Cryptographic sealing for information secrecy and authentication

Abstract

The problem of computer security can be considered to consist of four distinct components: secrecy (ensuring that information is only disclosed to authorized users), authentication (ensuring that information is not forged), integrity (ensuring that information is not destroyed), and availability (ensuring that access to information can not be maliciously interrupted). The paper describes a new protection mechanism called cryptographic sealing that provides primitives for secrecy and authentication. The mechanism is enforced with a synthesis of classical cryptography, public-key cryptography, and a threshold scheme.