Abstract:
The present invention relates to the field of sharing encrypted content. In one form, the invention relates to multiple user access and management of encrypted content. In one particular aspect, the present invention is suitable for use in community controlled encryption of shared content using indirect keys. 
     The present invention relates to the use of encrypted intermediate key(s), such as an encrypted community key and/or workspace key. A changeable group of users is associated with a community key. Changeable set of content is associated with a workspace key. The present invention also uses permits in association with encrypted keys.

Description:
FIELD OF INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to the field of sharing encrypted content. 
         [0002]    In one form, the invention relates to multiple user access and management of encrypted content. 
         [0003]    In one particular aspect, the present invention is suitable for use in community controlled encryption of shared content using indirect keys. 
         [0004]    It will be convenient to hereinafter describe the invention in relation to sharing of encrypted content, however it should be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to that use only. 
       BACKGROUND ART 
       [0005]    Throughout this specification the use of the word “inventor” in singular form may be taken as reference to one (singular) inventor or more than one (plural) inventor of the present invention. 
         [0006]    The inventors have identified a number of problems with secure sharing of encrypted information. 
         [0007]    Many systems rely on the security of third party services. The inventors have identified that in the case of third party controlled services, including “cloud” storage, remote server storage and other application service providers, the access to the information stored requires the third party to prevent accidental or unwilling disclosure e.g. via mistake, a security breach, legal demand etc and requires control of any related encryption keys by that third party. 
         [0008]    Other systems provide user controlled encryption of information and tend to use public/private keys or password generated keys for that encryption. The inventors have identified that these systems have relatively defined sets of users and are also relatively rigid and tend to have difficulty with dynamic and/or efficient management such as scaling, distributed storage, changing group memberships and revocation. 
         [0009]    More generally, prior art security systems that deal with encrypted information (including third party and/or user controlled) tend to rely on one or any combination of the following assumptions:
       A trusted authority e.g. government, service provider or other third party   Storage system managed keys e.g. encrypted file systems, encrypted databases   Proof of identity e.g. Public Key Infrastructure (PKI)   Password based credentials e.g. file transfer systems   Encryption of information using private keys or password generated keys e.g. document systems   A single user e.g. private secure storage   Message based encryption e.g. email encryption software   Group protocols e.g. multi-cast key management   Transfer based encryption e.g. Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)   Online availability e.g. peer-to-peer services       
 
         [0020]    It is to be appreciated that any discussion of documents, devices, acts or knowledge in this specification is included to explain the context of the present invention. Further, the discussion throughout this specification comes about due to the realisation of the inventor and/or the identification of certain related art problems by the inventor. Moreover, any discussion of material such as documents, devices, acts or knowledge in this specification is included to explain the context of the invention in terms of the inventor&#39;s knowledge and experience and, accordingly, any such discussion should not be taken as an admission that any of the material forms part of the prior art base or the common general knowledge in the relevant art in Australia, or elsewhere, on or before the priority date of the disclosure and claims herein. 
       SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
       [0021]    An object of the present invention is to alleviate at least one disadvantage associated with the related art. 
         [0022]    It is an object of the embodiments described herein to overcome or alleviate at least one of the above noted drawbacks of related art systems or to at least provide a useful alternative to related art systems. 
         [0023]    In a first aspect of embodiments described herein there is provided a method of and/or application adapted to enable encryption and/or decryption of content, comprising providing a first key adapted for use with the content, providing a second key which defines a set of one or more additional keys, and encrypting and/or decrypting using the first key and the second key. 
         [0024]    In another aspect of embodiments described herein there is provided a method of and/or application adapted to enable encryption and/or decryption of content, comprising a community key representing at least one user, a workspace key representing at least one content, and performing encryption and/or decryption using the community and workspace keys. 
         [0025]    In yet another aspect of embodiments described herein there is provided a method of and/or application adapted to encrypt and/or decrypt content, comprising enabling the encryption in accordance with a method as herein disclosed. 
         [0026]    In a further aspect of embodiments described herein there is provided a method of and/or application adapted to define an association between at least one user and at least one encrypted content, comprising providing each user with a user key, and providing a user with a permit relative to the content, the permit comprising encrypted first and second keys. 
         [0027]    In yet a further aspect of embodiments described herein there is provided a system adapted to enable encryption and/or decryption of content, comprising a first key register adapted to associate a first key with content, a second key register adapted to associate a second key with one or more additional keys and an encryption engine adapted to encrypt and/or decrypt using the first key and the second key. 
         [0028]    In still a further aspect of embodiments described herein there is provided, in combination, a system as herein disclosed and a content management system, a messaging system, a file management system, a systems management system and/or a collaboration system. 
         [0029]    Other aspects and preferred forms are disclosed in the specification and/or defined in the appended claims, forming a part of the description of the invention. 
         [0030]    In essence, embodiments of the present invention stem from the realization that scalable encryption can be provided by the use of encrypted intermediate key(s), such as an encrypted community key and/or workspace key. A changeable group of users is associated with a community key. Changeable set of content is associated with a workspace key. In a further embodiment of the present invention, the workspace key may be encrypted/decrypted by the community key and vice versa. 
         [0031]    By defining the relative association of the community key and the workspace key with users and content respectively, the present invention enables many advantages and features, such as security, privacy, flexibility, storage, streams, distribution, efficiency, scalability and manageability. 
         [0032]    Advantages relating to security include, without limitation:
       Security keys are controlled by the client and not reliant on a third party or organisation.   Information remains secure, as encryption and decryption is performed by the client and not reliant on a storage system or third-party service.   Provides certificate based credentials including different credentials for signing, encryption and communications   Allows for digital signatures and the use of trusted time-stamping service   Transferring of encrypted information within the System may not necessarily require transfer based encryption e.g. Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) as information is transferred in an encrypted form.   Allows remote storage, perhaps on a server or using a service that may not be necessarily fully trusted. e.g. to a third party or outsourced information technology provider, as information remains in an encrypted form outside the client.   Revocation can be relatively easily managed because of the ease to which a member can be removed from a group of users or community.   Sharing of keys and other parameters can be performed on a strictly “need to know” basis. That is, each user may be limited to information that is relevant to them, without the ability to access information relevant to other users.   Ability to secure end-to-end streams of content rather than just point-to-point.
 
Advantages relating to privacy include, without limitation:
   Allows encrypted content to be shared with other users without necessarily relying on a central authority and/or registration authority.   Allows users to build their own “web of trust” with a relatively secure way to handle invitations and revocation.   Allows users to be known by a label not necessarily associated with anyone or anything. Additionally, the registration process does not require proof of identity.
 
Advantages relating to flexibility include, without limitation:
   Ability to accommodate arbitrary types and formats of Content e.g. files, records, streams, text, binary, multi-media etc.   Ability to accommodate arbitrary number and types of Communities e.g. unpredictable; transient, complex, overlapping, disjoint etc.   Ability to accommodate arbitrary groups of Content (Workspaces) to be sharable with arbitrary Communities.   Ability to interface to existing applications, security systems, identity systems, document systems and other management systems.
 
Advantages relating to storage include, without limitation:
   Storage servers need relatively small processing power as it is not necessary for them to be able to perform encryption and/or decryption functions.   Storage management may be relatively low cost and/or a relatively basic service for storing and retrieving encrypted content, as there is no need for storage providers to be able to manage storage keys, maintain encrypted file systems and/or encrypted databases etc.   Is relatively efficient in storage as it does not require a separate copy of encrypted information for each user as is the case with other approaches e.g. message based encryption, email encrypting software.   Allows high availability by storing multiple copies of encrypted content, for example on different local disks, and/or different servers and/or different third party storage services.
 
Advantages relating to streams and distribution include, without limitation:
   Ability to operate in a continuous and/or bi-directional encrypted stream allowing for ongoing interactions, collaborations, sessions, conversations etc. between users and/or applications.   Ability to operate in a distributed manner with other client controllers, which enables secure, encrypted multi-way streams between any combination of users and/or applications.   Ability to dynamically handle changing membership of a community which is using a stream.   Ability to handle attachments related to a stream.   Ability for users to join and leave encrypted streams as required in a relatively efficient way.   Ability to handle relatively large encrypted content as a stream.
 
Advantages relating to efficiency include, without limitation:
   Low computing overhead as changing a group of users simply requires encrypting of keys and not necessarily re-encrypting content.   Low network costs as encrypted content need not be changed on the server when users are added or removed from groups and/or communities. For example, the present invention does not require encrypted content to be downloaded, re-encrypted and uploaded when there are changes to the set of users that need to access and/or manage the encrypted content.   The system may be implemented on a wide variety of platforms, such as mobile devices, because of its relative efficiency e.g. low network usage, low computational requirements etc.   Encrypting and decrypting content is relatively efficient through the use of symmetric keys rather than private keys.   Key management is relatively efficient through the use of symmetric keys with relatively few private/public key operations required.
 
Advantages relating to scalability include, without limitation:
   The ability to manage large sized content and/or large numbers of content items and/or many versions of content items as additional encryption operations on content is not required to accommodate changes in the membership of groups of users and/or the organisation of content.   Ability to manage relatively dynamic and/or large and/or complex groups of users (communities) as the overhead of changing memberships is relatively low.   Ability to bulk update groups of users, as new sets of encryption keys can be relatively easily calculated and the system can continue to work whilst in transition from one set to another.   Being mostly independent of whether users are online or offline, unlike other systems that require groups to be online e.g. group communications, online collaboration, multi-cast key management systems, peer-to-peer services etc.
 
