pair such as an RSA encryption key (e,n) or a Diffie-Hellman key (g x ,p) that is associated with the ephemeral agent. Alternatively, the ephemeral message is encrypted with the cooperation of the ephemeral agent where the ephemeral agent maintains a secret encryption and decryption key. In this instance, the ephemeral message is blinded prior to providing the ephemeral message to the ephemerizer to be encrypted and unblinded upon being returned to the originating node. The above-described blinding process may be performed via any mathematical operations by which pairs of functions that are inverses of one another are used to encrypt/decrypt and to blind/unblind the message and can be performed in any order. In the descriptions that follow, it should be understood that the first node and second node may be the same node and the ephemeral message is encrypted and securely stored and later retrieved by the first node for decryption.  
         [0012]     The ephemerizer is able to create ephemeral encryption and decryption keys that can be irretrievably deleted. The ephemeral decryption keys can be irretrievably deleted in response to upon the occurrence of a specified event such as a the occurrence of a predetermined expiration date, in response to a demand by a user to delete the ephemeral key, or any other suitable event. In the case when the ephemeral encryption key is a secret encryption function, the ephemeral encryption keys can be irretrievably deleted as well. The ephemerizer provides these ephemeral encryption keys to a user, manages the secure storage and maintenance of the ephemeral encryption and decryption keys, and manages the destruction of these keys when necessary. The ephemeral encryption and decryption keys may be public/private key pairs or secret symmetric encryption/decryption key pairs. A user is able to select an appropriate ephemeral encryption key based on the expiration date or other data provided such as the cryptographic strength of the key. In addition, a user may request an ephemerizer provide a custom key having particular qualities such as a particular expiration date and/or cryptographic strength.  
         [0013]     In one embodiment, a first node that desires to employ blinded decryption of an encrypted ephemeral message that may be communicated to a second node encrypts a clear message with an ephemeral encryption key, forming an encrypted ephemeral message. The ephemeral encryption key is associated with a key ID and is managed by the ephemeral decryption agent. The first node encrypts a clear-text message using an ephemeral public key (e,n) of an RSA public/private pair held by the ephemeral decryption agent, where the ephemeral decryption agent maintains as a secret key the corresponding private RSA key (d,n), and where the public/private key pair has a corresponding key ID. The key ID can be the public key, an expiration date, or other indicia of identification used by the ephemeral decryption agent to uniquely identify the public/private key pair. The first node ephemerally encrypts the message M by raising M to the power e mod n, to get M e  mod n. The encrypted ephemeral message is securely provided to the second node along with the key ID, which does not have to be securely provided. The message can be securely provided by encrypting the ephemerally encrypted message by further encrypting the ephemerally encrypted message with the public key of the second node or with a secret key known only the first and second nodes.  
         [0014]     To securely decrypt the encrypted ephemeral message, the second node selects a blinding number R, which can be a randomly generated number, and determines the multiplicative inverse of R as R −1  that satisfies R*R −1 =1 mod n and blinds the encrypted ephemeral message using R by raising R to the power e mod n, R e  mod n, and multiplying this result by the encrypted message M, forming a first blinded encrypted ephemeral message (R e *M e ) mod n. The second node provides the first blinded encrypted ephemeral message and the ephemeral key ID to an ephemeral decryption agent that decrypts the first blinded encrypted ephemeral message by applying the ephemeral RSA private key (d,n) corresponding to the ephemeral key ID of the public/private key pair by raising the first blinded encrypted ephemeral message to the power d mod n, (R e  mod n) d  mod n(M e  mod n) d  mod n, forming a second blinded ephemeral message R*M mod n. The second blinded ephemeral message is returned to the second node and the second node operates on the second blinded ephemeral message by multiplying the second blinded message by the multiplicative inverse of R, i.e., R −1  mod n, to form the original clear message, M.  
