The Yaksha security system

Reviewer: Judy Marian Myerson

The basic purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it shows that the Yaksha security system is a single security infrastructure that can provide multiple security functions, such as authentication, digital signature, and key exchange. Second, it describes how the system can be used for key escrow. It fulfills its purpose by presenting a summary of key design requirements and solutions for escrow problems. “Two commonly accepted requirements essentially define key escrow systems. The system should provide an authority [such as government or a corporate organization] the ability to access encrypted information without the cooperation of the participants. The backdoor inherent in the system should not be usable by an unauthorized third party.” After describing the general Yaksha system, the paper proceeds to a brief discussion of how three very different key escrow problems can be solved using the same Yaksha infrastructure. Telephony, email, and encrypted data storage are example applications. The best features of the paper are the note at the top of the first page explaining what the Yaksha security infrastructure is, and the first paragraph, on what Yakshas are in Hindu mythology. However, the paper fails to provide a sidebar on the first page to briefly explain that the Yaksha system is a variant of the RSA public-key cryptosystem. The references are adequate. Overall, the paper opens a door to further discussion on single security infrastructures .