Advantages relating to manageability include, without limitation:
   Relative safety of adding or retiring users as each step in the process can be done in a relatively fault tolerant and progressive way, including the ability to restart and/or rollback.   Can seamlessly transition from one shared encryption key to a new one as all copies of keys need not be necessarily updated at the same time.   Continued availability of encrypted content even if the addition or removal of users takes time and/or needs to be rolled back or restarted.   Multiple versions of encrypted content can be maintained through the use of versioned encrypted keys.   Ability to define arbitrary Workspaces which may include arbitrary types and amount of Content and overlapping content.   Ability for Content to be moved and/or copied between Workspaces in a relatively efficient way.       
 
         [0074]    Throughout this specification, the word “content”, without limitation, comprises any information communicable in a digital form. Examples comprise, without limitation, files, records, streams, protocols, conversations, sessions, backups, database journals, audit trails, logs, documents, presentations, spreadsheets, messages, multi-media, pictures, video, music, audio, radio, indicia, tickets, keys, passwords, configuration, entries, indexes, executables, data stores, application data, state information, system information or any other electronic information and/or any derivation of information such as compressed, translated, scanned, signed, watermarked, packaged, compiled, aggregated, segmented, transformed etc. 
         [0075]    Throughout this specification, the word “key”, without limitation, comprises any representation used in association with or operable on an encryption algorithm that enables encryption or decryption of information, such as, without limitation, asymmetric keys, symmetric keys, secret keys, public keys, private keys, password keys, one-time password keys, tickets, tokens, certificates, etc. 
         [0076]    Throughout this specification, the word “parameters”, without limitation, comprises any information associated with the content and/or key, such as, without limitation, names, sizes, timestamps, versions, authors, keywords, locations, policies, identifiers, descriptions, relationships, owners, security levels, capabilities, communities, groups, privileges, access restrictions, versions, auditing, configuration, controls etc. 
         [0077]    Further scope of applicability of embodiments of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the disclosure herein will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0078]    Further disclosure, objects, advantages and aspects of preferred and other embodiments of the present application may be better understood by those skilled in the relevant art by reference to the following description of embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the disclosure herein, and in which: 
           [0079]      FIG. 1  illustrates an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0080]      FIG. 2  illustrates relationships in an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0081]      FIG. 3  illustrates a process of initialisation in an embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0082]      FIG. 4  illustrates a process of access in an embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     System Overview 
       [0083]      FIG. 1  illustrates an embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0084]    Users  100  interact with the System  120  to securely store, access and manage encrypted versions and/or derivations of Content  110 . A. User  100  is an entity such as a person, organisation, application, service or any other interface. A User  100  may interact with other users, for example to setup trust relationships and/or organise groups or Communities  130 . Users  100  may have different privileges on the System  120 , for example upload, download, change groups, change rights, create workspaces, create communities etc. Users  100  interact with Client Controllers  140  and may also interact with a Credential Service  170 . 
         [0085]    Content  110  may be shared between Users  100  and/or Applications  101  and/or stored in System  120 . Examples of Content  110  include files, records, application data and data streams. Examples of files include documents, word processing files, presentations, spreadsheets, notes, messages, pictures, multi-media, maps, indicia, executables, packages and any other type of storable information. Examples of records include database fields, directory entries, registry entries, spreadsheet cells, messages, data blocks, indexes and any other type of partitioned information. Examples of application data include keys, passwords, address books, calendar data, configuration information, data stores, state information and any other type of application information. Examples of data streams include multi-media streams, communications streams and application streams. Examples of multi-media streams include video, audio, pictures and any other type of on-demand data. Examples of communications streams include VOIP (Voice Over IP), HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol), instant messaging, shared collaboration or any other type of protocol. Examples of application streams include collaboration applications, monitoring, backups, database journals, logs, audit trails or any other type of runtime information. Content  110  also includes any derivation of information such as compressed, translated, watermarked, packaged, check-summed, aggregated, segmented, and/or any other electronic forms of information. Content  110  may be human readable such as text, Portable Document Format (PDF), postscript etc. and/or may be binary such as compressed, compiled, packaged etc. Content  110  may be public with the purpose of storing securely, for example, to establish the authorship and/or date of documents e.g. original works. Content  110  may also be non-public and includes any information that may need to be restricted to a limited set of Users  100 , such as confidential, sensitive, classified and/or private information. 
         [0086]    Applications  101  are programs that may use Client Controllers  140  to share Content  110  with other Applications  101  and/or Users  100 . Applications  101  may use an Application Programming Interface (API) with Client Controllers  140  and/or provide a graphical or other human interface to a User  100 . Applications  101  may include any type of distributed application such as collaboration, content creation, file management, systems management and/or communications capabilities. Examples may include email, instant messaging, calendaring, communal editing, social networking, real-time interactions, monitoring, management, control, transactions, document management, virtual file systems and any other type of multi-user activity etc. Applications  101  may utilise System  120  to provide such applications with features such as distributed end-to-end encryption, Community management, Workspace management, User management, Credential management and other features described herein. 
         [0087]    The System  120  may be considered to have a number of functional components, such as Client Controllers  140 , Storage Service  160 , Credential Service  170 , and Permit Service  180 . The Services may be optional and/or may be provided externally to System  120 . These components represent functional mechanisms and may be combined in different ways such as into one or more applications involving one or more servers. These applications and/or servers may be independent and/or distributed and/or replicated. Additionally, components such as the Credential Service  170  may perform related functions such as a Certificate Service, Registration Service, Authentication Service, Escrow Service etc. 
         [0088]    Communities  130  represent collections of one or more Users  100 . A User  100  may be a member of one or more Communities  130 . A Community  130  may be setup to have access to Workspace  150  using a Permit  152  to access and manage associated Encrypted Content  151 . 
         [0089]    Client Controllers  140  provide the interface to, and control of, the System  120  for Users  100 . Client Controllers  140  manage interactions with other parts of the System  120 . For example to encrypt, decrypt, login, manage memberships, register etc. The Client Controller  140  may have Logic  141  for managing the system and may store information such as Credentials  142 . 
         [0090]    Credentials  142  may include information that is unique to a particular User  100 , such as a certificate (containing a public key) and associated private key. A User  100  may have one or more Credentials  142  for different purposes for example, for signing, communications and/or encryption. Credentials  142  may comprise any form of identification such as username, passwords, tokens, tickets and/or any other information used for authentication. Credentials  142  may be protected, such as stored in a cryptographic keystore. 
         [0091]    Workspaces  150  may contain logical groupings of Encrypted Content  151 . Encrypted Content  151  may be a part of any number of Workspaces  150 . Each Workspace  150  may have an associated Permit  152  and may have an associated Community  130 . In a preferred embodiment, Workspaces  150  may be considered as defining a set of Encrypted Content  151  for which an associated Community  130  can share, access and/or manage this set using an associated Permit  152 . A Workspace  150  may also provide one or more streams which may allow a Community  130  to share Encrypted Content  151  in a non-discrete way, for example applications which may be open-ended, concurrent, continuous, real-time, dynamic, interactive etc. and/or in distributed fields such as collaboration, web applications, systems management, monitoring, control etc. 
         [0092]    Encrypted Content  151  is Content  110  that has been encrypted. Information about the encryption, including encryption keys, cryptographic algorithm etc and other information about the Content  110  may be stored in a Permit  152 . Encrypted Content  151  may relate back to the corresponding Content  110  in a one-to-many, many-to-many and/or many-to-one relationship. That is, one or many items of Content  110  may relate to one or many items of Encrypted Content  151 . In addition, one or more versions of Content  110  may be retained as Encrypted Content  151 . Encrypted Content  151  may be stored in one or more Storage Service  160  mechanisms and/or locations and/or shared with other Client Controllers  140  using. Peer-to-Peer  190  mechanisms. Encrypted Content  151  may also be replicated within or across Storage Services  160 . Encrypted Content  151  may be a stream or discrete units. 
         [0093]    Permits  152  provide information necessary for Client Controllers  140  to perform operations. Permits  152  may include certificates, encrypted keys, and/or Parameters. Parameters may include Content  110 , Community  130 , System  120  and other information. Examples of Parameters relating to Content  110  may include name, size, timestamp, versions, author, keywords, location information, session, synchronisation and/or other Content properties. Examples of Parameters relating to Communities  130  may include name, relationships, owners, administrators, privileges and/or other Community  130  properties. Examples of Parameters relating to the system may include policies, identifiers, descriptions, relationships, owners, security levels, communities, groups, privileges, access restrictions, versions, auditing, configuration, controls and/or other system properties. Parameters, or parts of Parameters, may be stored independent of Permits  152 , for example system policies. Permits  152  and/or Parameters may be encrypted with a key. A Permit  152  may contain information limited to a given User  100 , for example only providing keys and/or Parameters necessary for that user to operate within their Community  130 , Workspace  150  and Encrypted Content  151  without necessarily providing other information relevant to other Users  100 . The Client Controllers  140  may share Permits  152  directly with each other, for example using Peer-to-Peer  190 , and/or use a Permit Service  180  and/or use a Storage Service  160 . 
         [0094]    The Storage Service  160  may store information such as Encrypted Content  151  and Permits  152 . The Storage Service  160  may be local and/or remote. Local storage includes hard disk, portable disk, portable memory, disk array, network disk etc. Remote storage includes network file servers, backup services and other third party storage or “cloud” services. The Storage Service  160  may be on the same machine or a different one to any of the other System  120  components. Storage Service  160  may also store all or parts of Permits  152 . Encrypted Content  151  and/or Permits  152  may be distributed and/or replicated in Storage Service  160 . 