         [0015]     In another embodiment, a first node that desires to employ blinded decryption of a message that may be communicated to a second node, encrypts a clear message with an ephemeral encryption key, forming an encrypted ephemeral message. The ephemeral encryption key is a published Diffie-Hellman public key of an ephemeral decryption agent having an ephemeral key ID and is of the form g x  mod p, where g and p are publicly known and x is maintained as a secret by the ephemeral decryption agent. The ephemeral key ID can be the public key, an expiration date, or other indicia of identification used by the ephemeral decryption agent to uniquely identify the public/private key pair. The first node selects a number y, which may be a randomly generated number, and raises the public key of the third party to the power y, resulting in g xy  mod p. The first node also computes and saves the value of g y  mod p. The first node uses g xy  mod p as an encryption key to encrypt the desired information and keeps the message encrypted with g xy  mod p and the value g y  mod p, but discards y and g xy . The first node securely communicates the encrypted ephemeral message and the value of g y  mod p to the second node. In addition, the ephemeral key ID is also provided, but does not have to be securely provided. Later to securely recover the encrypted ephemeral message, the second node selects a blinding function z, computes the exponentiative inverse of z as z −1 , and raises g y  mod p to the power z resulting in g yz  mod p. The blinded key g yz  mod p and the key ID are provided to the ephemeral decryption agent that raises the blinded function g yz  mod p to the power x resulting in g xyz  mod p. The function g xyz  mod p is provided to the second node and g xyz  mod p is raised to the power z −1  mod p by the second node to obtain g xy  mod p. The decryption is accomplished by the second node using g xy  mod p since this was the encryption key used by the first node to encrypt the data.  
         [0016]     In another embodiment, a first node that desires to employ blinded decryption of a message that may be communicated to a second node, encrypts a clear message with an ephemeral encryption key, forming an encrypted ephemeral message. In this embodiment, the first node requires the cooperation of an ephemeral encryption/decryption agent to encrypt the clear message. The ephemeral encryption/decryption agent maintains a secret encryption key, x, and a secret decryption key that is the exponentiative inverse of x. To encrypt the clear message, the first node selects a number R, which may be randomly generated, and computes the exponentiative inverse R −1  that satisfies R*R −1 =1 mod p-1 and selects an ephemeral key having an ephemeral key ID. To blind the clear message M, the first node raises the clear message M to the number R to obtain M R  mod p. The first node provides the blinded ephemeral message M R  mod p and the ephemeral key ID to the ephemeral encryption/decryption agent that encrypts the blinded ephemeral message with the encryption key x by raising the blinded message to the power x mod p, M Rx  mod p and returns the blinded encrypted ephemeral message to the first node. The first node unblinds the encrypted ephemeral message by raising M Rx  mod p to the previously calculated exponentiative inverse R −1  mod p to obtain the encrypted ephemeral message M x  mod p. The first node securely communicates the encrypted ephemeral message and the ephemeral key ID to the second node. To decrypt the encrypted ephemeral message, the second node selects a blinding number j, which may be randomly generated, and computes the exponentiative inverse of j as j −1 . The node raises the encrypted ephemeral message M x  mod p to the power j mod p to obtain M xj  mod p. The blinded encrypted ephemeral message M xj  mod p and the ephemeral key ID are provided to the ephemeral encryption/decryption agent, where the ephemeral encryption/decryption agent decrypts the blinded encrypted ephemeral message using the decryption key that is the previously calculated exponentiative inverse x −1  mod p and corresponds to the ephemeral key ID. The ephemeral encryption/decryption agent raises the blinded encrypted ephemeral message M xj  mod p to the power x −1  mod p to obtain the blinded ephemeral message M j  mod p. The blinded ephemeral message is returned to the second node and unblinded using the previously calculated exponentiative inverse, mod p, of j, j −1  mod p, by raising the blinded message to the power j −1  mod p to obtain the clear message M.  
         [0017]     In the embodiments described above, to securely transmit the message to Node B, Node A may encrypt the encrypted ephemeral message with the public key of Node B and transmit the doubly encrypted message to Node B. Alternatively, Node A may encrypt the encrypted message using a secret key known only to Node A and Node B. In another alternative, Node A provides the message to Node B such that only Node B receives the message, e.g., by hand delivering the encrypted message to Node B. Alternatively, Node A  12  may also securely store the ephemerally encrypted message, for example by encrypting the data a second time using Node A&#39;s public key or a secret key known only to Node A, wherein the secret key is not stored together with the encrypted message.  
