Importance

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Abstract

The invention comprises a combined public and private hashing scheme for authenticating the content of a distributed database. The public portion of the scheme is as performed in the prior art. When a portion of content is submitted to the database, a hash is computed using a publicly distributed hashing algorithm and a publicly distributed key, if a key is needed. The computation of the hash may be performed either by a registry computer system or the computer system of the individual submitting the content. Once the hash is computed, it is associated with the submitted content. Subsequent users of the submitted content can then authenticate the content locally, by computing a hash using the publicly available algorithm, and comparing the hash obtained to the hash associated with the content. In those instances where an extra measure of authentication is desired, or if unsuccessful verification of the public hash has called the authenticity of the content into question, the authenticity of the content can be determined via a private hash. The private hash is a second hash computed for the content upon submission to the database. The specific algorithm used to compute the private hash, and any keys used by this algorithm, are known only to the registry computer system. The authenticity of the content in question is determined by resubmitting the questioned content to the registry, where a hash is computed using the private hashing algorithm, and compared with the original private hash.

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First Claim