         [0095]    The Credential Service  170  may provide certificate management services such as issuing credentials, managing revocation and providing timestamp services. Issuing of credentials may occur when a User  100  is first initiated into the System  120  and/or used when a User  100  logs in to the System  120 . Revocation of credentials may occur when a user is removed from the system and/or a user&#39;s credentials need to be re-issued. Revocation status may be provided via Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs) and/or via an Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP). The Credential Service  170  is optional and, if not used, then Client Controllers  140  may need to setup credentials using other means such as manual and/or out-of-band procedures. The Credential Service  170  may be distributed and/or replicated as required. It may also be run separately, fully or in part, by a third party to perform all or some of the credential service functionality. The Credential Service  170  may generate certificates, such as X.509 Certificates or any other cryptographic certificates. Different certificates may be used for different purposes e.g. signing, communications and/or encryption. The Credential Service  170  may also offer an escrow service. The Credential Service  170  may also be another type of security server such as an authentication server, a single sign-on server, a key server etc. and manage other types of credentials such as tokens, tickets, passwords, dynamic passwords etc. The initialisation of keying material (e.g. certificates) may be performed in combination with Client Controllers  140 . The registration process for a User  100  with Credential Service  170  may be manual and/or automated and/or centralised and/or distributed. The registration process may be automatic or semi-automatic in the case where pre-existing credentials are leveraged, such as in enterprises or organisations or closed communities which already make use of an identity infrastructure such as a private certificate infrastructure and/or Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). 
         [0096]    The Permit Service  180  handles Permits  152  and/or information contained in Permits  152 . The Permit Service  180  is optional. The Client Controllers  140  may use the Permit Service  180  to share whole Permits  152  and/or parts of Permits  152 . All or some of the Permit Service  180  may be distributed and/or replicated as required. The Permit Service  180  may be provided by any type of service capable of managing Permit  152  information, such a database, registry, directory, repository or other service. Access to a Permit Service  180  via a Client Controller  140  may involve providing appropriate credentials. A Permit Service  180  may restrict information provided to any given Client Controller  140  on a “need to know” basis, for example providing encrypted keys relating to the Community, Workspace and Encrypted Content of a particular User  100  without necessarily providing other information relevant to other Users  100 . The Permit Service  180  function may be performed on the same or a different computer from the other parts of the System  120 . 
         [0097]    Peer-to-Peer  190  may be used to directly exchange information in a Workspace  150  between Client Controllers  140 , for example to exchange Encrypted Content  151  and/or Permits  152 . The exchange may use a push or pull technique. The Encrypted Content may be relatively continuous such as a stream or conversation, and/or the encrypted content may be in one or more discrete units. Credentials  142 , may need to be used to, authenticate Client Controllers  140  connecting to each other. 
       System Relationships 
       [0098]      FIG. 2  illustrates relationships in an embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0099]    Communities  200  are another representation of those shown in  FIG. 1 . Communities  200  represent any combination of Users  210 . For example, Community 1   201  consists of User 1   211  and User 2   212 . In a preferred embodiment, each User belongs to at least one community and/or each User is the administrator of at least one Community. For example, User 2   212  may also belong to their own community e.g. Community 2  (not shown in  FIG. 2 ). 
         [0100]    Users  210  are another representation of Users  100  in  FIG. 1 . Separate Users  211 ,  212 ,  213  are illustrated in  FIG. 2 . When a User  210  is initialised into the system, they may be automatically added to their own community. 
         [0101]    Client Controllers  220  is another representation of those shown in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 2  shows in particular a private key used for encryption. A Client Controller  220  may also use other private keys such as for signing and/or communications. The private key may be stored securely in a cryptographic keystore associated with a Client Controller  220 . 
         [0102]    Permits  230  are another representation of information associated with the Permits  152  shown in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 2  gives an example of the composition of permits (e.g. Permit 1   231 ) which may include certificates (e.g.  235 ,  236 ), Parameters (e.g.  232 ), encrypted keys (e.g.  241 ,  242 ,  251 ,  261 ,  262 ,  263 ) and encrypted Parameters (e.g.  251 ). In a preferred embodiment, each user (e.g.  212 ) has a Permit (e.g.  231 ,  233 ) for each community (e.g.  201 ,  203 ) they belong to. In a preferred embodiment, each Permit (e.g.  231 ) defines information necessary for an associated user (e.g.  211 ) to access and manage Encrypted Content (e.g.  281 ,  282 ,  283 ) in an associated Workspace (e.g.  271 ). 
         [0103]    Encrypted Community Keys  240  are used to control which Communities  200  have access to which Workspaces  270 . Each Community has an associated symmetric Community Key. Each Community Key (e.g. C 1   b ) is encrypted with the certificate (e.g.  235 ) containing the public key of the associated User (e.g.  211 ). Note that a User (e.g. User 2   212 ) may belong to multiple communities (e.g.  201 ,  203 ) and therefore may have multiple Encrypted Community Keys (e.g.  242 ,  243 ), each being encrypted with that user&#39;s (e.g. User 2   212 ) public key (e.g.  236 ,  237 ), preferably using the public key associated with the encryption credentials. Encrypted Community Keys may include Parameters. There may be a separate Community Key each time the membership of a community changes. For example, there may be multiple versions of Encrypted Community Keys  240  in the case where Workspace Keys have changed. 
         [0104]    Encrypted Workspace Keys  250  are used to control sets of Encrypted Content Keys  260 . Each Workspace Key (e.g. W 1 ) is encrypted with a Community Key (e.g. C 1   b ) associated with that Workspace (e.g.  271 ). Encrypted. Workspace Keys  250  may also include Parameters. There may be multiple versions of Encrypted Workspace Keys  250 , for example, in the case where Encrypted Content Keys  260  have changed. 
         [0105]    Encrypted Content Keys  260  are used to encrypt the corresponding item of Encrypted Content  280 . Each Content Key (e.g. D 1 , D 2 , D 3 ) may be encrypted with the associated Workspace Key (e.g. W 1 ). Encrypted Content Keys may also include Parameters such as name, location, size, keywords etc. Encrypted Content Keys (e.g.  261 ) may be stored with the Encrypted Content (e.g.  281 ). Note that if Content (e.g.  283 ) is shared between Workspaces (e.g.  271 ,  273 ), then the Content Key (e.g. D 3 ) may be encrypted by the corresponding Workspace Key (e.g. W 1 , W 3 ) in each associated Workspace (e.g.  231 ,  233  respectively). 
         [0106]    Workspaces  270  are another representation of those shown in  FIG. 1 . Workspaces  270  represent any combination of Encrypted Content  280 . Each Workspace (e.g. Workspace 1   271 ) may have one or more versions of associated Workspace Keys (e.g. W 1 ). Each Workspace (e.g. Workspace 1   271 ) may be associated with a Community (e.g. Community 1   201 ). 
         [0107]    Encrypted Content is another representation of those shown in  FIG. 1 . Encrypted Content (e.g.  281 ) is encrypted by Client Controllers (e.g.  221 ) using an associated Content Key (e.g. D 1 ). Encrypted Content (e.g.  281 ) may be signed by a private key (e.g. a signing key  224   a  not shown) of the User (e.g.  211 ) that stored the Encrypted Content (e.g.  281 ). 
         [0108]    Storage Service  290  is another representation of Storage Service  160  shown in  FIG. 1 . Storage Service  290  is where Encrypted Content  260  may be stored. Other information such as some or all of Permits  230  information may also be stored in Storage  290 . Any of the stored information may be distributed and/or replicated among any number or any type of Storage Services  290  e.g. disks, file servers, third party storage services etc. For example, in  FIG. 2 , Encrypted Content  281  and  282  are stored in Store 1   291  and a copy and/or different version of Encrypted Content  282  is also stored in Store 2   292 . Note also that some Encrypted Content (e.g.  284 ) may be transient and/or stored by the Client Controller locally (e.g. in memory, local disk) and not necessarily in Storage Service  290  (e.g.  284 ). 
       Permit Management 
       [0109]    With reference to  FIG. 1 , Permits  152  and/or individual parts of Permits may be shared between Client Controllers  140  in several ways, such as directly (peer-to-peer) and/or via shared storage (non-real-time peer-to-peer) such as Storage Service  160  and/or via a separate service, such as a Permit Service  180 . 
         [0110]    For example in  FIG. 2 , if Client Controller  221  updates Permit 1   231 , and subsequently Client Controller  222  needs to use Permit 1   231  related information, then the updated Permit 1   231  or parts of the Permit 1   231  may be retrieved from a Permit Service and/or shared Storage  290  and/or by copying Permit 1   231  from Client Controller  221 . Additionally, Client Controllers may cache Permits and/or Permit information. These actions may also be restricted by policies which define constraints on functions and flows within the system. For example policies may include defining rights, privileges, access controls, operational controls etc. Such policies may be stored as Parameters in a Permit (e.g.  232 ). 
       Sharing Permits Using Peer-to-Peer 
       [0111]    Client Controllers may propagate particular Permit updates directly to and/or from other Client Controllers who rely on information in that Permit. This may be via a “push” where the updates are distributed from the source Client Controller and/or via a “pull” where the updates are fetched from another Client Controller. The mechanism(s) to communicate with associated Client Controllers may be stored as Parameters in the Permit (e.g.  231 ). A particular Client Controller (e.g.  221 ) may only need to maintain relevant Permits (e.g.  231 ) for their associated User (e.g.  211 ). 
       Sharing Permits Using Storage (Non-Real-Time Peer-to-Peer) 
       [0112]    Client Controllers may use Storage Service  290  to directly distribute and/or replicate all and/or parts of Permits. For example, Client Controller  221  who updates Permit/231 may copy Permit/231 to Storage  290 . Client Controller  222  may then retrieve it at a necessary time. The mechanism(s) to communicate with Storage Service  290  may be stored as Parameters in the Permit (e.g.  232 ). Permits may be replicated within and/or across Storage Services  290  such as for performance or availability reasons. 
       Sharing Permits Using a Permit Service 
       [0113]    With reference to  FIG. 1 , Client Controllers  140  may obtain, manage and update Permit information  152  using a separate Permit Service  180 . This Permit Service  180  may be local and/or remote, may be distributed and/or replicated and/or may operate using entire Permits and/or parts of Permits. In order to access a Permit Service  180 , a Client Controller  140  may need to first connect to the Permit Service  180  with appropriate credentials, for example with those setup when the User  100  was first initialised into the System  120 . 
       Permit Operations 
       [0114]    With reference to  FIG. 1 , Permits  152  represent any information that Client Controllers  140  need to perform operations on Encrypted Content  151  such as encrypting, decrypting, accessing and managing them. The entire Permit and/or individual parts of the Permit may be encrypted and/or may reside in a Permit Service  180  and/or Client Controllers  140  and/or one or more Storage Services  160 . For example, Permit Service  180  may contain user and workspace information (e.g. certificates, encrypted community keys, encrypted workspace keys and/or related Parameters), Client Controllers may cache Permit information (e.g. certificates, derived decrypted keys and/or controls) and/or Storage Service  160  may contain content related information (e.g. Encrypted Content Keys and/or Parameters). 
       Decrypting Information in a Permit 
       [0115]    With reference to  FIG. 2 , a User (e.g.  211 ), belonging to one or more communities (e.g.  201 ) may obtain keys and/or Parameters from their Permit(s) (e.g.  231 ) using their Client Controller (e.g.  221 ) by decrypting the relevant keys. For example:
       If an entire Permit (e.g.  231 ) is encrypted, then it may be decrypted using the private key (e.g.  224 ) associated with the Client Controller (e.g.  221 ) of that User (e.g. Used  211 ). Alternatively, the Permit (e.g.  231 ) may be decrypted by obtaining the Community Key (e.g. C 1   b ) (as described below) and then decrypting the remainder of the Permit (e.g.  231 ) using the Community Key (e.g. C 1   b ).   A Community Key (e.g. C 1   b ) may be obtained by using the private key (e.g.  224 ) associated with the Client Controller (e.g.  221 ) to decrypt an Encrypted Community. Key (e.g.  241 ). Other Parameters may also be contained within the Encrypted Community Key (e.g.  241 ) or separately (e.g.  232 ) such as information about the Workspace associated with that Community (e.g.  201 ).   A Workspace Key (e.g. W 1 ) may be obtained by using an associated Community Key (e.g. C 1   b ) to decrypt an Encrypted Workspace Key (e.g.  251 ). Other Parameters may also be obtained, such as information about content in the workspace e.g. their names, size, type, location, store credentials, alternative stores etc.   A Content Key (e.g. D 1 ) may be obtained by using an associated Workspace Key (e.g. W 1 ) to decrypt an Encrypted Content Key (e.g.  261 ). Other Parameters may also be obtained, such as store location, credentials, restrictions, copies or other content information.       
 
