Glossary

2FA

2FA or two-factor authentication is when you protect your account with two factors or locks, creating an additional layer of security.

In SafeKey's context, a factor is split into two different categories:

  • Something you know (eg. username and password)

  • Something you own (eg. SafeKey)

Other, less secure, 2FA verification methods are:

  • Authenticator apps (eg. Google Authenticator)

  • Mobile phone (eg. SMS)

  • Email

The most safe and secure 2FA verification method is using a SafeKey device

Your SafeKey acts as a physical security layer which is impossible to hack from a distance or over the internet. You literally have to physically touch a button on your SafeKey device in order to verify your authentication process.

FIDO (Alliance)

FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) is an open industry association that aims to provide a standard for secure and easy-to-use authentication methods based on public-key cryptography.

FIDO's mission is to change the nature of online authentication by developing specifications for authentication methods that are stronger, simpler, and less dependent on passwords.

These methods include the use of security keys (such as SafeKey) as well as passwordless authentication.

FIDO2 (Protocol)

FIDO2 supports passwordless, two-factor, and multi-factor authentication and enables users to authenticate to online services using an external authenticator such as the SafeKey.

FIDO U2F (Protocol)

FIDO Universal Second Factor (U2F) provides a standard means for interfacing a second-factor hardware authenticator such as the SafeKey. This interface is mainly used by web browsers to allow applications to interact with a user’s hardware authenticator.

The U2F protocol is designed to enable online services to augment their traditional password-based authentication with the second factor of authentication that is presented via your SafeKey.

FIDO U2F Device (Hardware)

A U2F device is a hardware authenticator (eg. SafeKey) that connects via USB and acts as a second factor of authentication to online services.

SSDP

Secure Share Distribution Protocol (SSDP) is a patented protocol which was invented and designed by Jürgen Schouppe, CEO of SafeTech.

SSDP makes use of minimum a 3-layer topology to securely distribute and store encrypted shares that are part of one bigger secret. Examples of those layers are:

  • Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT): It refers to a type of database architecture where multiple copies of a ledger are maintained across a network of computers, rather than being controlled by a central authority. This enables multiple parties to have access to the same information, and allows for secure, transparent and tamper-proof record-keeping. Blockchain is a widely-known type of distributed ledger technology, which is used for a various range of use cases, such as digital currencies and smart contracts.

  • Cloud Storage

  • Cold Storage (ex: SafeKey Pro as a cold storage hardware device)

  • Mobile Storage (ex: SafeKey Mobile)

This protocol is unique and superior to every software and app-only solutions because SSDP is technically quantum-proof, hacker proof, 100% decentralized and stores majority of the encrypted shares offline on a secure tamper-proof hardware device.

Each individual share is worthless on its own until the shares are put together.

How we use SSDP to safely decentralize secret data

In simple words: Inheriti® encrypts and splits data into secret shares utilizing different methodes such as Shamir’s Secret Sharing algoritm.

Those shares are then stored on multiple SafeKey devices, in combination with recovery shares stored on secure cloud and blockchain storage.

In order to reveal the secret data, the shares (SafeKey Pro and/or SafeKey Mobile) have to be brought back together via Inheriti®.

SSO

Single Sign-On (SSO) is a solution that allows a user to authenticate once and gain access to all applications/resources supported by that SSO system, without having to sign in separately to each application/resource.

An example of this is SafeID, which can be used to access multiple apps in the Safe Haven ecosystem, such as Inheriti® and SafeKey Mobile.

Shamir's Secret Sharing (SSS)

Shamir's Secret Sharing (SSS) is an efficient secret sharing algorithm for distributing private information (the "secret") in such a way that no individual holds intelligible information about the secret.

The secret can only be decrypted when most or all of the shares in the plan are brought together.

This algorithm is an essential part of our patented solution including Inheriti® and SafeKey Pro.

WebAuthn (Web Standard)

Web Authentication, or WebAuthn, is an effort by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to standardize public-key authentication of users to web-based applications and services.

The FIDO Alliance is also contributing to this effort as WebAuthn is built on top of FIDO2 and it's the most recent version of the FIDO protocol. It extends the reach of FIDO to include web-based applications and browser-based services and is supported by most modern web browsers.

The goal of WebAuthn is to increase security for the authentication process by removing or complementing password-based authentication, while remaining convenient and easy to use for end-users.

WebAuthn defines a standard web API that is implemented by web browsers to enable web applications to use FIDO Authentication. Currently it is supported by Firefox and Chrome and enabled by default.

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