Patents by Inventor Robert Eric Fitzgerald

Robert Eric Fitzgerald has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11829794
    Abstract: A vendor of virtual machine images accesses a virtual computer system service to upload a digitally signed virtual machine image to a data store usable by customers of the virtual computer system service to select an image for creating a virtual machine instance. If a digital certificate is uploaded along with the virtual machine image, the virtual computer system service may determine whether the digital certificate has been trusted for use. If the digital certificate has been trusted for use, the virtual computer system service may use a public cryptographic key to decrypt a hash signature included with the image to obtain a first hash value. The service may additionally apply a hash function to the image itself to obtain a second hash value. If the two hash values match, then the virtual machine image may be deemed to be authentic.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Andrew Jeffrey Doane, Alexander Edward Schoof, Robert Eric Fitzgerald, Todd Lawrence Cignetti
  • Patent number: 11621996
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for a computing infrastructure for configurable-quality random data are disclosed. A storage medium stores program instructions that when executed on a processor designate some servers of a provider network as members of a pool of producers of random data usable by random data consumers. The instructions, when executed, determine a subset of the pool to be used to supply a collection of random data intended for a random data consumer, and one or more sources of random phenomena to be used to generate the collection of random data. The instructions, when executed, initiate a transmission of the collection of random data directed to the random data consumer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2023
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Nachiketh Rao Potlapally, Andrew Paul Mikulski, Donald Lee Bailey, Jr., Robert Eric Fitzgerald
  • Publication number: 20230099597
    Abstract: A vendor of virtual machine images accesses a virtual computer system service to upload a digitally signed virtual machine image to a data store usable by customers of the virtual computer system service to select an image for creating a virtual machine instance. If a digital certificate is uploaded along with the virtual machine image, the virtual computer system service may determine whether the digital certificate has been trusted for use. If the digital certificate has been trusted for use, the virtual computer system service may use a public cryptographic key to decrypt a hash signature included with the image to obtain a first hash value. The service may additionally apply a hash function to the image itself to obtain a second hash value. If the two hash values match, then the virtual machine image may be deemed to be authentic.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 6, 2022
    Publication date: March 30, 2023
    Inventors: Andrew Jeffrey Doane, Alexander Edward Schoof, Robert Eric Fitzgerald, Todd Lawrence Cignetti
  • Patent number: 11394739
    Abstract: Techniques for configurable event-based compute instance security assessments are described. A security assessment service receives one or more configuration messages, sent on behalf of a user, indicating a request to perform a security assessment of one or more computing resources managed by a service provider system responsive to any of one or more events being determined to have occurred. The security assessment is to include attempting to identify security vulnerabilities of the one or more computing resources. The security assessment service determines that an event of the one or more events has occurred subsequent to event data being reported that is indicative of the event, and performs the security assessment of the one or more computing resources responsive to the determining that the event has occurred.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2022
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Vladimir Veselov, Adrian-Radu Grajdeanu, James Fink, Robert Eric Fitzgerald
  • Patent number: 11349832
    Abstract: A user-promotion process allows a service provider to grant the security roles associated with a target user account to a requester by obtaining approvals from a quorum of approving users. The quorum requirements and the identity of the approving users may be established by the target user or an account manager. Upon receiving, from a promotion candidate, a request to assume security roles of a target user, the service provider identifies the approving users from the target user's account record. Approvals are requested from the approving users, and if a quorum of approvals is received by the service provider, the promotion candidate is allowed to assume the roles of the target user. If a quorum of approvals is not received, then substitute approving users may be identified based at least in part on those approving users that did not respond to the approval request.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2022
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas Charles Stickle, Robert Eric Fitzgerald
  • Patent number: 11206143
    Abstract: Digital certificates include pointers to remote certificate information stores that maintain usage information associated with digital certificates. The pointers provide a mechanism for enabling the remote certificate information stores to be queried for usage information associated with a particular digital certificate. The usage information can be used to determine a validity of the digital certificate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 21, 2021
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Stefan Popoveniuc, David Ripton, Alexandr Ukrainchik, Yuk-Chung Eric Kam, Mikhail Denisenko, Robert Eric Fitzgerald, Matthew Allen Estes, Tyler Eckstein
  • Patent number: 11159554
    Abstract: Customers of a computing resource service provider may operate computing resources provided by the computing resource service provider. Operational information from customer operated computing resources may be correlated with operational information from computing resources operated by the computing resource service provider or other entities, and correlated threat information may be generated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2021