       Encrypting Information in a Permit 
       [0120]    With reference to  FIG. 2 , a User (e.g.  211 ), belonging to one or more communities (e.g.  201 ) may add or replace all or some of information in a Permit (e.g.  231 ) using their associated Client Controller (e.g.  221 ) by encrypting relevant keys and/or Parameters. For example:
       An Encrypted Content Key (e.g.  263 ) may be generated using a Workspace Key (e.g. W 1 ) to encrypt a Content Key (e.g. D 3 ). Parameters may be included such as content properties. If replacing Encrypted Content, the old Encrypted Content Key may be removed from the Permit (e.g.  231 ), or alternatively, the old Encrypted Content Key may be flagged with version information in the Permit (e.g.  231 ).   An Encrypted Workspace Key (e.g.  251 ) may be generated using a Community Key (e.g. C 1   b ), to encrypt a Workspace Key (e.g. W 1 ). Parameters may be included such as information about content in the workspace e.g. their names, size, type, location, store credentials, alternative stores etc. If replacing an Encrypted Workspace Key, the old Encrypted Workspace Key may be removed from a Permit (e.g.  231 ), or alternatively, the old Encrypted Workspace Key may be flagged with version information in a Permit (e.g.  231 ).   An Encrypted Community Key (e.g.  241 ) may be generated by using an associated public key (e.g.  235 ) to encrypt the Community Key (e.g. C 1   b ). This operation may involve checking for revocation of the certificate containing the public key. Parameters may be included such as information about the Community and or Workspace and/or Content. If replacing an Encrypted Community Key (e.g. C 1   a  not shown), the old Encrypted Community Key (e.g. C 1   a  not shown) may be removed from the Permit (e.g.  231 ), or alternatively, the old Encrypted Community Key may be flagged with version information in the Permit (e.g.  231 ), and the new Community Key (e.g. C 1   b ) needs to be encrypted with the public key (e.g.  235 ,  236 ) of each user of that Community (e.g.  211 ,  212 ).   An entire Permit (e.g.  231 ) may be encrypted using an associated public key (e.g.  235 ) of the User (e.g.  211 ) who is sharing that Permit (e.g.  231 ). This may involve checking for revocation.   Alternatively, a portion of the Permit (e.g.  231 ) may be encrypted using the Community Key (e.g. C 1   b ). For example, the portion may be Parameters (e.g.  232 ). In another example, the portion may be the entire Permit (e.g.  231 ) except for the Encrypted Community Key (e.g.  241 ).       
 
       Transitioning Information in a Permit 
       [0126]    Updating a Permit (e.g.  231 ) may involve multiple operations and may occur over a period of time. By effectively versioning the Permit information, such as keys and/or Parameters, the system can continue to operate during the update of a Permit. This mechanism of progressive update also enables operations to be restarted or rolled back. 
         [0127]    For example, a process for updating a Workspace Key (e.g. W 1 ) may involve one or more of the following steps, not necessarily in order:
       Adding a new Encrypted Workspace Key (e.g.  251   a  not shown in  FIG. 2 )   Replacing each Encrypted Community Keys (e.g.  241 ,  242 )   Replacing Encrypted Content Keys (e.g.  261 ,  262 ,  263 )   Removing the old Encrypted Workspace Key (e.g.  251 ).       
 
