USE OF CERTIFICATE AUTHORITY TO CONTROL A DEVICE'S ACCESS TO SERVICES

• US 20110225427A1
• Filed: 03/15/2010
• Published: 09/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Research In Motion Limited (Blackberry Limited)
• Inventors: Wood, Robert Henderson, Vandeputte, Casey Jonathan, Bowman, Roger Paul, Robertson, Ian Michael, Bender, Christopher Lyle
• Granted Patent: US 8,645,699 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/176
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0823 using certificates cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3263 involving certificates, e.g. public key certificate [PKC] or attribute certificate [AC]; Public key infrastructure [PKI] arrangements network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using certificates in a packet data network H04L63/0823
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/069 using certificates or pre-shared keys

Abstract

A mobile communications device having a digital certificate authenticating the device itself is proposed. A server for authenticating the device and a method of authenticating the device are also disclosed. The device comprises a transmitter, a processor, a memory and a computer readable medium. The memory includes a certificate certifying the authenticity of the mobile communications device, the certificate comprising device-specific data and a digital signature signed by an authority having control of the authenticity of the mobile communications device. The computer readable medium has computer readable instructions stored thereon that when executed configure the processor to instruct the transmitter to transmit a copy of the certificate to a service provider in response to a request to authenticate the mobile communications device with the service provider.

Claims

1. A mobile communications device comprising:

a transmitter;

a processor;

a memory including a certificate certifying the authenticity of the mobile communications device, the certificate including device-specific data and a digital signature signed by an authority having control of the authenticity of the mobile communications device; and

a computer readable medium having computer readable instructions stored thereon that when executed configure the processor to instruct the transmitter to transmit a copy of the certificate to a service provider in response to a request to authenticate the mobile communications device with the service provider.

2. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the digital signature is signed by the authority using a private encryption key and is verifiable using a corresponding public encryption key.

3. The mobile communications device of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to cause the copy of the certificate to be transmitted in response to a challenge from the service provider.

4. The mobile communications device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to encrypt the certificate prior to transmitting the certificate to the service provider.

5. The mobile device of claim 1 further comprising a receiver, and the processor is further configured to receive through the receiver a response from the service provider including at least one of an indication that the certificate is valid and an indication that the certificate is not valid.

6. The mobile communications device of claim 1, further comprising a user interface, through which a request to access a service offered by the service provider is received, the service only being available to mobile communications devices that have been authenticated.

7. The mobile communications device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the copy to be transmitted to a server controlled by the service provider.

8. The mobile communications device of claim 1, wherein the certificate comprises at least one of a unique identifier for the mobile communications device, a location where the mobile communications device was built, and a carrier on which the mobile communications device is authorized to operate.

9. The mobile communications device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to disable the mobile communications device if an attempt to alter the certificate without using the private key of the authority is detected.

10. The mobile communications device of claim 1, wherein the memory is at least one of a read only memory (ROM), a flash memory, and a random access memory (RAM).

11. A method authenticating a mobile communications device with a service provider, the method comprising:

the mobile communications device receiving a request to authenticate the mobile communications device with the service provider; and

the mobile communications device transmitting a copy of a certificate certifying the authenticity of the mobile communications device to the service provider in response to the request, the certificate being stored in memory on the mobile communications device and including device-specific data and a digital signature of an authority having control of the authenticity of the mobile communications device.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein receiving the request comprises receiving a challenge from the service provider.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising the mobile communications device receiving, from the service provider, at least one of an indication that the certificate is valid and an indication that the certificate is invalid.

14. A server configured to authenticate mobile communication devices attempting to access services of a service provider, the server comprising:

a receiver for receiving a copy of a certificate stored on a mobile communications device attempting to access a service of the service provider, the certificate certifying the authenticity of the mobile communications device and including device-specific data and a digital signature of an authority having control of the authenticity of the mobile communications device;

a transmitter;

a processor; and

a memory storing computer readable instructions that when executed configure the processor to make a determination of whether or not the digital signature on the certificate is authentic in response to receiving the certificate and if the digital signature is determined to be authentic, causing the transmitter to transmit an indication that the mobile communications device is authentic to a sender of the copy.

15. The server of claim 14, wherein the memory comprises a public encryption key corresponding to a private encryption key used to generate the digital signature and the processor is configured to use the public key to determine if the digital signature is authentic.

16. The server of claim 14, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the transmitter to transmit an indication that the mobile communications device is not authentic if the digital signature is determined to be invalid.

17. The server of claim 14, comprising a database of information related to a list of mobile communications devices, the information comprising an indication of whether or not each mobile communications device listed is authorized to access a respective service.

18. The server of claim 14, wherein receiver receives the copy of the certificate from a network element of the service provider and the processor causes the transmitter to transmit the indication that the mobile communications device is authentic to the network element.

19. The server of claim 14, wherein the copy of certificate is received from the mobile communications device.

20. The server of claim 14, wherein the server comprises at least one of a content server, applications server and a messaging server.