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Eric Jason Brandwine, Alexander Robin Gordon Lucas, Robert Eric Fitzgerald
  • Patent number: 11115223
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for distributing cryptographic material are disclosed. In the method and apparatus, cryptographic material is obtained and it is determined that the cryptographic material is to be made available for use by one or more computing resources. The cryptographic material is then sent to one or more secure modules, whereby a secure module of the one or more secure modules is programmatically accessible to a computing resource of the one or more computing resources and programmatic access enables the computing resource to request performance of one or more cryptographic operations using the cryptographic material while exporting the cryptographic material to the computing resource is denied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2021
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Todd Lawrence Cignetti, Andrew Jeffrey Doane, Stefan Popoveniuc, Matthew Allen Estes, Alexander Edward Schoof, Robert Eric Fitzgerald, Peter Zachary Bowen
  • Publication number: 20200326972
    Abstract: A vendor of virtual machine images accesses a virtual computer system service to upload a digitally signed virtual machine image to a data store usable by customers of the virtual computer system service to select an image for creating a virtual machine instance. If a digital certificate is uploaded along with the virtual machine image, the virtual computer system service may determine whether the digital certificate has been trusted for use. If the digital certificate has been trusted for use, the virtual computer system service may use a public cryptographic key to decrypt a hash signature included with the image to obtain a first hash value. The service may additionally apply a hash function to the image itself to obtain a second hash value. If the two hash values match, then the virtual machine image may be deemed to be authentic.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 26, 2020
    Publication date: October 15, 2020
    Inventors: Andrew Jeffrey Doane, Alexander Edward Schoof, Robert Eric Fitzgerald, Todd Lawrence Cignetti
  • Patent number: 10757139
    Abstract: A security service of a computing resource service provider provides security scores for application program interfaces (APIs) and other security information to an API marketplace or other endpoints. The security score may be based at least in part on component information associated with computing resources implementing the API. The security service may obtain access to the computing resources and collect various components from the computing resources. The components may then be used to determine a security score of an API offered from consumption on the API marketplace. The security service may then publish the security score to the API marketplace or other endpoint.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2020
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Todd Lawrence Cignetti, Robert Eric Fitzgerald, Eric Wayne Schultze
  • Publication number: 20200244695
    Abstract: Techniques for configurable event-based compute instance security assessments are described. A security assessment service receives one or more configuration messages, sent on behalf of a user, indicating a request to perform a security assessment of one or more computing resources managed by a service provider system responsive to any of one or more events being determined to have occurred. The security assessment is to include attempting to identify security vulnerabilities of the one or more computing resources. The security assessment service determines that an event of the one or more events has occurred subsequent to event data being reported that is indicative of the event, and performs the security assessment of the one or more computing resources responsive to the determining that the event has occurred.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 9, 2020
    Publication date: July 30, 2020
    Applicant: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Vladimir VESELOV, Adrian-Radu GRAJDEANU, James FINK, Robert Eric FITZGERALD
  • Publication number: 20200220868
    Abstract: A user-promotion process allows a service provider to grant the security roles associated with a target user account to a requester by obtaining approvals from a quorum of approving users. The quorum requirements and the identity of the approving users may be established by the target user or an account manager. Upon receiving, from a promotion candidate, a request to assume security roles of a target user, the service provider identifies the approving users from the target user's account record. Approvals are requested from the approving users, and if a quorum of approvals is received by the service provider, the promotion candidate is allowed to assume the roles of the target user. If a quorum of approvals is not received, then substitute approving users may be identified based at least in part on those approving users that did not respond to the approval request.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 19, 2020
    Publication date: July 9, 2020
    Inventors: Thomas Charles Stickle, Robert Eric Fitzgerald
  • Patent number: 10698710
    Abstract: A vendor of virtual machine images accesses a virtual computer system service to upload a digitally signed virtual machine image to a data store usable by customers of the virtual computer system service to select an image for creating a virtual machine instance. If a digital certificate is uploaded along with the virtual machine image, the virtual computer system service may determine whether the digital certificate has been trusted for use. If the digital certificate has been trusted for use, the virtual computer system service may use a public cryptographic key to decrypt a hash signature included with the image to obtain a first hash value. The service may additionally apply a hash function to the image itself to obtain a second hash value. If the two hash values match, then the virtual machine image may be deemed to be authentic.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2020