         [0132]    In transition, a User (e.g.  211 ) may continue to operate because the User may obtain the old or the new Encrypted Workspace Key and/or the new Encrypted Content Keys. After the process is complete, a User (e.g.  211 ) will have transitioned to the new Encrypted Workspace Key (e.g. W 1   a  not shown in  FIG. 2 ). 
         [0133]    Any given update to a Permit (e.g.  231 ) may also be restarted or rolled back. For a restart, the process can be continued from the point that it was interrupted. For a rollback, the process can be undone by proceeding backwards, from the point where the process stopped, at each step, reversing each operation that was applied at that point in the process. 
       Encrypted Content Management 
       [0134]    With reference to  FIG. 1 , Users  100  may use Client Controllers  140  to manage Encrypted Content  151 . Encrypted Content  151  may be in streams and/or discrete units and/or may be stored in Storage Service  160 . Policies regarding the management of Encrypted Content may be stored in Permits. Example policies may including using multiple Storage Service  160  providers, keeping backup copies, keeping older versions, content update locking mechanisms, history, statistics, segmentation rules, streaming parameters etc. 
       Sharing Encrypted Content Using Peer-to-Peer 
       [0135]    Client Controllers may share particular Encrypted Content directly to and/or from other Client Controllers. The mechanism(s) to communicate with associated Client Controllers may be stored as Parameters in a Permit (e.g.  231 ). An interaction may be via a “push” where the Encrypted Content communication is initiated from the source Client Controller and/or via a “pull” where the Encrypted Content is fetched from another Client Controller. Encrypted Content may be discrete units such as a file or “blob” or may be shared using one or more streams to other Client Controllers. 
       Storing Encrypted Content 
       [0136]    Client Controllers may store all or some of Encrypted Content  280  in a Storage Service  290 . The Storage Service  290  may be local and/or remote. A given item of Encrypted Content (e.g.  282 ) may be replicated into different locations within a Storage Service  290  or using different Storage Services (e.g.  291 ,  292 ) such as for performance or availability reasons. Information about Encrypted Content (e.g.  283 ), where it is stored and how it can be accessed may be maintained in associated Permits  230  (e.g.  231 ,  233 ). 
       Retrieving Encrypted Content 
       [0137]    Client Controllers may retrieve Encrypted Content  280  from Storage Service  290 . Details such as names, descriptions, locations and credentials required to access the Storage Service  290  may be stored in an associated Permit(s). 
       Encrypted Content Operations 
       [0138]    With reference to  FIG. 1 , Users  100  may use Client Controllers  140  to import and/or export Content  110  into/from System  120 . If Content  110  is a stream, then the import and/or export may be in a continuous form. 
       Exporting Content 
       [0139]    With reference to  FIG. 2 , a User (e.g. User 1   211 ) belonging to given community (e.g. Community 1   201 ) may use their Client Controller (e.g.  221 ) to export Encrypted Content (e.g.  281 ) for local usage such as to view, verify and/or save. To do so, one or more of the following steps, not necessarily in order, may be performed:
       Obtain Parameters about the Content (e.g. Data 1 ) to be exported. For example, allow the user to choose a Workspace (e.g. Workspace 1   271 ) and Content (e.g. Data 1 ) from that Workspace using information in the relevant Permit (e.g. Permit 1   231 ). Multiple Content items may be selected.   Check Parameters for permission to export Encrypted Content (e.g.  281 ). For example, if the user has the appropriate rights, etc.   If the Client Controller needs to, download Encrypted Content (e.g.  281 ) from the Storage Service (e.g. Store 1   291 ) or another Client Controller. Multiple Content items may be downloaded.   Obtain Content Key (e.g. D 1 ) from relevant Permit (e.g. Permit 1   231 ) as previously described.   Obtain Content (e.g. Data 1   281 ) by decrypting the Encrypted Content (e.g.  281 ) using an associated Content Key (e.g. D 1 ). If Encrypted Content is a stream, then Content may also be a stream.   Optionally, audit and/or notify other Users (e.g.  212 ) that Content has been accessed.   If the Content (e.g. Data 1 ) is signed, optionally obtain the Certificate (e.g. U 1 ) of the purported author (e.g. User 1   211 ) and check the signature against it. This may involve checking for revocation and/or checking and validating time-stamp information, for example using a trusted time-stamping service.   If necessary, perform further processing on the Content (e.g. Data 1 ) such as de-compressing, de-packaging, etc.   View and/or Save the Content locally as required.       
 
       Importing Content 
       [0149]    With reference to  FIG. 2 , a User (e.g. User 1   212 ) may use their Client Controller (e.g.  222 ) to import Content (e.g. Data 3 ). To do so, one or more of the following steps, not necessarily in order, may be performed:
       Check Parameters for permission to import Content. For example, if the user has the appropriate rights, etc.   Optionally sign the Content (e.g. Data 3 ) using user&#39;s (signing) private key (e.g. u 2   a  not shown in  FIG. 2 ). This may involve also including a signed timestamp, for example using a trusted time-stamping service. Other operations may also be performed on Content such as being transformed e.g. compressed, packaged from a set of files, versioned, watermarked etc.   Generate a random Content Key (e.g. D 3 ). If replacing the Content and the Content is marked as shared between Workspaces and the user does not have access to each of the overlapping Workspaces, then the existing Content Key may be used.   Encrypt the Content (e.g. Data 3 ) using the Content Key (e.g. D 3 ) in order to obtain Encrypted Content (e.g.  283 ). If Content a stream then additional Message Authentication Codes may be added into the stream at pre-determined intervals and/or a streaming cipher may be used.   If required, upload the Encrypted Content (e.g.  283 ) to Storage Service  290  (e.g. Store 2   292 ) and/or other Client Controllers. Additional copies may also be uploaded to Storage Service  290  for example, to improve availability or for backup. If Content is a stream, then associated streams may be opened to other Client Controllers and/or Storage Services.   Optionally, audit and/or notify other Users (e.g.  211 ,  213 ) that content has been created or modified.   Update the Permit(s) in associated Workspace(s) as described below.
 
Interacting with Content Streams
       
 
         [0157]    With reference to  FIG. 1 , a User  100  and/or an Application  101  may interact with a Content Stream from an associated Client Controller  141 . To do so, one or more of the following steps, not necessarily in order, may be performed:
       Obtain a Content Key for the Stream. If the stream exists then this may be by retrieving the Content Key from the Permit (as described above). If the stream does not exist, then this may be by generating and publishing a Content Key in an associated Permit (as described above) for a new stream.   Open the Stream. Parameters in the associated Permit may indicate the mode, such as read-only, write-only or read-write and mechanisms, such as type of cipher, cipher parameters cipher mode(s) to use.   Manage the Stream according to Parameters in the Permit, such as the frequency to insert, expect and process Message Authentication Codes (MACs), when to close a stream and store as a historical attachment and open a new stream with a new Content Key etc.   Monitor associated Permit for changes in associated Community. If a new User is added, then a new Content Key (as previously described) and Stream may need to be generated to prevent the new User from reading the history of a stream. If a User is removed from the Community then a new Workspace Key, Content Key (as previously described) and Stream may need to be generated to prevent the deleted User from reading new Content Keys.       
 
       Workspace Management 
       [0162]    With reference to  FIG. 2 , Users  210  may use their Client Controllers  220  to manage, for example create and remove, Workspaces  270  by updating information in associated Permits  230 . These actions may be restricted by Parameters, such as having rights to create and/or remove Workspaces. 
       Creating a Workspace 
       [0163]    A User (e.g. User 3   213 ) or special user (e.g. system administrator) may create a Workspace (e.g. Workspace 3   273 ). To do so, one or more of the following steps, not necessarily in order, may be performed:
       Choose a name for the workspace as well as other predetermined criteria   Check Parameters for permission to create a Workspace. For example, if the user has the appropriate rights, the workspace name isn&#39;t currently used, etc.   Generate a random Workspace. Key (e.g. W 3 )   Generate Encrypted Workspace Key (e.g.  253 ) by encrypting Workspace Key (e.g. W 3 ) with Community Key (e.g. C 3   a ). This may involve obtaining the Community Key (e.g. C 3   a ) by decrypting an Encrypted Community Key (e.g.  244 )   Store Encrypted Workspace Key (e.g.  253 ) and other associated Parameters in associated Permit (e.g. Permit 3   233 ).       
 
       Removing a Workspace 
       [0169]    A User (e.g. User 3   213 ) or special user (e.g. system administrator) may remove a Workspace (e.g. Workspace 3   273 ). To do so, one or more of the following steps, not necessarily in order, may be performed:
       Check Parameters for permission to remove the Workspace. For example, if the Workspace needs to be empty, if the User has appropriate rights, if the User is the owner of the Workspace etc.   Check Parameters about whether keys and/or content need to be removed or flagged as removed.   Remove, or flag as removed, the Encrypted Workspace Key(s) (e.g.  253 ) from the associated Permit (e.g. Permit 3   233 ).   Remove, or flag as removed, the related Encrypted Content Key(s) (e.g.  264 ,  265 ) from the associated Permit (e.g. Permit 3   233 )   Optionally remove the Encrypted Content (e.g.  283 ,  284 ) from Storage  290  (e.g. Store 2   292 ).   Optionally audit and/or notify other members of the Community (e.g. Community 3   203 ) that the Workspace (e.g. Workspace 3   273 ) has been removed.   Optionally generate a new Community Key in order to make sure that a new community user cannot decrypt an old Workspace key and/or old encrypted content.       
 
       Workspace Operations 
       [0177]    With reference to  FIG. 2 , a User (e.g.  211 ) may use a Client Controller (e.g.  221 ) and information contained in associated Permits (e.g. Permit 1   231 ) to perform operations on the set of Encrypted Content  280  within a Workspace (e.g.  271 ), such as create, replace, and remove. An individual Encrypted Content item (e.g.  283 ) may be added to multiple Workspaces (e.g.  271 ,  273 ). 
       Adding Encrypted Content to a Workspace 
       [0178]    After importing Encrypted Content (e.g.  283 ), a Client Controller (e.g.  221 ) may need to update one or more associated Permits (e.g. Permit 1   231 ). To do so, one or more of the following steps, not necessarily in order, may be performed:
       Check Parameters for permission to create Encrypted Content. For example, if the user has the appropriate rights, the Encrypted Content name isn&#39;t currently used, etc. If Encrypted Content is to be shared between two (overlapping) Workspaces, then the user may need to be a member of each of the associated Communities.   Obtain Workspace information, such as Parameters and Workspace Key (e.g. W 1 ) from relevant Permit(s) (e.g. Permit 1   231 ,  233 ) as previously described.   Generate Encrypted Content Key(s) (e.g.  263 ,  264 ) by encrypting the Content Key (e.g. D 3 ) with associated Workspace Key(s) (e.g. W 1 , W 3 ). Parameters may be included. Store Encrypted Content Key(s) (e.g.  263 ,  264 ) in associated Permit(s) (e.g.  231 ,  233 ).   Add Parameters to Permit(s) about the new content such as its name, size, location, version etc. Parameters may be encrypted, for example with Community Key(s) (e.g. C 1   b , C 3   a ) and/or Workspace Key(s) (e.g. W 1 , W 3 ).   If replacing Encrypted Content, remove old Encrypted Content Key(s) from associated Permit(s) or, alternatively, flag old Encrypted Content Key(s) with version information in associated Permit(s).
 
