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US-12626018-B2 - Data transmission

US12626018B2US 12626018 B2US12626018 B2US 12626018B2US-12626018-B2

Abstract

A method and computer system for submitting and receiving data relating to a first digital content element. A search query comprising at least a portion of a first digital content element is derived at a first entity, the search query being based on a first number of possible search results in a set of search results. The search query is transmitted to a second entity which comprises a content database, the content database comprising a plurality of digital content elements. A set of search results is obtained based on the search query, the set of search results comprising any digital content elements of the content database matching the search query. The search results may be transmitted to the first entity and Matched with the first digital content element or it may be transmitted to a third entity which may be a law enforcement organisation.

Inventors

  • Bruce Ramsay
  • Ian Stevenson

Assignees

  • CYACOMB LIMITED

Dates

Publication Date
20260512
Application Date
20220520
Priority Date
20210521

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A method for submitting and receiving data relating to a first digital content element, comprising: deriving a search query at a first entity, the search query comprising at least a portion of a first digital content element, wherein a first number of possible search results in a set of search results is determined, and wherein the search query is derived based on the first number of possible search results in the set of search results; transmitting the search query to a second entity, the second entity comprising a content database, the content database comprising a plurality of digital content elements; deriving a set of search results based on the search query, the set of search results comprising any digital content elements of the content database matching the search query; transmitting the set of search results to the first entity; and matching the set of search results with the first digital content element.
  2. 2 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the first digital content element comprises a representation of at least a portion of an original digital content element.
  3. 3 . A method according to claim 2 , wherein the first digital content element comprises a plurality of representations of portions of the original digital content element.
  4. 4 . A method according to claim 2 , wherein the first digital content element comprises one of: a hash; or similarity hash.
  5. 5 . A method as claimed in claim 4 wherein further processing is applied to the hash or similarity hash.
  6. 6 . A method as claimed in claim 5 wherein further processing comprises further hashing or encryption.
  7. 7 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the step of deriving a search query comprises: selecting at least a first portion of the first digital content element; and establishing the search query based on the selected first portion.
  8. 8 . A method according to claim 7 , comprising: selecting a plurality of first portions of the first digital content element; and establishing the search query based on at least one of the selected first portions.
  9. 9 . A method according to claim 7 , wherein the step of deriving a search query further comprises: determining a total number of sub-elements comprised in the first digital content element.
  10. 10 . A method according to claim 7 , wherein the step of selecting at least a first portion of the first digital content element comprises: deriving at least one set of representation units from at least a first portion of the first digital content element, wherein the at least one set of representation units comprises one or more representation units; and selecting at least one of the one or more sets of representation units.
  11. 11 . A method according to claim 10 , wherein the at least first portion comprises at least one sub-element of the first digital content element.
  12. 12 . A method according to claim 11 , wherein the at least first portion comprises a plurality of sub-elements of the first digital content element.
  13. 13 . A method according to claim 11 , wherein the at least one sub-element is a block.
  14. 14 . A method according to claim 10 , wherein the step of deriving at least one set of representation units comprises deriving a plurality of sets of representation units from the at least one first portion of the first digital content element.
  15. 15 . A method according to claim 10 , wherein the step of deriving at least one set of representation units comprises subtracting a randomised value from each of the at least one set of representation units.
  16. 16 . A method according to claim 10 , further comprising dividing the first digital content element into a plurality of sub-elements, each of which comprises one or more information units.
  17. 17 . A method according to claim 10 , wherein the step of deriving at least one set of representation units comprises deriving at least one most significant bit from the at least one first portion.
  18. 18 . A method according to claim 17 , wherein the step of deriving at least one set of representation units comprises deriving a plurality of most significant bits from the at least one first portion.
  19. 19 . A method according to claim 7 , wherein the step of establishing the search query further comprises: generating at least one additional sets of randomised representation units; and including the at least one additional sets of randomised representation units in the search query.
  20. 20 . A method according to claim 1 , further comprising, creating a first digital content element based on at least a portion of an original digital content element.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a 35 U.S.C. § 371 U.S. national phase entry of International Application PCT/GB2022/051289, filed May 20, 2022, which claims priority to GB 2107332.5, filed May 21, 2021, the contents of each of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety herein for all purposes. FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to data transmission between devices connected to a communication network and particularly, but not exclusively, improving security of communications between devices connected to such a network. BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION Maintaining privacy and security of communications transmitted between devices (e.g., user devices or server devices) connected to a communication network (such as the internet) has a number of requirements. A first requirement is that the content of the communications is encrypted to a sufficient degree. This is often referred to as content privacy. Generally, it can be assumed that contemporary encryption, when properly implemented, is sufficient to protect the content from the majority of malicious third parties. However, a malicious third party with sufficient resources may be able to break encryption of a particular communication and gain access to the contents thereof. A second requirement is that the end point devices are secure. If a bad actor has access (e.g., by hacking, malware or stealing an unlocked device) to either of the end point devices, maintaining privacy of the communications is impossible. In general, a well-designed encrypted messaging application, that is used to exchange data communications between two reasonably secured end point devices, will offer a high degree of assurance of privacy of the content of messaging. However, the fact that data communications are being exchanged is far less private. This is often referred to as traffic privacy. Further, information about the end points of such exchanges is typically not private. As an example, for any devices that are connected to a network (e.g., the internet) and use the network for data communications, it is likely that one or more third parties (e.g., Internet Service Providers, or operators of intermediary networks) know the identity of the user or devices involved in the data communication. Additionally, messages that are transmitted by way of a network must contain a destination address that can be used by the network to ensure that it is passed to the correct destination. Such information can be extracted by suitably equipped third parties. A malicious third party with access to such network information may be able to make inferences about the messages as well as the content. For example, it may be possible for such a malicious third party to infer the identities of the parties exchanging the communications, the types of applications or platforms being used, the timing, volume and size of the communications. The volume and size of the communications may, for example, indicate the content of the communications (e.g., whether it is text, images or video). The malicious third party may further correlate this obtained information with other data (e.g., data held by an ISP relating to the identities of users, or data gathered by advertising networks). Accordingly, even if a malicious third party cannot access or determine the identity of a particular digital content element (e.g., without limitation, a data or media file, a representation or hash of a data or media file, or another relevant data element or structure), it may be possible to determine one or more of: the origin of the digital content; the movement of the digital content element across a network; the identity of any entities or users involved; or information relating to the content of the digital content element. In some circumstances, even such information may be sufficient for a malicious third party to cause damage or harm. For example, if the digital content element is a potentially illegal media file, it may be sufficient that a malicious third party can determine the identities of any users that have been in contact with it as well as the origin of the file. Further, privacy of data communications is particularly important in cases where the content of such communications may potentially relate to illegal, unlawful, immoral or otherwise confidential content. For example, it may be necessary or advantageous to determine whether a data communication potentially relates to illegal or unlawful content prior to transmission of the data communication (e.g., if the operator of a social media platform wishes to determine whether a user of said platform is intending to share illegal content). However, in order to perform such a check, it may be necessary to transmit at least a portion of the data communication by way of a network, which may potentially cause breach of privacy and/or cause potentially illegal content to be transmitted by way of the network. In some circumstances,