         [0018]     Other features, aspects and advantages of the above-described method and system will be apparent from the detailed description of the invention that follows. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING  
       [0019]     The invention will be more fully understood by reference to the following detailed description of the invention in conjunction with the drawing of which:  
         [0020]      FIG. 1   a  shows an ephemeral key pair list;  
         [0021]      FIG. 1   b  is a block diagram depicting a system operative in a manner consistent with the present invention;  
         [0022]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram depicting typical nodes within the system illustrated in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0023]      FIG. 3  is a flow diagram depicting a method for performing blinded decryption in the system depicted in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0024]      FIGS. 4   a  and  4   b  are a flow diagram depicting a method for performing blinded encryption and decryption in the system depicted in  FIG. 1 ; and  
         [0025]      FIGS. 5   a  and  5   b  are a flow diagram depicting a method for performing blinded decryption in the system depicted in  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0026]     A system and method in accordance with the present invention for performing ephemeral encryption and decryption so as to preclude access to the information being encrypted and/or decrypted and to preclude access to unauthorized users of the information encrypted with long term encryption key of the user by the ephemeral encryption/decryption agent is disclosed.  
         [0027]     It is well-known how to compute exponentiative inverses mod a prime p. As used herein, exponentiative inverses are numbers x and x −1  such that any number (K x ) x     −1    mod p=K. The exponentiative inverse, mod p, of x is computed as the multiplicative inverse of x mod p- 1 , where p is a prime number. We use {M}K to denote a message M encrypted with a key K. When we use the term “p” in mod p arithmetic, p is a prime.  
         [0028]     As shown in  FIG. 1   a,  an ephemeral key pair list  10  includes a number of ephemeral key pairs  12 . Each ephemeral key pair can include a public key  14  and a corresponding private key  16 , or a secret encryption key  14  and a corresponding secret decryption key  16 . An expiration time  18 , a Key ID  20 , and other data  22 , such as the cryptographic strength of the key are associated with each ephemeral key pair. The public key  14  of an ephemeral key pair, the associated expiration time  18 , the Key Id  20 , and other information such as the key strength may be read and used by parties wishing to use an ephemeral public key pair  12 . For security reasons, the secret encryption keys are maintained in secret, however, a party wishing to select a secret encryption key may select the key based on the expiration date and other data such as the cryptographic strength of the key. Encryption using a secret encryption key will be explained in more detail below. Thus, the secret encryption key  14  and the secret decryption key and private key  16  of each ephemeral key is accessible only to the ephemerizer. If each ephemeral key pair has a unique expiration date, the expiration date may also be used as the key ID.  
         [0029]     As in conventional encryption techniques, data encrypted using one of the secret encryption keys  14  can only be decrypted using the corresponding secret decryption key  16  from the same ephemeral key pair. Similarly, as in conventional public encryption techniques, data encrypted using one of the public keys  14  can only be decrypted using the private key  16  from the same ephemeral key pair. Each of the ephemeral key pairs  12  represents a promise by the publisher of the ephemeral key pair list  12  to irretrievably destroy the ephemeral key pair.  
         [0030]     In addition to the established and published public and secret ephemeral keys, a user may request an ephemerizer create an ephemeral key having specific characteristics. For example, a user may require a specific expiration date and/or a key having a specified minimal cryptographic strength. In these cases, the ephemerizer creates a new key for the user based on the user specifications and promises to destroy the ephemeral key pair at the associated expiration time.  
         [0031]     Ideally, the ephemerizer keys, whether secret or private, can be generated and stored on tamper-proof smart cards that prevent copies of the encryption and/or decryption keys to be made. The complete physical wiping and deletion of the smart card memory or the physical destruction of the smart card and associated memory ensures that the key is irretrievably deleted and that no other copies of the ephemeral key exists.  
         [0032]     In general, in the instance of using an ephemeral public/private ephemeral key to encrypt an ephemeral message, only the private ephemeral key, i.e., the key necessary to decrypt the encrypted ephemeral message, can be irretrievably deleted in response to a predetermined event such as upon the arrival of a predetermined expiration date and time, in response to a demand by a user to delete the ephemeral decryption key, or any other suitable event. In the event that an ephemeral Diffie-Hellman key is used to encrypt an ephemeral message only the secret x of the g x  mod p key is needed to be irretrievably deleted. As above, the value x can be irretrievably deleted in response to a predetermined event such as the arrival of a predetermined expiration date and time, in response to a demand by a user to delete the ephemeral decryption key, or any other suitable event. In the event that secret ephemeral encryption/decryption keys are used to encrypt and decrypt an ephemeral message, both the secret encryption and decryption keys must be irretrievably deleted. As above, the secret ephemeral encryption/decryption keys can be irretrievably deleted in response to a predetermined event such as the arrival of a predetermined expiration date and time, in response to a request by a user to delete the ephemeral decryption key, or any other suitable event.  
