An optimal algorithm to assign cryptographic keys in a tree structure for access control

In a computer communication system, there exists a possibility of two or more users collaborating to derive a key to which they are not entitled. Therefore, a method for ensuring the system is necessary. In this paper, we propose an efficient heuristic algorithm for assigning cryptographic keys among a group of users organized in a tree structure. Comparing with the existing assignment schemes, our scheme always produces economic cryptographic keys, which are smaller than the keys generated by the previous work in a tree structure.This work was supported in part by the National Science Council of the Republic of China under the grant NSC 81-0416-E-002-20.