Abstract: A plurality of system nodes coupled via a dedicated private network is described herein. A user can access data stored in one or more system nodes if a multi-factor authentication is successful. The multi-factor authentication can include using the structure of a person's vein (or artery) as one of the factors used to determine whether to authenticate a user. The structure of a person's vein (or artery) can be captured using a vein reader coupled to or embedded within a user device. For example, the vein reader can be coupled to the user's smartphone or can be embedded within the user's smartphone. Once captured, the vein reader can encode the user's vein structure to produce a vein ID that can then be used for authentication purposes.

Abstract: A plurality of system nodes coupled via a dedicated private network is described herein. The nodes offer an end-to-end solution for protecting against network-based attacks. For example, a single node can receive and store user data via a data flow that passes through various components of the node. The node can be designed such that communications internal to the node, such as the transmission of encryption keys, are partitioned or walled off from the components of the node that handle the publicly accessible data flow. The node also includes a key management subsystem to facilitate the use of encryption keys to encrypt user data.