         [0033]     Referring to  FIG. 1   b,  the system includes a first node, Node A  12 , a second node, Node B  14 , a third node, Node C  16 , and optionally, an Anonymizer node  18 . Node A  12 , Node B  14 , Node C  16 , and the Anonymizer Node  18  are communicably coupled via a Network  10 , such as a wide area network, a local area network, or a global communications network such as the Internet. Either Node A  12  or Node B  14  are operative to generate a message or to obtain a message that is to be encrypted such that a third party is required to decrypt the message. In the present context, the term “message” is used generally to refer to any information that is desired to be encrypted and later decrypted and may be securely stored at Node A  12  or securely communicated from Node A  12  to Node B  14 . Node C  16  comprises an ephemeral decryption agent  16  (“ephemerizer”) that is employed in the retrieval of the encrypted message from Node A  12  or Node B  14  and in some embodiments the ephemerizer may be involved in the encryption of the message as well. The function of the Anonymizer  18  is subsequently discussed.  
         [0034]     As described herein, the present system provides a mechanism by which a message may be stored for Node A  12  or communicated to Node B  14  while requiring the involvement of the ephemerizer in the decryption process and in some embodiments in the encryption process as well. The present system prevents the ephemerizer  16  from obtaining access to the information contained within the encrypted message and to information encrypted with the long term encryption key of the user.  
         [0035]     As discussed in more detail below, the techniques of blind encryption and/or blind decryption render the need to authenticate the two parties moot. The ephemerizer does not need to know on whose behalf it is performing the ephemeral encryption or decryption. As known in the art, an Anonymizer node substitutes its address as the source address in place of the source address of the originating node. In this manner, the destination node, i.e. Node C  16 , obtains no information regarding the identity of the party (Node A  12 ) requesting assistance in the decryption process. Accordingly, since the identity of the parties is not a requirement, an extra level of security may be obtained in the embodiments that follow through the use of an Anonymizer node to hide the actual identities.  
         [0036]     In addition, the secret decryption keys, and secret encryption keys when used, which are maintained by the ephemerizer  16 , comprise ephemeral keys that become inaccessible after a predetermined time, upon the occurrence of some predetermined condition, or upon demand. In the event that ephemeral keys are employed by the ephemerizer, the message M will only be accessible to Node A  12  or Node B  14  if presented to the ephemerizer  16  within the time frame in which the respective ephemeral key maintained at the ephemerizer  16  is valid.  
         [0037]     As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , Nodes A  12 , B  14 , the ephemerizer  16 , and the Anonymizer node  18  typically include a processor  100  that is operative to execute programmed instructions out of an instruction memory  102 . The instructions executed in performing the functions herein described may comprise instructions stored within program code considered part of an operating system  104 , instructions stored within program code considered part of an application  106 , or instructions stored within program code allocated between the operating system  104  and the application  106 . The memory  102  may comprise Random Access Memory (RAM), or a combination of RAM and Read Only Memory (ROM). Nodes A  12 , B  14 , the ephemerizer  16  and the Anonymizer node  18  each typically include a network interface  110  for coupling the respective node to the network  10 . Nodes A  12 , B  14 , the ephemerizer  16  and the Anonymizer node  18  may optionally include a secondary storage device  108  such as a disk drive, a tape drive or any other suitable secondary storage device.  
         [0038]     A method for performing blind ephemeral decryption of a message generated at Node A  12  and ephemerally encrypted in a manner consistent with the present invention is depicted in the flow diagram of  FIG. 3 . Referring to  FIG. 3 , Node A  12  generates or obtains a clear message M. Node A  12  selects an ephemeral RSA public key (e,n) published by the ephemerizer that includes a corresponding unique key ID. Node A  12  selects the particular ephemeral key based on the key expiration date or other provided data such as the cryptographic strength of the key. As discussed above, Node A  12  may also request a custom ephemeral key from the ephemerizer if none of the published keys meet its criteria. Node A  12  then encrypts M with the selected ephemeral RSA public key of the ephemerizer  16  as depicted in step  300  to obtain an ephemerally encrypted message W=M e  mod n. Ephemeral encryption in this embodiment is performed without the cooperation of an encryption agent since encryption is performed using one of the published public keys (e,n) of the ephemerizer.  
