Memory device for cryptographic operations

• US 20080072060A1
• Filed: 08/28/2006
• Published: 03/20/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/28/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: SanDisk Technologies LLC (Western Digital Corporation)
• Original Assignee: SanDisk Technologies LLC (Western Digital Corporation)
• Inventors: Lewis, Kevin, Cannon, Susan
• Application Number:
  US11/511,687
• Publication Number:
  US 20080072060A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/185
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/34 involving the use of external additional devices, e.g. dongles or smart cards
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2119 Authenticating web pages, e.g. with suspicious links

Abstract

A memory device is provided. The memory device includes a memory configured to store a cryptographic communication application and the cryptographic communication application is configured to be associated with a web browser. The cryptographic communication application comprises computer instructions for receiving a message encapsulated in a protocol type from the web browser and transmitting the message to the memory device. The message is associated with a cryptographic operation.

Claims

1. A memory device, comprising:

a memory configured to store a cryptographic communication application, the cryptographic communication application being configured to be associated with a web browser, the cryptographic communication application comprising computer instructions for,

receiving a message encapsulated in a protocol type from the web browser, the message being associated with a cryptographic operation, and

transmitting the message to the memory device.

2. The memory device of claim 1, wherein the cryptographic communication application further comprises computer instructions for registering the cryptographic communication application to be associated with the protocol type in the web browser.

3. The memory device of claim 1, wherein the cryptographic communication application further comprises computer instructions for:

identifying the protocol type associated with the message; and

routing the message to a protocol module, the protocol module being configured to interface with the protocol type.

4. The memory device of claim 1, wherein the web browser is configured to execute the cryptographic communication application when the web browser receives the message encapsulated in the protocol type.

5. The memory device of claim 1, wherein memory device is a Universal Serial Bus device.

6. The memory device of claim 1, wherein the cryptographic operation is associated with a retrieval of a one-time password from the memory device.

7. The memory device of claim 1, wherein the cryptographic operation is associated with a retrieval of a shared secret, the shared secret being used to generate a one-time password.

8. The memory device of claim 1, wherein the message is encapsulated in a Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) protocol.

9. A Universal Serial Bus (USB) device, comprising:

a memory configured to store a cryptographic communication application, the cryptographic communication application being configured to be loaded into a web browser, the cryptographic communication application comprising computer instructions for,

receiving a request for a one-time password from a first computing device through the web browser, the request being encapsulated in a Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) protocol,

transmitting the request to the USB device,

receiving the one-time password from the USB device, and

transmitting the one-time password to the web browser.

10. The USB device of claim 9, wherein the cryptographic communication application further comprises computer instructions for transmitting the one-time password to a computing device through the web browser.

11. The USB device of claim 9, wherein the cryptographic communication application further comprises computer instructions for receiving a connectivity information from the first computing device through the web browser, the connectivity information being encapsulated in the MIME protocol.

12. The USB device of claim 11, wherein the cryptographic communication application further comprises computer instructions for establishing a communication channel with a second computing device based on the connectivity information to retrieve a shared secret from the second computing device.

13. The USB device of claim 9, wherein the request is further encapsulated in a secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol.

14. A memory device, comprising:

a memory configured to store a cryptographic communication application, the cryptographic communication application being configured to be loaded into a web browser, the cryptographic communication application comprising computer instructions for,

receiving a plurality of messages transmitted to the web browser,

extracting a message associated with a protocol type from the plurality of messages, the message being associated with a cryptographic operation, and

transmitting the message to the memory device.

15. The memory device of claim 14, wherein the cryptographic communication application further comprises computer instructions for:

identifying the protocol type associated with the message; and

routing the message to a protocol module, the protocol module being configured to interface with the protocol type.

16. The memory device of claim 14, wherein the cryptographic operation is associated with a retrieval of a one-time password from the memory device.

17. The memory device of claim 14, wherein the protocol type is a Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) protocol.

18. The memory device of claim 14, wherein the memory device is a Universal Serial Bus device.

19. A Universal Serial Bus (USB) device, comprising:

a memory configured to store a cryptographic communication application, the cryptographic communication application being configured to be loaded into a web browser, the cryptographic communication application comprising computer instructions for,

receiving a plurality of secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) messages transmitted to the web browser,

extracting a Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) message from the plurality of secure HTTP messages, the MIME message comprising a request for a one-time password,

transmitting the MIME message to the USB device,

receiving the one-time password from the USB device, and

transmitting the one-time password to the web browser.

20. The USB device of claim 19, wherein the cryptographic communication application further comprises computer instructions for transmitting the one-time password to a computing device through the web browser.

21. The USB device of claim 20, wherein the request is transmitted to the web browser by the computing device.