Hushmesh is collaborating with George Mason University (GMU) and the Center for Cybersecurity Analytics and Automation (CCAA) – a consortium of academic and industry partners established under the National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers (IUCRC) Program – to invite, recruit and support students, researchers and industry partners to participate in this project. |
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Introduction
The lack of built-in identity and data security layers on the internet has given rise to a patchwork of domain-centric solutions. The proliferation of accounts, associated credentials and disparate security measures has become not only a nuisance but a real cybersecurity risk for everyone. While cryptography has long been known to offer powerful solutions to a wide range of such problems, it has remained difficult to deploy to mainstream users: indeed, cryptography is irreversibly unforgiving, and people are inherently unreliable...
Hushmesh leverages IoT trusted computing technology to wrap the full power of end-to-end cryptography in a user experience that anyone can use: if you can snap a picture, you already know how to “mesh in”. The company is developing and planning to deploy a global mesh network of low-cost, trustworthy, personal, consumer-grade cryptographic devices called “Trustees”. Each Trustee automates end-to-end cryptographic transactions on the mesh on behalf of its human owner.
Well-established standard protocols, such as OpenID Connect and SAML, enable “Relying Party” organizations to join the mesh to seamlessly benefit from one-to-one, cryptographically secure transactions with each and every Trustee and their human owner. Social engineering, human errors and insider attacks on credentials can be eliminated because each user can enroll, recover and revoke them in a self-service manner and in person with their personal Trustee. Exclusive physical control over credentials eliminates identity theft as we know it.
The lack of built-in identity and data security layers on the internet has given rise to a patchwork of domain-centric solutions. The proliferation of accounts, associated credentials and disparate security measures has become not only a nuisance but a real cybersecurity risk for everyone. While cryptography has long been known to offer powerful solutions to a wide range of such problems, it has remained difficult to deploy to mainstream users: indeed, cryptography is irreversibly unforgiving, and people are inherently unreliable...
Hushmesh leverages IoT trusted computing technology to wrap the full power of end-to-end cryptography in a user experience that anyone can use: if you can snap a picture, you already know how to “mesh in”. The company is developing and planning to deploy a global mesh network of low-cost, trustworthy, personal, consumer-grade cryptographic devices called “Trustees”. Each Trustee automates end-to-end cryptographic transactions on the mesh on behalf of its human owner.
Well-established standard protocols, such as OpenID Connect and SAML, enable “Relying Party” organizations to join the mesh to seamlessly benefit from one-to-one, cryptographically secure transactions with each and every Trustee and their human owner. Social engineering, human errors and insider attacks on credentials can be eliminated because each user can enroll, recover and revoke them in a self-service manner and in person with their personal Trustee. Exclusive physical control over credentials eliminates identity theft as we know it.
Technical Overview
The core innovation of the Hushmesh platform is the decentralization of identity, authentication and cryptographic services all the way into the homes of end-users. This is achieved by operating these functions in a trusted computing “personal server” called a Trustee.
This shift in topology enables in-person, self-service enrollment, recovery and revocation of credentials by the end-users themselves, and eliminates the possibility of human errors, social engineering and insider attacks by third parties. In other words, it eliminates identity theft as we know it.
End-users link their phones to their Trustee, and each Trustee has a pre-established cryptographic identity on the mesh. This establishes a physical “chain of trust” between each user, their phone, their Trustee, the mesh and each relying party.
The core innovation of the Hushmesh platform is the decentralization of identity, authentication and cryptographic services all the way into the homes of end-users. This is achieved by operating these functions in a trusted computing “personal server” called a Trustee.
This shift in topology enables in-person, self-service enrollment, recovery and revocation of credentials by the end-users themselves, and eliminates the possibility of human errors, social engineering and insider attacks by third parties. In other words, it eliminates identity theft as we know it.
End-users link their phones to their Trustee, and each Trustee has a pre-established cryptographic identity on the mesh. This establishes a physical “chain of trust” between each user, their phone, their Trustee, the mesh and each relying party.
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The mesh enables the seamless, end-to-end management of an unlimited number of personal cryptographic keys in a way that was simply not possible only months ago. Based on cutting-edge technology (Microsoft’s Azure Sphere and Azure Confidential Computing), this foundational infrastructure unlocks large-scale, automated, and highly usable cryptographic cybersecurity solutions with potential applications for billions of mainstream users. The mesh gives rise to an era of “personal cryptographic cybersecurity”.
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Participation
Anyone affiliated with GMU and/or the CCAA is invited to participate. Up to 500 participants will receive a FREE Trustee. GMU and Hushmesh encourage all participants to devise, design and develop their own projects for new applications or integrations with other systems. Hushmesh will stagger the delivery of Trustees over several months to allow for a gradual scaling and troubleshooting of the mesh. The company may prioritize delivery of Trustees to participants with commercially attractive and viable ideas for Proof of Concept projects. The company cannot guarantee that all requestors will receive a Trustee. Hushmesh will be collecting and analyzing data from user interactions with the mesh via direct and indirect channels. Participants will be requested to fill in questionnaires on the usability of the mesh. Hushmesh will monitor internal network usage data to characterize infrastructure scaling needs for commercial release. |
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