         [0039]     After node A  12  encrypts M with the selected one of the published RSA keys of the ephemerizer, Node A  12  securely transmits the ephemerally encrypted message along with the Key ID, which does not have to be securely transmitted, corresponding to the selected ephemeral key to Node B, as depicted in step  301 . To securely transmit the message to Node B, Node A may encrypt the encrypted ephemeral message with the public key of Node B and transmit the doubly encrypted message to Node B. Alternatively, Node A may encrypt the encrypted message using a secret key known only to Node A and Node B. In another alternative, Node A provides the message to Node B such that only Node B receives the message, e.g., by hand delivering the encrypted message to Node B. Alternatively, Node A  12  may also securely store the ephemerally encrypted message, for example by encrypting the data a second time using Node A&#39;s public key or a secret key known only to Node A, wherein the secret key is not stored together with the encrypted message. In addition, Node A stores the key ID corresponding to the selected ephemeral public key of the ephemerizer. In the description that follows, Node A retrieves the securely stored message and decrypts the stored data performing the steps described below in place of Node B.  
         [0040]     To decrypt the securely transmitted ephemerally encrypted message W, Node B  14  first decrypts the encrypted ephemeral message, if appropriate, using Node B&#39;s private key or the secret key that Node B shares with Node A to obtain the ephemerally encrypted message. To decrypt the ephemerally encrypted message W. Node B blinds W with a number R having a multiplicative inverse R −1  that satisfies R*R −1 =1 mod n. Using the published ephemeral RSA public key (e,n) of the ephemerizer corresponding to the key ID provided by Node A  12 , Node B  14  raises R to the power e mod n forming R e  mod n and multiplies this result with the encrypted value W, as shown in step  302  to obtain a blinded value X=(R e *M e ) mod n. As shown in step  304 , Node B  14  communicates the blinded value X and the key ID received from Node A  12  to the ephemerizer  16  via the Network  10 . Following receipt of the value X, the ephemerizer  16  decrypts X with the ephemeral RSA private key (d,n) of the ephemerizer, corresponding to the key ID provided by Node B  14 , by raising X to the power d mod n, leaving a blinded message M*R, as depicted in step  306 .  
         [0041]     The ephemerizer  16  forwards the blinded message M*R to Node B  14  as depicted in step  308 . Node B  14  unblinds M*R by multiplying by the multiplicative inverse of R, R −1  mod n to obtain the original message M as illustrated in step  310 .  
         [0042]     The blinding number R and its multiplicative inverse R −1  mod n must be suitable for use with the RSA public/private keys described above such that the blinding number is interleaved with the encrypted message and does not change the message when the decryption and unblinding functions are applied to the blinded encrypted message. Accordingly, R must be of a suitable length and may be randomly generated.  