Removing Encrypted Content from a Workspace
       
 
         [0184]    A Client Controller (e.g.  222 ) may remove Encrypted Content (e.g.  282 ) by updating the associated Permit (e.g. Permit/231). To do so, one or more of the following steps, not necessarily in order, may be performed:
       Check Parameters for permission to remove Encrypted Content. For example, if the User is the owner of the Encrypted Content and/or Workspace, if the User has appropriate rights, if the associated Workspace or Encrypted Content Isn&#39;t locked etc.   Obtain workspace information, such as Parameters and Workspace Key (e.g. W 1 ) from a relevant Permit (e.g. Permit 1   231 ) as previously described.   Optionally check Parameters or other policy about whether this User (e.g.  212 ) may delete this Encrypted Content (e.g.  282 ). For example, policies may restrict who can remove Encrypted Content e.g. author, owner of workspace, administrator, privileged user etc.   Remove the old Encrypted Content Key and related Parameters from the Permit  230  for that Content (e.g. Data 2 ) and/or remove the Encrypted Content (e.g.  282 ) and/or including replicas from the Storage Service (e.g.  291 ,  292 ). Alternatively, flag the old Encrypted Content Key with version information in associated Permit.       
 
       Distributing Encrypted Content Streams 
       [0189]    Encrypted Content may be shared using one or more streams to other Client Controllers. With reference to  FIG. 2 , a Workspace (e.g.  271 ) may contain a Stream (e.g. Data 2 ) which members of an associated Community (e.g.  201 ) may participate in. To do so, one or more of the following steps, not necessarily in order, may be performed:
       A Client Controller may open streams to other Client Controllers in the Community.   If a Client Controller receives Content it may encrypt it (as previously described) and my pass it on to other Client Controllers.   If a Client Controller receives Encrypted Content from another Client Controller, it may pass that on providing that it has not already done so before. To check for this loop condition, the Client Controller may check previous transmissions, or some derivation such as a hash of a previous transmission:   If a Stream is closed and re-opened then corresponding streams to other Client Controllers may need to be closed and re-opened. This may involve saving the stream as an attachment in the Workspace.   If information in a Permit is changed relating to the Stream, for example Parameters or a new Content Key, then the Client Controller may publish this changed Permit to other Client Controllers.       
 
       Community Management 
       [0195]    With reference to  FIG. 2 , Users  210  may use their Client Controllers  220  to manage, for example create and/or remove, Communities  200  by updating information in an associated Permits  230 . These actions may also be restricted by Parameters, such as having appropriate rights. 
       Creating a Community 
       [0196]    A User (e.g. User 3   213 ) or special user (e.g. system administrator) may create a Community (e.g. Community 3   203 ). To do so, one or more of the following steps, not necessarily in order, may be performed:
       Choose a name for the community as well as other predetermined criteria.   Check Parameters for permission to create a Community. For example, if the user has the appropriate rights, the community name isn&#39;t currently used, etc.   Generate a random Community Key (e.g. C 3   a )   Generate Encrypted Community Key (e.g.  244 ) for the owner (e.g. User 3   213 ) of that community by encrypting Community Key (e.g. C 3   a ) with the certificate (e.g.  238 ) of the owner. This may include checking for revocation.   Store Encrypted Community Key (e.g.  244 ) in an associated Permit (e.g. Permit 3   233 ).       
 
       Removing a Community 
       [0202]    A User (e.g. User 3   213 ) or special user (e.g. system administrator) may remove a Community (e.g. Community 3   203 ). To do so, one or more of the following steps, not necessarily in order, may be performed:
       Check Parameters for permission to remove the Community. For example, if the User is the owner of the Community, if the removal of the Community doesn&#39;t create orphan Users (users that do not belong to a Community), if the User has appropriate rights, if the associated Workspace may be removed by the User etc.   Check Parameters about whether Permit information need to be removed or flagged as removed.   Remove, or flag as removed, the Encrypted Community Key(s) (e.g.  243 ,  244 ) from the associated Permit (e.g. Permit 3   233 ),   Remove, or flag as removed, the related Workspace (e.g. Workspace 3   272 ) as previously described.   Optionally audit and/or notify other members (e.g. User 2   212 ) of the Community (e.g. Community 3   203 ) that a Community (e.g.  203 ) has been removed.       
 
       Community Operations 
       [0208]    Users  210  may use their Client Controllers  220  to invite or remove another Users  210  to/from Communities  200 . 
       Adding a User to a Community 
       [0209]    A User (e.g. User 2   212 ) or special user (e.g. system administrator) may be added to a Community (e.g. Community 3   203 ). To do so, one or more of the following steps, not necessarily in order, may be performed:
       Check Parameters for permission to add a User to a Community. For example, if the User is the owner of the Community, if the User has appropriate rights, etc.   An Initiator (e.g. User 3   213 ) may invite an Invitee (e.g. User  212 ) to become a member of a Community (e.g. Community  3   203 ).   If the Invitee is not currently a User of the System then they may register as described below.   If the Invitee already has a relationship with the Initiator, for example they both currently or have been a member of a particular community, then the invitation may be accepted automatically.   If the Invitee and Initiator both trust the Credential Service, for example they are using an existing Certification Authority, then the invitation may be accepted automatically.   If the Invitee and Initiator are setting up a relationship, then the Initiator (e.g.  213 ) may provide a “secret” invitation code and/or obtaining Invitee&#39;s certificate (e.g. U 2   237 ) from associated Permit (e.g. Permit 3   233 ). The invitation code may be unique and/or be valid for a limited time. If the Invitee (e.g.  212 ) accepts the invitation, then they may return the “secret” invitation code and/or their certificate and/or certificate fingerprint to the Initiator (e.g.  213 ).   Initiator (e.g.  213 ) checks Invitee&#39;s (e.g.  212 ) acceptance. This may involve checking the “secret” invitation code, checking the certificate, checking the certificate fingerprint etc.   Initiator (e.g.  213 ) stores information in associated Permit (e.g.  233 ). This may include storing an Encrypted Community Key (e.g.  243 ) using the public key in the certificate of Invitee (e.g. U 2   237 ). It may also include adding Invitee (e.g.  212 ) to Parameters (e.g.  253 ) describing the Community and other information such as access Parameters. This may involve checking revocation.   Optionally audit and/or notify members of the Community (e.g. Community 3   203 ) that a User has been added to a Community.   Optionally, generate a new Workspace Key and re-encrypting the Content Keys in the associated Workspace (e.g. Workspace 3   273 ). This may be to ensure that the new user cannot decrypt Content that that has previously been deleted from the Workspace.
 
Removing a User from a Community
       
 
         [0220]    A User (e.g. User 1   211 ) may remove another User (e.g. User 2   212 ) from a Community (e.g. Community 1   201 ). To do so, one or more of the following steps not necessarily in order may be performed:
       Check Parameters for permission to remove a User from a Community. For example, if the User is the owner of the Community, if the removal of the User doesn&#39;t create an empty Community, if the removal of a User doesn&#39;t result in an orphan User (such that they do not belong to any Community), if the User has appropriate rights, etc. If the User is being removed from the System, then a different set of checks may be performed, as described below.   Update associated Permit (e.g.  231 ) to remove the User (e.g.  212 ) from Parameters (e.g.  232 ,  251 ) describing the Community (e.g.  201 ) or other information e.g. access Parameter information   Generate a new (random) Community Key (e.g. C 1   c  not shown in  FIG. 2 )   Update associated Permit (e.g.  231 ) to remove the previous Encrypted Community Key (e.g.  242 )   Re-encrypt this Community Key (e.g. C 1   c  not shown in  FIG. 2 ) for each other user in the Community using their respective certificates (public key) (e.g.  235 ) and update associated Permit (e.g.  231 )   Generate one or more new Workspace Key(s) (e.g. W 1   b  not shown in  FIG. 2 ), re-encrypt the Content Keys in that Workspace and update the associated Permit (e.g.  231 ). This may be to ensure that the user being deleted cannot decrypt new Content being placed in the Workspace.       
 
