Secure license management

• US 20060137022A1
• Filed: 12/22/2004
• Published: 06/22/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP AG (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Kuemmerle, Jan, Kilian-Kehr, Roger
• Granted Patent: US 7,818,585 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/27
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]

Abstract

Systems, methods, and computer program products for secure license management. A host computer runs in a trusted state. A license manager is installed on the host computer. The license manager is configured to provide access to one or more software programs. The one or more software programs are accessible only through the license manager. The license manager is bound to the trusted state of the host computer, such that if the trusted state ceases to exist, then the license manager is not executable and the one or more software programs are not accessible. The host computer can be a TCPA (Trusted Computing Platform Alliance) enabled computer.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a host computer running in a trusted state; and

a license manager installed on the host computer, the license manager configured to provide access to one or more software programs, the one or more software programs being accessible only through the license manager, the license manager being bound to the trusted state of the host computer, such that if the trusted state ceases to exist, then the license manager is not executable and the one or more software programs are not accessible.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the host computer is a TCPA (Trusted Computing Platform Alliance) enabled computer.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the trusted state is established by booting the host computer using a secure boot process.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein:

the host computer includes hardware components and software components, the software components including an operating system, the hardware components including a Core Root of Trust for Measurement (CRTM), the CRTM being a trusted component; and

the secure boot process involves using the trusted component to verify the trustworthiness of the hardware components before handing system control over to the operating system, which then verifies the integrity of the software components.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein:

the hardware components further include a Trusted Platform Module (TPM); and

the trustworthiness of the hardware and software components is verified using system configuration data stored in the TPM.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the license manager is partitioned into a dynamic data section and a static code section, the dynamic data section including data that changes during execution of the license manager, the static code section including data that does not change during execution of the license manager.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the static code section is partitioned into two subsections, a first subsection that stores code for the software programs and a second subsection that stores configuration data for the license manager.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the dynamic data section being protected by a cryptographic key (data key), the static code section being protected by a different cryptographic key (code key).

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the data key and the code key are protected by a different cryptographic key (external key).

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the external key is bound to the trusted state of the host computer.

11. A computer program product, tangibly embodied in an information carrier, the computer program product being operable to cause data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

verifying that a host computer is running in a trusted state;

receiving a first cryptographic key from a host computer, the first cryptographic key being bound to a trusted state of the host computer;

encrypting a license manager using the first cryptographic key; and

transferring the encrypted license manager to the host computer.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein verifying that the host computer is running in a trusted state includes performing a remote attestation process on the host computer.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein performing a remote attestation process on the host computer includes:

receiving system configuration data from the host computer; and

comparing the received system configuration data to a set of known system configurations.

14. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the license manager is partitioned into a dynamic data section and a static code section, the dynamic data section including data that changes during execution of the license manager, the static code section including data that does not change during execution of the license manager.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein encrypting the license manager using the first cryptographic key includes encrypting the dynamic data section using a second cryptographic key, encrypting the static code section using a third cryptographic key, and encrypting the first and second cryptographic keys using the first cryptographic key.

16. A method for transferring a license manager to a host computer, the method comprising:

verifying that a host computer is running in a trusted state;

receiving a cryptographic key from a host computer, the cryptographic key being bound to a trusted state of the host computer;

encrypting a license manager using the cryptographic key; and

transferring the encrypted license manager to the host computer.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein verifying that the host computer is running in a trusted state includes performing a remote attestation process on the host computer.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein performing a remote attestation process on the host computer includes:

receiving system configuration data from the host computer; and

comparing the received system configuration data to a set of known system configurations.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the license manager is partitioned into a dynamic data section and a static code section, the dynamic data section including data that changes during execution of the license manager, the static code section including data that does not change during execution of the license manager.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein encrypting the license manager using the first cryptographic key includes encrypting the dynamic data section using a second cryptographic key, encrypting the static code section using a third cryptographic key, and encrypting the first and second cryptographic keys using the first cryptographic key.