         [0043]     Another method for performing the blind decryption of a message using an ephemeral Diffie-Hellman public key published by ephemerizer  16  of the form g x  mod p is depicted in the flow diagram of  FIGS. 4   a  and  4   b  (collectively referred to as  FIG. 4 ). Referring to  FIG. 4 , Node A  12  generates or obtains a clear message M. An ephemerizer  16 , publishes one or more ephemeral public Diffie-Hellman encryption keys, each key corresponding to a unique key ID. The published ephemeral keys are in the form g x  mod p, where the base, g, and the modulus, p, are both publicly available. The ephemerizer maintains x as a secret key, as depicted in step  402 . To encrypt the clear message M, Node A selects a first number y, which may be randomly generated, and selects one of the published ephemeral keys (g x  mod p). Node A  12  raises the selected ephemeral public key to the power y mod p to form a second number, g xy  mod p, as depicted in step  404 . Node A then encrypts the clear message M with the key g xy  mod p to form an encrypted message, {M}g xy  mod p. In addition, Node A  12  raises the base g to the power y mod p. Node A then saves the encrypted message {M}g xy  mod p, the key ID and/or key expiration date corresponding to the selected ephemeral key, and the value g y  mod p and discards y and g xy  mod p, as depicted in step  406 . If the message is intended to be received by a second node, Node A then securely transmits the encrypted message {M}g xy  mod p, and further transmits, securely or not, the key ID and/or key expiration date, and g y  mod p to Node B  14  as depicted in step  407 . To securely transmit the message to Node B, Node A may encrypt the encrypted message with the public key of Node B and transmit the doubly encrypted message to Node B. Alternatively, Node A may encrypt the encrypted message using a secret key known only to Node A and Node B. In another alternative, Node  12  A securely provides the message to Node B  14  such that only Node B receives the message, e.g., by hand delivering the encrypted message to Node B. For decryption purposes, Node B first decrypts the received message if appropriate using Node B&#39;s private key or the secret key if used to securely send the message to Node B. To decrypt the ephemerally encrypted message W, Node B selects a blinding number z, and computes the exponentiative inverse z −1 , as depicted in step  408 . Node B raises the value g y  to the power z mod p to blind g y  mod p to form g yz  mod p, as depicted in step  410 . Node B provides g yz  mod p and the key ID to the decryption agent. The decryption agent then raises the value of g zy  mod p to the power x mod p, with the x corresponding to the key ID, to form g xyz  mod p, as depicted in step  411 . The decryption agent then provides g xyz  mod p to Node B as depicted in step  412 . Node B raises the value g xyz  mod p to the power of the exponentiative inverse function z −1  to form g xy  mod p as depicted in step  414 . Node B then uses the value g xy  to decrypt the encrypted message, as depicted in step  416 .  
         [0044]     In the above-described embodiment the first number and blinding number, y and z, respectively, can be independently selected integer random numbers and are kept secret. The size of the integer random numbers should be sufficiently large to withstand a cryptoanlytical attack by the decryption agent or some other party.  
         [0045]     Another method for performing the blind ephemeral encryption and decryption of a message by Node A  12  is depicted in the flow diagram of  FIGS. 5   a  and  5   b  (collectively referred to as  FIG. 5 ). In this embodiment, the ephemerizer computes secret ephemeral encrypting functions and secret ephemeral decrypting functions that are inverses of one another to ephemerally encrypt and decrypt the message respectively. Typically, the encryption/decryption functions are a number x and the exponentiative inverse x −1  and correspond to a unique key ID. To encrypt the message M, M is raised to the power x mod p forming M x  mod p and to decrypt the message, the encrypted message M x  mod p is raised to the power x −1  mod p leaving M.  
         [0046]     Referring to  FIG. 5 , Node A  12  generates or obtains a clear message M to be securely communicated to Node B  14 . Node A selects a suitable ephemeral key, corresponding to a key ID and/or key expiration date. The selection of the ephemeral key may be based on the key expiration date and/or other cryptographic criteria. Node A  12  then selects a first blinding number z and computes a first inverse blinding function z −1  that is the exponentiative inverse z −1 , as depicted in step  502 . Node A raises the clear message M to the power z mod p, forming a blinded message M z  mod p, as depicted in step  504 . Node A provides the blinded message and key ID corresponding to the selected ephemeral key to the ephemerizer, as depicted in step  506 . The ephemerizer encrypts the blinded message, by raising the blinded message M z  mod p to the power x mod p, forming a blinded encrypted message M xz  mod p, as depicted in step  508 . The ephemerizer returns the blinded encrypted message M xz  mod p to Node A, as depicted in step  510 . Node A unblinds the blinded encrypted message, M xz  mod p, by raising it to the power z −1  forming an encrypted message M x  mod p, as depicted in step  512 .  
