McAfee MEJCAE-AM-DA Product Guide - Page 40

Reconstituting a split key, To join a key locally

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Managing Keys Splitting and rejoining a key E-Business Server splits the key into the number of shares specified, then encrypts each portion of the key to the specified shareholder. Each shareholder receives a share file (in .shf format) for every share he/she owns. For example, if you were to split a company signing key between 3 shareholders (Amy, Peter Wallings, and [email protected]) where Amy gets 2 shares, and the other recipients each get 1 share, the resulting share filenames would be: Amy2 Shares.shf Peter Wallings1 Share.shf [email protected] Share.shf In this example, the following format is used: Note: When you want to rejoin the split key, you must enter the complete share filename, including the user ID and number of shares. Please note that there is no space between the user ID and the number of shares, but there is a space before the .shf file. Also, if a user has more than one share file, then the filename is plural-Shares.shf instead of Share.shf. To verify the key has been split, use the --key-list option. The key displays "Splt" in the Type column. Reconstituting a split key Once a key is split among multiple shareholders, attempting to sign or decrypt with it will cause E-Business Server to automatically attempt to rejoin the key. There are two ways to rejoin the key, locally and remotely. To rejoin key shares locally requires the shareholders presence at the rejoining computer. Each shareholder is required to enter the passphrase for his/her key share. To rejoin key shares remotely requires the remote shareholders to authenticate and decrypt their keys before sending them over the network. E-Business Server's Transport Layer Security (TLS) provides a secure link to transmit key shares which allows multiple individuals in distant locations to securely sign or decrypt with his/her key share. Before receiving key shares over the network, you should verify each shareholder's fingerprint and sign his/her public key to ensure that the authenticating key is legitimate. To learn how to verify a key pair, see Validity and trust on page 46. Reconstituting a split key locally To reconstitute a split key locally requires the shareholder's presence at the rejoining computer. Each shareholder must enter his/her own passphrase to decrypt the share file encrypted to his/her key. To join a key locally: 1 Enter the following on the command line: ebs --key-join 2 Enter the complete share filename belonging to the first shareholder. For example, you might enter Amy2 Shares.shf from the previous example in Creating a split key on page 37. 3 Enter the passphrase belonging to this shareholder. The portion of the split key encrypted to this shareholder decrypts. E-Business Server displays the number of valid shares from each shareholder, as well as the minimum number of shares needed to rejoin the key. 4 Repeat steps 2 and 3 until the minimum number of shares needed to rejoin the key is decrypted. The key is rejoined. E-Business Server™ 8.6 Product Guide 38

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E-Business Server
8.6
Product Guide
38
Managing Keys
Splitting and rejoining a key
E-Business Server splits the key into the number of shares specified, then encrypts each portion of the
key to the specified shareholder. Each shareholder receives a share file (in
.shf
format) for every share
he/she owns.
For example, if you were to split a company signing key between 3 shareholders (
Amy
,
Peter Wallings
,
and
) where
Amy
gets 2 shares, and the other recipients each get 1 share, the resulting
share filenames would be:
Amy2 Shares.shf
Peter Wallings1 Share.shf
In this example, the following format is used:
<userID><number_of_shares> <Share.shf or Shares.shf>
Note:
When you want to rejoin the split key, you must enter the complete share filename, including the user ID and
number of shares. Please note that there is no space between the user ID and the number of shares, but there is a space
before the .shf file. Also, if a user has more than one share file, then the filename is plural—Shares.shf instead of
Share.shf.
To verify the key has been split, use the
--key-list
option. The key displays
“Splt”
in the
Type
column.
Reconstituting a split key
Once a key is split among multiple shareholders, attempting to sign or decrypt with it will cause E-Business
Server to automatically attempt to rejoin the key. There are two ways to rejoin the key,
locally
and
remotely
.
To rejoin key shares locally requires the shareholders presence at the rejoining computer. Each shareholder
is required to enter the passphrase for his/her key share.
To rejoin key shares remotely requires the remote shareholders to authenticate and decrypt their keys
before sending them over the network. E-Business Server’s Transport Layer Security (TLS) provides a
secure link to transmit key shares which allows multiple individuals in distant locations to securely sign or
decrypt with his/her key share.
Before receiving key shares over the network, you should verify each shareholder’s fingerprint and sign
his/her public key to ensure that the authenticating key is legitimate. To learn how to verify a key pair, see
Validity and trust
on page 46
.
Reconstituting a split key locally
To reconstitute a split key locally requires the shareholder’s presence at the rejoining computer. Each
shareholder must enter his/her own passphrase to decrypt the share file encrypted to his/her key.
To join a key locally:
1
Enter the following on the command line:
ebs --key-join <userID of key to join>
2
Enter the complete share filename belonging to the first shareholder.
For example, you might enter
Amy2 Shares.shf
from the previous example in
Creating a split key
on
page 37
.
3
Enter the passphrase belonging to this shareholder.
The portion of the split key encrypted to this shareholder decrypts.
E-Business Server displays the number of valid shares from each shareholder, as well as the minimum
number of shares needed to rejoin the key.
4
Repeat steps 2 and 3 until the minimum number of shares needed to rejoin the key is decrypted.
The key is rejoined.