A Distributed Key Generation Technique
Chenxi Wang, William A. Wulf · Libra · 1996
In a public key cryptographic system, the uniqueness and authenticity of the keys are essential to the success of the system. Traditionally, a single, centralized key distribution/certification server has been used to generate and distribute keys. This approach requires a distinguished trusted entity which could potentially become a single point of failure or penetration in a distributed environment. We present in this paper a new, simple way to handle distributed key generation We assign a unique range of m-bit numbers to each key generator in the system. As a result, the lower-order m bits of the keys generated is a unique number in the assigned range. our scheme not only provides a way to generate globally unique keys in an independent, distributed fashion, it also enhances the security of public-key cryptosystems by eliminating the mapping between keys and entity names.