One-time pad communications network

Abstract

A system and method for providing secure and anonymous communication between a plurality of individuals relying on the cryptographic method of the one-time pad (OTP) is described. Unique, randomly generated blocks of data are generated to serve as one-time pads, and each is given a unique identification that serves as a system address. One-time pads are anonymously distributed to communicants with a copy of each being retained by a service provider that operates a One-Time Pad Hub. Messages may be exchanged among holders of one-time pads through the Hub using the identifier addresses.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A system for encrypting and decrypting information contained within an electronic message using a one-time pad, comprising:
 a program delivery device, the program delivery device including software configured to control a processor to:
 detect a OTP Address and using the address as a sender's address on an outbound message, detect an internet address of an OTP Service, 
 to alter the internet address of the OTP Service and add alternative addresses, 
 store a pointer to a position in a one-time pad (OTP) stored in an OTP database, the OTP having a beginning location, the position in the OTP being the location of the beginning of that portion of the OTP which has not yet been used to encrypt any outbound message or password, 
 determine which portions of the OTP may be used to encrypt outbound messages and which are reserved for the decryption of inbound messages, 
 calculate an amount of available encryption data remaining on the OTP, 
 enable a text editor to compose outbound messages and to select files on the users local disk to be transmitted as attachments to the message, 
 address outbound messages to OTP addresses, 
 save OTP addresses together with other identifications of addressees provided by the user or extracted from received messages, 
 assign a subject to an OTP message, 
 encrypt the message and message data in the form of an OTP outbound message, and 
 upload and download messages to and from the OTP Hub system in accordance with an OTP message protocol. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is programmed to store outbound and received messages in a memory in communication with the processor. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the program delivery device is configured to communicate with a user's device. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the memory is located on the user's device. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the processor is programmed to use a particular directory on the user's device to store outbound messages. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is programmed to delete received messages and erasing that portion of the OTP used in the decryption of the received messages. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is programmed to provide for viewing the unencrypted text, sender, subject and attached file names of attachments included in received messages. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 3  wherein the processor is configured to store a message and its attachment(s) in unencrypted form to a memory associated with the user's device if the message not marked “eyes only”. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is programmed to perform its operations without utilizing any form of temporary files or caching. 
     
     
         10 . A system for encrypting and decrypting information content contained in an electronic message, comprising:
 a secure memory device having a memory in which is stored software for implementing one or more operations related to encrypting or decrypting an electronic message utilizing a one-time pad, the memory also having stored therein data defining a location in a one-time pad related to the secure memory;   a server remote from the secure memory device, but in communication with the secure memory device, the server programmed by appropriate software commands to carry out the functions of an OTP service.   
     
     
         11 . A method for encrypting and transmitting messages from senders to recipients employing one-time pad encryption, comprising:
 creating sets of true random data, each set being unique, and each set font ling a one-time pad;   storing one copy of each data set in a manner accessible by a server configured as a communications OTP Hub and distributing one other copy to each sender and recipient to be used as a one-time pad encryption key;   receiving a message created using a copy of a one-time pad assigned to a sender of the message at the OTP Hub, the message including an identification associated with a recipient of the message;   decrypting the message at the OTP Hub using the OTP Hub's copy of the one-time pad assigned to the sender of the message;   re-encrypting the message at the OTP Hub to re-encrypt the message using an OTP Hub copy of a one-time pad assigned to the recipient of the message; and   transmitting the encrypted message from the OTP Hub to the recipient.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the transmitted encrypted message is decrypted by the recipient using the recipient's one time pad. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein each one-time pad includes a portion used for encrypting sent messages and a portion used for decrypting received messages. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the message received from the sender includes encrypted data files. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further including erasing the portion of an OTP Hub's copy of the one-time pad assigned to the sender used to decrypt the message received from the sender after the message is decrypted at the OTP Hub. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , further including erasing the portion of the OTP Hub's copy of the one-time pad assigned to the recipient used to encrypt the encrypted message transmitted to the recipient after the message is encrypted. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising including a unique alpha-numeric number associated with each one-time-pad created. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the alpha-numeric number is used as a destination address for a holder of the copy of that one-time pad. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, at the OTP Hub, recording and storing a numeric pointer to the portion of the one-time pad assigned to the recipient which has not been used to encrypt messages for the recipient. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , further comprising transmitting to the recipient information delimiting that portion of the one-time pad assigned to the recipient used to encrypt the message as part of the message transmitted to the recipient. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising padding, at the OTP Hub, the encrypted message with some quantity of random or pseudo-random data before the encrypted message is transmitted to the recipient. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising including, at the OTP Hub, in the message a message authentication code comprising a hash or check-sum of at least some portion of the transmitted message. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising storing, at the OTP Hub, transmitted and received messages in storage devices separate from those which store one time pads. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting the encrypted message from the OTP Hub through a server remote from the OTP Hub to relay the encrypted message to the recipient. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting automatically generated messages to mask the sending and receiving activities of senders and recipients by the OTP Hub through servers remote from the OTP Hub. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting to sender by the OTP Hub, an indication that the encrypted message transmitted from the OTP Hub to the recipient has been queued for download by the recipient. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting to sender by the OTP Hub, an indication that the encrypted message transmitted from the OTP Hub to the recipient has been delivered to the recipient. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 1 , pushing, by the OTP Hub, messages to recipient's message client software. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the message received from the sender includes any electronic data structure or format, including one or more video, sound, text, image, or database files. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, transmitting by the OTP Hub an indication, selected from the list consisting of an that a received message is able to be decrypted and/or re-encrypted), an indication that the received message cannot be decrypted and/or encrypted, an indication that the received message has been decrypted and re-encrypted, or an indication has been made available for recipient pick up and/or transmitted to recipient, to the sender. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one-time pads include a portion dedicated to system messages provided by the OTP Hub. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 1 , where further comprising including an address of an OTP Hub to be used to transmit the encrypted message to the recipient. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising accessing, by the OTP Hub, a remote database of addresses associated with recipient one-time pads and relay OTP Hubs, the remote database of addresses acting as a centralized directory of addresses that can be polled by the OTP Hub.