       User Management 
       [0227]    With reference to  FIG. 1 , Users  100  may be added or removed from the System  120 . These actions may also be restricted by Parameters, such as policies and/or workflow processes. 
         [0228]    In the case of a pre-defined community, for example employees in an enterprise, members of an organisation, subscribers to a service etc, where credentials are already managed, the addition and/or removal of Users  100  into System  120  may be fully or partly automatic. 
         [0000]    Initialising a User into the System 
         [0229]    With reference to  FIG. 1  a new User  100  may be initialised into the System  120 . To do so, one or more of the following steps, not necessarily in order, may be performed:
       The new User  100  obtains Client Controller  140  software, e.g. via a website, personal contact, email, enterprise server etc.   The new User  100  obtains Credentials  142  from a Credential Service  170 . This may be via manual means or using the Client Controller  140 . Examples of a Credential Service  170  include, a web site, a Certificate Authority, an online Certification Service, an authentication server, a single-sign-on server etc.   Some or all of the credentials may be pre-existing. Examples of pre-existing credentials include enterprises or organisations or closed communities which already make use of and identity infrastructure such as a private certificate infrastructure, Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and/or third party service. There may be different credentials for different purposes e.g. signing, encryption, communications.   All or part of the credentials may be generated by the User  100  and/or Client Controller  140  such, as a label, identifier, password, private key, public key etc. The Credential Service may use these to generate further forms of credentials e.g. certificates.   Credentials  142  may be stored in Client Controller  140 . Some of the Credential information may be stored in the Permit e.g., identifiers, parameters, certificates. Some of the Credential information may only exist in the Client Controllers  140  e.g. private keys.   Each User  100  of the System  120  may be identified by a label. The label may be any type of tag and need not necessarily be related to an identity service or represent or identify anything in the real world e.g. a person, organisation, service etc. Preferably, the label should be unique within the System.
 
Removing a User from the System
       
 
         [0236]    To remove a User from the System, one or more of the following actions may be taken:
       Removal of a User may be subject to Parameters and/or a workflow process.   Certificates issued to the User being removed may need to be revoked as described below.   The User may be removed from each community which that User is a member of and the corresponding Permits updated as previously described.   A User may also be flagged as inactive, suspended, disabled and/or other states rather than being removed. In this case, appropriate Permits may need to be updated.   if a User is the owner of a Community, then removing that user may require another member of that Community to become the owner of that Community   If a User is the owner of a Workspace, then removing that user may require another member of the associated Community to become owner of that Workspace.   In the case of stolen credentials, or other situations of extreme prejudice such as a rogue user, then all keys and documents relating to that user may need to be removed from the System.       
 
       User Operations 
       [0244]    With reference to  FIG. 1 , Users  100  may need to authenticate to the System  120 . Additionally, Client Controllers  140  may need to authenticate to other system components such as Credential Service  170 , Permit Service  180  and/or Storage Service  160 . The credentials used may be communications credentials. 
         [0000]    Logging into the Client Controller 
         [0245]    With reference to  FIG. 1 , Users  100  may login to their Client Controller  140  using appropriate Credentials  142  such as username, password, tokens, tickets etc. Client Controller  140  may store the Credentials locally e.g. using a cryptographic key store. Credentials  142  may also be verified using Credential Service  170 , such a single-sign-on server, Kerberos server, Security Assertion Mark-up Language (SAML) server or any other type of ticketing or authentication server or service. 
         [0000]    Logging into System Services 
         [0246]    With reference to  FIG. 1 , Client Controllers may need to login into System Services such as Credential Service  170 , Permit Service  180 , Storage Service  160  or any other service such as authentication service, escrow service, registration service etc. To do so, Client Controllers  140  may use Credentials  142  and/or information in Permit(s)  152  and/or any other predefined criteria. 
       Credential Management 
       [0247]    With reference to  FIG. 1 , a User  100  may obtain credentials from Credential Service  170 . This may be when User  100  is first registered in the System  120 , or may occur each time User logs into Client Controllers  140  in the case where Credentials  142  are not permanently stored in Client Controller  140 . 
       Obtaining Credentials Using a Certificate Service 
       [0248]    With reference to  FIG. 3 , a New User  300  may obtain certificate based User Credentials  313  using their Client Controller  310 . The Credential Service as shown in  FIG. 1  may be functionally considered to comprise one or more of an Identity Service  320 , Registration Service  330  and/or Certificate Service  340  as shown in  FIG. 3 . Any one or any combination of these Services may be provided externally, for example by making use of a website, a third-party service and/or enterprise servers. The Client Controller  310  may need to obtain associated trusted certificates or other credentials prior to setting up User Credentials  313 . If an existing certificate infrastructure is being used, then the User Credentials  313  may be obtained by other means, such as an Escrow Service (described below), manual means or through an Application Programming Interface (API). 
         [0249]    With reference to  FIG. 3 , to setup User Credentials  313 , one or more of the following steps, not necessarily in order, may be performed:
       New User  300  may Authenticate  360  to an Identity Service  320 . This may be for the purpose of registering, for example via a web site, or may be part of their normal practices, for example logging into a corporate network. The Identity Service  420  may provide a mechanism to prove the login, for example a ticket, token or session identifier.   New User  300  may Register  301  for example, as the result of an invitation or as part of the initialisation of the Client Controller  310 . If existing credentials are being used, then the entire registration process may be automatic.   Client Controller  310  may connect to Registration Service  330  and may provide additional information such as a Token  361  and/or Label  311 . The Label  311  may be provided by the New User  300  and/or be generated by the Client Controller  310 . The Label  311  may be related to the account used to Authenticate  360 . If the Label  311  is unrelated to the account used to Authenticate  360 , then the Registration Service  330  may need to maintain the mapping between the Label  311  and the account used to Authenticate  360 , for example where User Credentials  313  need to be re-issued or are revoked. The Label  331  may be any string or number such as an account name, email address, pseudonym, code or random string. The Label  311  may be obtained using any mechanism e.g. manually input, generated or imported, from any source e.g. from the New User  300 , the Client Controller  310 , the Identity Service  320  and/or the Registration Service  330 . The label need necessarily not identify a real object such as a user, organisation, web service, account etc. In a preferred embodiment, the Label should be unique within the system.   The Registration Service  330  may Verify  321  the identity of New User  300  e.g. using information provided such as a Token  361 . For example, if Identity Service  320  was an enterprise access service e.g. web single-sign-on, enterprise single-sign-on, corporate directory, Kerberos server etc, then Token  361  would be a corresponding authorisation such as a ticket, session identifier, assertion or cookie. In another example, if Label  311  is an email address, then Registration Service  330  may Verify  321  the email address by sending an email to the New User  300  with a secret, for example a string or code, which New User  300  will need to supply as Token  381 . The Registration Service  330  may perform other checks, such as verifying that Label  311  is not being used by another user, checking system policies etc. Note that in the case of re-issuing credentials (described below) the Label  311  may need to be the same as that used when New User  300  first registered.   The Registration Service  330  may acknowledge the enrolment with a Nonce  362 . In this step, the Certificate Service  340  may be contacted, using pre-determined criteria, to obtain a Nonce  331  and optionally other information. “Nonce” stands for “number only used once” which is provided for a following certification request. Other information provided by the Registration Service  330  may include certificate policy information and cryptographically strong seed material to help with key generation.   Client Controller  310  may generate Certification Requests  363 . To do so, the Client Controller  310  may generate Key Pairs  312 , such as public and private key pairs. Different Key Pairs  312  may be for different purposes such as signing, encryption and communications e.g. Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). The generation process may use seed material provided by the Registration Service  330  and/or take place using a Hardware Security Module (HSM). The private keys preferably remain with the Client Controller  310 . The public keys and optionally nonce information are used to form Certification Requests  363  made to the Certificate Service  340 . The Certificate Requests  363  may be in a standard form, suchas a Public-Key Cryptography Standard 10 (PKCS#10) Certification Request.   The Certificate Service  340  may issue User Certificates  384  according to pre-defined criteria. For example, if the requests are valid, if the New User  300  satisfies system policies etc. The User Certificates  364  may be in a standard form, such as X.509 certificates. The User Certificates  364  may be signed using the root certification path such as trusted certificates. The trusted certificates, or related trust anchor certificate(s), may be embedded in the Client Controller  300  and/or other system components if used, such as the Permit. Service  350 . If a Label  311  is supplied, it may be used as the source for all or part of the Subject in the User Certificates  364 .   The Client Controller  310  may associate each User Certificate  364  with the corresponding private key, the combination forming a User Credential  313 .   User Certificates  364  may be published to the Permit Service  350 . The Permit Service  350  may use the Certificate Subject and/or Issuer, and/or Serial Number and/or other mechanism to associate the New User  300  with the User Certificates  365 . The Client Controller  310  may publish only selected certificates, such as signing and encryption certificates.       
 