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Andrew Jeffrey Doane, Alexander Edward Schoof, Robert Eric Fitzgerald, Todd Lawrence Cignetti
  • Patent number: 10623433
    Abstract: Techniques for configurable event-based compute instance security assessments are described. A security assessment service receives one or more configuration messages, sent on behalf of a user, indicating a request to perform a security assessment of one or more computing resources managed by a service provider system responsive to any of one or more events being determined to have occurred. The security assessment is to include attempting to identify security vulnerabilities of the one or more computing resources. The security assessment service determines that an event of the one or more events has occurred subsequent to event data being reported that is indicative of the event, and performs the security assessment of the one or more computing resources responsive to the determining that the event has occurred.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2020
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Vladimir Veselov, Adrian-Radu Grajdeanu, James Fink, Robert Eric Fitzgerald
  • Patent number: 10616194
    Abstract: Organizations maintain and generate large amounts of sensitive information using computer hardware resources and services of a service provider. Furthermore, there is a need to be able to delete large amounts of data securely and quickly by encrypting the data with a key and destroying the key. To ensure that information stored remotely is secured and capable of secure deletion, cryptographic keys used by the organization should be prevented from being persistently stored during serialization operations. If the keys used to encrypt the data have not been exposed during serialization operation, they may be deleted or destroyed enabling the destruction of data encrypted with the keys.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2020
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Todd Lawrence Cignetti, Andrew J. Doane, Eric Jason Brandwine, Robert Eric Fitzgerald
  • Patent number: 10601816
    Abstract: A user-promotion process allows a service provider to grant the security roles associated with a target user account to a requester by obtaining approvals from a quorum of approving users. The quorum requirements and the identity of the approving users may be established by the target user or an account manager. Upon receiving, from a promotion candidate, a request to assume security roles of a target user, the service provider identifies the approving users from the target user's account record. Approvals are requested from the approving users, and if a quorum of approvals is received by the service provider, the promotion candidate is allowed to assume the roles of the target user. If a quorum of approvals is not received, then substitute approving users may be identified based at least in part on those approving users that did not respond to the approval request.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas Charles Stickle, Robert Eric Fitzgerald
  • Publication number: 20200052911
    Abstract: Digital certificates include pointers to remote certificate information stores that maintain usage information associated with digital certificates. The pointers provide a mechanism for enabling the remote certificate information stores to be queried for usage information associated with a particular digital certificate. The usage information can be used to determine a validity of the digital certificate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 21, 2019
    Publication date: February 13, 2020
    Inventors: Stefan Popoveniuc, David Ripton, Alexandr Ukrainchik, Yuk-Chung Eric Kam, Mikhail Denisenko, Robert Eric Fitzgerald, Matthew Allen Estes, Tyler Eckstein
  • Publication number: 20190373008
    Abstract: Customers of a computing resource service provider may operate computing resources provided by the computing resource service provider. Operational information from customer operated computing resources may be correlated with operational information from computing resources operated by the computing resource service provider or other entities, and correlated threat information may be generated.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 21, 2019
    Publication date: December 5, 2019
    Inventors: Eric Jason Brandwine, Alexander Robin Gordon Lucas, Robert Eric Fitzgerald
  • Publication number: 20190349206
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for distributing cryptographic material are disclosed. In the method and apparatus, cryptographic material is obtained and it is determined that the cryptographic material is to be made available for use by one or more computing resources. The cryptographic material is then sent to one or more secure modules, whereby a secure module of the one or more secure modules is programmatically accessible to a computing resource of the one or more computing resources and programmatic access enables the computing resource to request performance of one or more cryptographic operations using the cryptographic material while exporting the cryptographic material to the computing resource is denied.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 26, 2019
    Publication date: November 14, 2019
    Inventors: Todd Lawrence Cignetti, Andrew Jeffrey Doane, Stefan Popoveniuc, Matthew Allen Estes, Alexander Edward Schoof, Robert Eric Fitzgerald, Peter Zachary Bowen
  • Patent number: 10460114
    Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for mitigating against registering a domain name that is confusingly similar to a pre-existing domain name, possibly for the purpose of fooling users. In embodiments, a domain name is presented for registration. The domain name is rendered as an image, and optical character recognition is performed on the image to extract the rendered text. This extracted text is compared against a list of domain names for which confusingly similar domain names cannot be registered, and when the extracted text matches a domain name in this list of domain names, registration of the domain name is denied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2019
    Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Stefan Popuveniuc, Peter Zachary Bowen, Alexander Edward Schoof, Andrew Jeffrey Doane, Todd Lawrence Cignetti, Robert Eric Fitzgerald