Communications apparatus, communications system, and method of setting certificate

• US 20050097332A1
• Filed: 09/10/2004
• Published: 05/05/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Imai, Tatsuya
• Granted Patent: US 7,647,501 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/176
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/33 using certificates
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0823 using certificates cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/166 at the transport layer

Abstract

An apparatus for communicating, including communicating means, enabled to communicate with communications counterparties via the communicating means is disclosed. The communicating means includes means for providing an individual certificate and storage areas for storing individual and common certificates.

Claims

1. An apparatus for communicating, comprising:

communicating means enabling the apparatus to communicate with one or a plurality of communications counterparties via said communicating means;

wherein said communicating means includes

means for providing an individual certificate that is a digital certificate being provided with information identifying said apparatus for communicating in order to receive an authentication by each of said communications counterparties when communicating, and

means for communicating when having been authenticated with said individual certificate by the communications counterparty; and

the apparatus for communicating further comprising

at least one storage area for storing said individual certificate and a common certificate that is a digital certificate not being provided with apparatus-identifying information, in a replacement component as a minimum unit enabled for replacement.

2. The apparatus for communicating as claimed in claim 1, said communicating means further comprising:

means for providing said common certificate in order to receive the authentication by the communications counterparty when communicating; and

the apparatus for communicating further comprising

individual-certificate setting means for obtaining said individual certificate from the communications counterparty via said communicating means when having been authenticated by the communications counterparty with said common certificate so as to have the obtained individual certificate stored in said storage area.

3. The apparatus for communicating as claimed in claim 2,

wherein said replacement component is a component, having stored said common certificate, and not having stored said individual certificate, before being installed into said apparatus for communicating.

4. The apparatus for communicating as claimed in claim 3,

wherein said replacement component with said common certificate is enabled to be used without depending on the information identifying said apparatus for communicating.

5. The apparatus for communicating as claimed in claim 1,

wherein the identifying information being provided in said individual certificate includes information that is identical to machine serial number information of said apparatus for communicating.

6. The apparatus for communicating as claimed in claim 1,

wherein said authentication is to be performed with an authentication process according to a SSL protocol or a TLS protocol, and

wherein said digital certificate is a public-key certificate for use in the authentication process.

7. A system for communicating, including a high-level apparatus, and low-level apparatuses, each of which is to be a communications counterparty of the high-level apparatus, the low-level apparatus comprising:

means for providing an individual certificate that is a digital certificate being provided with information identifying the low-level apparatus in order to receive an authentication by said communications counterparty when communicating; and

communicating means for communicating when having been authenticated with said individual certificate by said communications counterparty; and

at least one storage area for storing said individual certificate and a common certificate that is a digital certificate not being provided with apparatus-identifying information, in a replacement component as a minimum unit enabled for replacement.

8. The system for communicating as claimed in claim 7, said communicating means in the low-level apparatus further comprising:

means for providing said common certificate in order to receive the authentication by the communications counterparty when communicating; and

the low-level apparatus further comprising individual-certificate setting means for obtaining said individual certificate from said communications counterparty via said communicating means when having been authenticated by the communications counterparty with said common certificate so as to have the obtained individual certificate stored in said storage area.

9. The system for communicating as claimed in claim 8,

wherein said replacement component is a component, having stored said common certificate, and not having stored said individual certificate, before being installed into the low-level apparatus.

10. The system for communicating as claimed in claim 9,

wherein said replacement component having stored said common certificate is enabled to be used without depending on the information identifying said low-level apparatus.

11. The system for communicating as claimed in claim 7,

wherein the identifying information being provided in said individual certificate includes information that is identical to machine serial number information of the low-level apparatus.

12. The system for communicating as claimed in claim 7,

wherein said authentication is to be performed with an authentication process according to a SSL protocol or a TLS protocol, and

wherein said digital certificate is a public-key certificate for use in the authentication process.

13. A method of setting, in an apparatus for communicating including communicating means enabled to communicate with one or a plurality of communications counterparties via said communicating means, an individual certificate that is a digital certificate being provided with information identifying said apparatus for communicating, comprising the steps of:

installing into said apparatus for communicating a replacement component as a minimum unit enabled for replacement having been provided with at least a storage area for storing said individual certificate and a common certificate that is a digital certificate not being provided with apparatus-identifying information, in the state of having said common certificate stored, and not having said individual certificate stored; and

having said apparatus for communicating to provide said common certificate in order to receive an authentication by each of said communications counterparties when communicating, and to obtain via said communicating means said individual certificate from the communications counterparty so as to have the obtained individual certificate stored in said storage area when having been authenticated with said common certificate by the communications counterparty.

14. The method of setting the individual certificate as claimed in claim 13,

wherein said replacement component is used, without depending on the information identifying said apparatus for communicating.

15. The method of setting the individual certificate as claimed in claim 13,

wherein the identifying information being provided in said individual certificate includes information that is identical to machine serial number information of said apparatus for communicating.

16. The method of setting the individual certificate as claimed in claim 13,

wherein said authentication is to be performed with an authentication process according to a SSL protocol or a TLS protocol, and

wherein said digital certificate is a public-key certificate for use in the authentication process.