       Obtaining Credentials Using an Escrow Service 
       [0259]    With reference to  FIG. 4 , a User  400  may use an Identity Service  420  to obtain credentials and/or login to the system. The reason may be that the Client Controller  410  may not store Credentials  413  for example for security reasons, remote access reasons or for credential recovery (described below). To obtain escrowed credentials, one or more of the following steps, not necessarily in order, may be performed:
       User  400  provides credentials such as username, password, etc. in order to Authenticate  460  to an Identity Service  420 . This may be part of normal practices, for example logging into a corporate network. Alternatively, User  400  may use Client. Controller  410  to Authenticate  460  to the Identity Server  420  by providing credentials with Login  401 . The Identity Service  420  may provide a mechanism to prove the login, for example a ticket, token, session Identifier, cookie etc.   If the Escrow Service  440  requires certificate based credentials, then Client Controller  410  may generate a Temporary Key Pair  411  and provide identifying information such as a Token with a Certificate Request  461  to Certificate Service  430 . Certificate Service  430  may Verify  421  the Token with the Identity Service  420  and may perform other checks, such as checking the validity of Certificate Request  461  and other predetermined criteria prior to issuing a Temporary Certificate  462 . The Client Controller  410  may use the Temporary Certificate  462  to form a Temporary Credential  412  and may use this to Connect  463  to an Escrow Service  440 .   The Escrow Service  440  may use certificate information provided on a Connect  463  to identify User  400 . If other credentials are provided on Connect  463 , then Escrow Service  440  may need to Verify  431  identifying information to Identity Service  420 . If a label is provided by User  400  and is not related to the account being used in Identity Service  420 , then Escrow Service  440  may need to Verify  442  with the Registration Service  450  that the label and identifying information match. Escrow Service  440 , after appropriate checking, may return User Credentials  464  to the Client Controller  410 . Escrow Service  440  may use an encrypted link and/or return credentials in an encrypted form.   If Escrow Service  440  returns User Credentials  464  in an encrypted form, then Client Controller  410  may Decrypt  465  them in order to obtain User Credentials  413 . The password or other mechanism to Decrypt  465  may be provided by the User  400 .   Client Controller may use User Credentials  413  to login to other System Services as previously described.       
 
       Revoking Credentials 
       [0265]    When Certificate Service  340  is informed that credentials of a User need to be revoked, then one or more of the following actions may occur:
       Marking the User as revoked within the Certificate Service  340     Adding the User&#39;s revoked certificates to relevant Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs)   Updating information so that a check made with an Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) returns the appropriate revoked response.       
 
       Re-Issuing Credentials 
       [0269]    In some circumstances, Credentials may need to be re-issued. For example, if certificates expire, credentials become unusable such as if a computer was damaged, a password was forgotten, or credentials were lost and there has been no use of those credentials since the time that they were lost. 
         [0270]    With reference to  FIG. 3 , credentials that can be safely revoked, that is, revoked without prejudice, may be re-issued to a given user with one or more of the following actions may occur:
       Certificates may be revoked as described above.   Credentials may be re-issued as outlined above in Obtaining Credentials using a Certificate Service, except that the Label  311  may need to be the same as that was supplied when the User first registered.   If a User whose credentials are being re-issued is the owner of a Community and/or Workspace, then a temporary Community owner and/or Workspace owner may need to be effected. After the completion of the issuance of new credentials, the user may be reverted back to being the owner of relevant Community(s) and/or Workspace(s).   Keys may need to be re-encrypted, as described above in Removing a User from a Community.       
 
       Credential Operations 
       [0275]    Credentials may be used for different purposes, for example communications, signing and encryption. Where private key operations are required, the private key may obtained from a local keystore or the private key operations may be made using a Hardware Security Module (HSM). 
       Credentials Used in Communications 
       [0276]    Credentials relating to communications, such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), Transport Layer. Security (TLS) etc., may be used for connecting to system services, such as Storage Service  160 , Credential Service  170 , and Permit Service  180 . These Services may need to check for revocation back to the Credential Service  170 . 
       Credentials Used in Signing 
       [0277]    Credentials relating to signing may be used for signing and/or verifying Content  110 .
       A User  100  may sign content using their private key. The signing may involve including a separately signed timestamp.   A User may verify the digital signature using the public key in the certificate of that user who signed the content. The verification may include checking for revocation and/or verifying a signed timestamp.       
 
       Credentials Used in Encryption and Decryption 
       [0280]    Credentials relating to encryption may be used for protecting keys as described in sections above relating to Community Keys and Permits. The process for decryption may involve checking for revocation. 
       General 
       [0281]    While this invention has been described in connection with specific embodiments thereof, it will be understood that it is capable of further modification(s). This application is intended to cover any variations uses or adaptations of the invention following in general, the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice within the art to which the invention pertains and as may be applied to the essential features hereinbefore set forth. 
         [0282]    As the present invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit of the essential characteristics of the invention, it should be understood that the above described embodiments are not to limit the present invention unless otherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrative only and not restrictive. 
         [0283]    Various modifications and equivalent arrangements are intended to be included within the spirit and scope of the invention and appended claims. Therefore, the specific embodiments are to be understood to be illustrative of the many ways in which the principles of the present invention may be practiced. In the following claims, means-plus-function clauses are intended to cover structures as performing the defined function and not only structural equivalents, but also equivalent structures. For example, although a nail and a screw may not be structural equivalents in that a nail employs a cylindrical surface to secure wooden parts together, whereas a screw employs a helical surface to secure wooden parts together, in the environment of fastening wooden parts, a nail and a screw are equivalent structures. 
         [0284]    It should be noted that where the terms “server”, “secure server” or similar terms are used herein, a communication device is described that may be used in a communication system, unless the context otherwise requires, and should not be construed to limit the present invention to any particular communication device type. Thus, a communication device may include, without limitation, a bridge, router, bridge-router (router), switch, node, or other communication device, which may or may not be secure. 
         [0285]    It should also be noted that where a flowchart is used herein to demonstrate various aspects of the invention, it should not be construed to limit the present invention to any particular logic flow or logic implementation. The described logic may be partitioned into different logic blocks (e.g., programs, modules, functions, or subroutines) without changing the overall results or otherwise departing from the true scope of the invention. Often, logic elements may be added, modified, omitted, performed in a different order, or implemented using different logic constructs (e.g., logic gates, looping primitives, conditional logic, and other logic constructs) without changing the overall results or otherwise departing from the true scope of the invention. 
         [0286]    Various embodiments of the invention may be embodied in many different forms, including computer program logic for use with a processor (e.g., a microprocessor, microcontroller, digital signal processor, or general purpose computer), programmable logic for use with a programmable logic device (e.g., a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other PLD), discrete components, integrated circuitry (e.g., an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC)), or any other means including any combination thereof. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, predominantly all of the communication between users and the server is implemented as a set of computer program instructions that is converted into a computer executable form, stored as such in a computer readable medium, and executed by a microprocessor under the control of an operating system. 
         [0287]    Computer program logic implementing all or part of the functionality where described herein may be embodied in various forms, including a source code form, a computer executable form, and various intermediate forms (e.g., forms generated by an assembler, compiler, linker, or locator). Source code may include a series of computer program instructions implemented in any of various programming languages (e.g., an object code, an assembly language, or a high-level language such as Fortran, C, C++, JAVA, EcmaScript or HTML) for use with various operating systems or operating environments. The source code may define and use various data structures and communication messages. The source code may be in a computer executable form (e.g., via an interpreter), or the source code may be converted (e.g., via a translator, assembler, or compiler) into a computer executable form. 
         [0288]    The computer program may be fixed in any form (e.g., source code form, computer executable form, or an intermediate form) either permanently or transitorily in a tangible storage medium, such as a semiconductor memory device (e.g. a RAM, ROM, PROM, EEPROM, or Flash-Programmable RAM), a magnetic memory device (e.g., a diskette or fixed disk), an optical memory device (e.g., a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM), a PC card (e.g., PCMCIA card), or other memory device. The computer program may be fixed in any form in a signal that is transmittable to a computer using any of various communication technologies, including, but in no way limited to, analog technologies, digital technologies, optical technologies, wireless technologies (e.g., Bluetooth), networking technologies, and inter-networking technologies. The computer program may be distributed in any form as a removable storage medium with accompanying printed or electronic documentation (e.g., shrink wrapped software), preloaded with a computer system (e.g., on system ROM or fixed disk), or distributed from a server or electronic bulletin board over the communication system (e.g., the Internet or World Wide Web). 
         [0289]    Hardware logic (including programmable logic for use with a programmable logic device) implementing all or part of the functionality where described herein may be designed using traditional manual methods, or may be designed, captured, simulated, or documented electronically using various tools, such as Computer Aided Design (CAD), a hardware description language (e.g., VHDL or AHDL), or a PLD programming language (e.g., PALASM, ABEL, or CUPL). 
         [0290]    Programmable logic may be fixed either permanently or transitorily in a tangible storage medium, such as a semiconductor memory device (e.g., a RAM, ROM, PROM, EEPROM, or Flash-Programmable RAM), a magnetic memory device (e.g., a diskette or fixed disk), an optical memory device (e.g., a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM), or other memory device. The programmable logic may be fixed in a signal that is transmittable to a computer using any of various communication technologies, including, but in no way limited to, analog technologies, digital technologies, optical technologies, wireless technologies (e.g., Bluetooth), networking technologies, and internetworking technologies. The programmable logic may be distributed as a removable storage medium with accompanying printed or electronic documentation (e.g., shrink wrapped software), preloaded with a computer system (e.g., on system ROM or fixed disk), or distributed from a server or electronic bulletin board over the communication system (e.g., the Internet or World Wide Web). 
         [0291]    “Comprises/comprising” and “includes/including” when used in this specification is taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or components but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof. Thus, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words ‘comprise’, ‘comprising’, ‘includes’, ‘including’ and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of “including, but not limited to”. 
         [0292]    Throughout this specification the use of words in singular form may be taken as reference to words in plural and vice versa.