Method and apparatus for establishing trust in smart card readers

• US 20050149457A1
• Filed: 12/24/2003
• Published: 07/07/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 12/24/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Cihula, Joseph F.
• Granted Patent: US 10,109,141 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/65
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/341 Active cards, i.e. cards including their own processing means, e.g. including an IC or chip
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/367 involving electronic purses or money safes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4016 involving fraud or risk level assessment in transaction processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40975 using encryption therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/08 by coded identity card or credit card or other personal identification means without personal verification means G07F7/02
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/1008 Active credit-cards provided with means to personalise their use, e.g. with PIN-introduction/comparison system
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/12 Card verification

Abstract

A method for managing a smart card system includes testing a smart card reader for trustworthiness. An indication of the trustworthiness is provided via a smart card.

Claims

1. A method for managing a smart card system, comprising:

testing a smart card reader for trustworthiness; and

providing an indication of the trustworthiness via a smart card.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein testing the smart card reader for trustworthiness comprises:

transmitting a request to the smart card reader for trust data; and

determining whether the trust data received is acceptable.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining whether the trust data is acceptable comprises:

determining whether a first certificate has a valid digital signature;

determining whether a public key from the first certificate is trustworthy; and

comparing data in the first certificate with data in the smart card.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein determining whether the public key from the first certificate is trustworthy comprises:

decrypting a signature of a second certificate with a public key for the second certificate to generate a first digest for the second certificate;

performing a hash function on data in the second certificate to generate a second digest for the second certificate;

identifying the data in the second certificate as the public key for the first certificate if the first digest and the second digest match; and

comparing the data in the second certificate with the public key from the first certificate.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein determining whether the first certificate has the valid digital signature comprises:

decrypting a signature of the first certificate with the public key for the first certificate to generate a first digest for the first certificate;

performing a hash function on data in the first certificate to generate a second digest for the first certificate; and

comparing the first digest for the first certificate with the second digest for the first certificate.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein comparing the data in the first certificate with the data stored in the smart card comprises comparing information relating to attributes of components on the smart card reader.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein comparing the data in the first certificate with the data stored in the smart card comprises comparing information relating to states of components on the smart card reader.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein comparing the data in the first certificate with the data stored in the smart card comprises comparing information relating to measurement values taken from the smart card reader.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein providing an indication of the trustworthiness on the smart card comprises turning on a light.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein providing an indication of the trustworthiness of the smart card comprises generating an audible sound.

11. The method of claim 2, wherein the request includes a nonce.

12. The method of claim 3, further comprising comparing a nonce from the smart card with a nonce from the smart card reader.

13. The method of claim 2, wherein determining whether the trust data is acceptable comprises:

determining whether signed data has a valid digital signature;

determining whether a public key from the signed data is trustworthy; and

comparing data in the first signed data with data in the smart card.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the signed data includes measurement values.

15. An article of manufacture comprising a machine accessible medium including sequences of instructions, the sequences of instructions including instructions which when executed causes the machine to perform:

testing a smart card reader for trustworthiness; and

providing an indication of the trustworthiness via a smart card.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 15, wherein testing the smart card reader for trustworthiness comprises:

transmitting a request to the smart card reader for trust data; and

determining whether the trust data is acceptable.

17. The article of manufacture of claim 16, wherein determining whether the trust data is acceptable comprises:

determining whether a first certificate has a trusted signature;

determining whether a public key from the first certificate is trustworthy; and

comparing data in the first certificate with data in the smart card.

18. The article of manufacture of claim 15, wherein providing an indication of the trustworthiness on the smart card comprises turning on a light.

19. The article of manufacture of claim 15, wherein providing an indication of the trustworthiness of the smart card comprises generating an audible sound.

20. A smart card, comprising:

an attestation verifier unit to test a trustworthiness of a smart card reader.

21. The smart card of claim 20, further comprising an indicator to output an indication of the trustworthiness of the smart card reader in response to the attestation unit.

22. The smart card of claim 20, wherein the attestation verifier unit comprises a key retriever unit to retrieve an appropriate key to decrypt an encrypted digest.

23. The smart card of claim 20, wherein the attestation verifier unit comprises a digest decrypter unit to decrypt an encrypted digest.

24. The smart card of claim 20, wherein the attestation verifier unit comprises a hashing unit to perform a hash function on data.

25. The smart card of claim 20, wherein the attestation verifier unit comprises a comparator unit to compare a hashed value of data with a decrypted digest.

26. The smart card of claim 25, wherein the comparator unit compares measurement values in the data with measurement values stored in the smart card.

27. The smart card of claim 25, wherein the comparator unit compares a nonce in the data with a nonce generated for an attestation request.