         [0047]     As depicted in step  513  Node A securely transmits the encrypted message M x  mod p and the key ID corresponding to the selected ephemeral key to Node B. To securely transmit the message to Node B, Node A may encrypt the encrypted message with the public key of Node B and transmit the doubly encrypted message to Node B. Alternatively, Node A may encrypt the encrypted message using a secret key known only to Node A and Node B. In another alternative, Node A provides the message to Node B such that only Node B receives the message, e.g., by hand delivering the encrypted message to Node B. To decrypt the message, as depicted in step  514 , Node B decrypts the message W using its own private key or the secret key if appropriate. To decrypt the ephemerally encrypted message W, Node B selects a second blinding number j and computes a second inverse blinding number j −1  that is the exponentiative inverse of j. Node B raises the encrypted message to the power of the blinding number j mod p, forming M jx  mod p which is the blinded encrypted message, as depicted in step  516 . Node B provides the blinded encrypted message M jx  mod p and the key ID and/or key expiration date received from Node A to the ephemerizer, as depicted in step  518 . The ephemeral decryption agent decrypts the blinded encrypted message by raising the blinded encrypted message to the power of the decryption value, x −1  mod p corresponding to the key ID, to form a blinded message, M j  mod p, as depicted in step  520 . The decryption agent provides the blinded message, M j  mod p to Node B, as depicted in step  522 . Node B unblinds the blinded message, M j , by raising the blinded message to the power of the second inverse blinding number, j −1 , forming the clear message M, as depicted in step  524 .  
         [0048]     In the above-described method, the first, second, and third blinding functions, z, j, and k can be independently selected integer random numbers and are kept secret. The size of the integer random numbers should be sufficiently large to provide blinding protection that is sufficient to thwart the blinding of the message by the encryption or decryption agents or some other party that may be interested in the clear message M. In the embodiment in which z, j, and k are integer random numbers, the first, second, and third blinding functions are then computed as the exponentiative inverses.  
         [0049]     The above-described techniques for performing blinded ephemeral encryption and ephemeral decryption are illustrated above using public/private key pairs. For an ephemeral decryption agent that provides a public ephemeral encryption key E, maintains a secret private ephemeral decryption key D, and in which the node selects a blinding function B and an inverse blinding function U, any combination of functions E, B, D, and U that work as E, B, D, U to provide the clear message M can be used. In the embodiment in which an ephemeral encryption/decryption agent that maintains a pair of secret ephemeral encryption/decryption functions E and D and in which the node selects a first blinding function B and a first inverse blinding function U and a second blinding function B′ and a second blinding function U′, any combination of functions E, B, D, and U that work as B, E, U, B′, D, U′ to provide the clear message M can be used. In addition, although the ephemerizer can be separate nodes performing the corresponding encryption and decryption functions respectively, a single node ephemerizer can perform both the encryption and decryption functions as well. In addition, the encryption/decryption steps and the blinding/unblinding steps can be performed in any order.  
         [0050]     The above description of blinded ephemeral decryption and blinded ephemeral encryption/decryption is directed toward communication between two or more nodes. However, as discussed above, a single node can securely store data using an ephemeral encryption key, whether public or secret, and can use the above techniques to recover this information. To securely store the information, the single node can encrypt the ephemerally encrypted message with a public key or secret key used by the single node or can provide adequate physical security. In this single node embodiment, a single node forms the message M and ephemerally encrypts M as W and stores the decryption key in a secure manner. There is no need to securely communicate the ephemerally encrypted message from a first node to a second node since only a single node is used. The single node recovers the securely stored message and proceeds to blind and decrypt the message as described above where the single node operates in place of Node B  14 .  
         [0051]     Those skilled in the art should readily appreciate that programs defining the functions of the disclosed cryptographic system and method for providing blinded ephemeral encryption and ephemeral decryption can be implemented in software and delivered to a computer system for execution in many forms; including, but not limited to: (a) information permanently stored on non-writable storage media (e.g. read only memory devices within a computer such as ROM or CD-ROM disks readable by a computer I/O attachment); (b) information stored on writable storage media (e.g. floppy disks and hard drives); or (c) information conveyed to a computer through communication media for example using baseband signaling or broadband signaling techniques, including carrier wave signaling techniques, such as over computer or telephone networks via a modem. In addition, while the illustrative embodiments may be implemented in computer software, the functions within the illustrative embodiments may alternatively be embodied in part or in whole using hardware components such as Application Specific Integrated Circuits, Field Programmable Gate Arrays, or other hardware, or in some combination of hardware components and software components.  
         [0052]     It should be appreciated that other variations to and modifications of the above-described method and system for performing blinded encryption and/or decryption may be made without departing from the inventive concepts described herein. Accordingly, the invention should not be viewed as limited except by the scope and spirit of the appended claims.