Secure method of consulting article delivery receipts

• US 20050289060A1
• Filed: 03/16/2005
• Published: 12/29/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Neopost Technologies S.A. (Quadient SA)
• Original Assignee: Neopost Technologies S.A. (Quadient SA)
• Inventors: Abumehdi, Cyrus, Blanluet, Patrick, Glaeser, Axel
• Application Number:
  US11/082,224
• Publication Number:
  US 20050289060A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/50
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/56 Financial cryptography, e.g. electronic payment or e-cash
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/60 Digital content management, e.g. content distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/80 Wireless
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0825 using asymmetric-key encryption or public key infrastructure [PKI], e.g. key signature or public key certificates
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3247 involving digital signatures

Abstract

In a secure method of consulting article delivery receipts from a remote computer terminal connected to a management computer center via a telecommunications network, a digital image of each receipt is initially input to a portable terminal that includes a radio interface for transmitting said image to the management computer center. In order to consult the digital image in secure manner from the remote computer terminal, provision is made in said remote computer terminal to use a unique key k_SESSION that is different on each consultation in order to decrypt first data E1 generated in the portable terminal from the digital image, said unique key k_SESSION itself being the result of the management computer center using one of its own private keys k_PRIV^NLS to decrypt second data E2 generated in the portable terminal from the unique key k_SESSION.

Claims

1. A secure method of consulting article delivery receipts from a remote computer terminal connected to a management computer center via a telecommunications network, a digital image of each receipt being initially input to a portable terminal including a radio interface for transmitting the image to the management computer center, wherein in order to consult said digital image in secure manner from the remote computer terminal, it is necessary in said remote computer terminal to use a key k_SESSION that is unique and different for each consultation, to decrypt a first data E1 generated in the portable terminal from said digital image, said unique key k_SESSION itself being the result of the management computer center using a private key k_PRIV^NLS of the management computer center to decrypt, second data E2 generated in the portable terminal from the unique key k_SESSION.

2. A secure method of consulting article delivery receipts according to claim 1, wherein a first public key k_PUB^MMT is used to verify a signature S1 associated with the digital image, this signature being obtained in the remote computer terminal by using the unique key k_SESSION that is different on each consultation to decrypt the first data E1 generated in the portable terminal and transmitted to the management computer center, the unique key k_SESSION being obtained in the computer terminal by using a second public key k_PUB^NLS to decrypt third data E3 generated in the management computer center by using the private key k_PRIV^NLS of the management computer center to encrypt the unique key k_SESSION as obtained previously by using said private key k_PRIV^NLS to decrypt the second data E2 generated in the portable terminal and transmitted to the management computer center.

3. A secure method of consulting article delivery receipts according to claim 1, wherein a first public key k_PUB^MMT is used to verify a signature S1 associated with the digital image, said signature S1 being obtained in the remote computer terminal by using the unique key k_SESSION that is different on each consultation to decrypt the first data E1 generated in the portable terminal and transmitted to the management computer center, this unique key k_SESSION being transmitted by the management computer center together with a signature S2 associated with said unique key k_SESSION and being verified in the remote computer terminal by means of a second public key k_PUB^NLS, the signature S2 being obtained by using the private key k_PRIV^NLS of the management computer center to encrypt the unique key k_SESSION as obtained previously by using said private k_PRIV^NLS to decrypt the second data E2 generated in the portable terminal and transmitted to the management computer center.

4. A secure method of consulting article delivery receipts according to claim 2, wherein the first data E1 is obtained by using the unique key k_SESSION to encrypt the signature S1, and the second data E2 is obtained by using the unique key k_SESSION to encrypt the second public key k_PUB^NLS, the signature S1 itself being the result of the digital image of the receipt being signed with a private key k_PRIV^MMT of the portable terminal.

5. A secure method of consulting article delivery receipts according to claim 2, wherein the first public key k_PUB^MMT is encrypted by means of the second public key k_PUB^NLS to obtain first key data E_k1 which is transmitted to the management computer center where said first key data E_k1 is decrypted using the private key k_PRIV^NLS of the management computer center in order to recover the first public key k_PUB^MMT, which key is then encrypted again using the private key k_PRIV^NLS of the management computer center in order to obtain second key data E_k2 from which the client can recover the first public key k_PUB^MMT by decrypting the second data key with the second public key k_PUB^NLS.

6. A secure method of consulting article delivery receipts according to claim 5, wherein the first key data E_k1 is transmitted to the management computer center together with the digital image of the receipt and the first and second data E1 and E2.

7. A secure method of consulting article delivery receipts according to claim 2, wherein the first public key k_PUB^MMT is signed by means of the private key k_PRIV^NLS in order to obtain a key signature S_k1 which is transmitted together with the first public key k_PUB^MMT to the management computer center where said key signature S_k1 is verified by means of the second public key k_PUB^NLS prior to being retransmitted together with the first public key k_PUB^MMT to the client terminal where said key signature S_k1 is again verified by means of the second public key k_PUB^NLS, the result of this verification constituting acceptance or refusal of the first public key k_PUB^MMT.

8. A secure method of consulting article delivery receipts according to claim 7, wherein the key signature S_k1 is transmitted to the management computer center together with the digital image of the receipt and the first and second data E1 and E2.

9. A secure method of consulting article delivery receipts according to claim 1, wherein the telecommunications network is the Internet.

10. A secure method of consulting article delivery receipts according to claim 1, wherein the encrypting/decrypting process is of the DES, triple DES, or AES type.

11. A secure method of consulting article delivery receipts according to claim 1, wherein the digital image of the receipt is transmitted together with identity data and other information relating to the delivery as input to the portable terminal.