GAMING MACHINE CERTIFICATE CREATION AND MANAGEMENT

• US 20130145154A1
• Filed: 01/22/2013
• Published: 06/06/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Original Assignee: IGT (International Game Technology)
• Inventors: Kim, John H., Kerr, Matthew D., Hansen-Hiraki, Nicholas M., Salivar, William M., Cockerille, Warner R. IV, Kinsley, A. Michael, Snyder, Regan J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,713,308 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/156
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0823 using certificates cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/166 at the transport layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/321 involving a third party or a trusted authority
• 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

Abstract

Methods and systems for creating and managing certificates for gaming machines in a gaming network using a portable memory device. A gaming machine creates a certificate signing request which is stored on a portable memory device at the machine. Then, the memory device is coupled with an appropriate CA server. A certificate batch utility program on the server downloads and processes the CSRs. A certificate services program on the server issues gaming machine certificates according to the CSRs. In one embodiment, the certificates are uploaded onto the memory device, along with copies of certificate authority server certificates, including a root CA certificate. Then, the memory device is coupled with the gaming machine and software on the machine identifies and downloads its certificate based on the certificate file name.

Claims

1. A method of obtaining a certificate for authenticating a gaming machine to components in a gaming network, the method comprising:

generating a certificate signing request for obtaining an issued certificate from a certificate authority, the signing request containing a gaming machine public key, a gaming machine identifier, and a digital signature of the gaming machine;

encrypting the signing request using a gaming machine private key;

detecting a first coupling of a memory device with the gaming machine; and

storing the signing request on the memory device;

wherein a certificate is created based on the certificate signing request by the certificate authority for use by the gaming machine.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

detecting a second coupling of the memory device;

displaying on a gaming machine monitor a value associated with the certificate authority certificate;

identifying a specific certificate file on the memory device using the gaming machine identifier; and

storing the specific certificate file on the gaming machine, wherein the specific certificate file contains the certificate created by the certificate authority.

3. A method as recited in claim 2, further comprising detecting confirmation of validity of the value associated with the certificate authority certificate.

4. A method as recited in claim 2, further comprising verifying the certificate by performing a certificate chain validation utilizing the certificate authority certificate.

5. A method as recited in claim 2, further comprising storing a copy of the certificate authority certificate.

6. A method as recited in claim 2, further comprising storing copies of one or more sub-certificate authority certificates.

7. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the memory device stores a plurality of certificate signing requests associated with a plurality of gaming machines.

8. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein a secure communication channel between the gaming machine and a host server in a gaming network is enabled using the certificate.

9. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the value associated with the certificate authority certificate is a hash value of the certificate.

10. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the certificate authority is a root certificate authority.

11. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving the certificate created by the certificate authority over a network;

receiving a value associated with the certificate authority certificate; and

displaying the value on a gaming machine monitor.

12. A method as recited in claim 2, further comprising examining a first certificate revocation list to determine whether the certificate authority certificate has been revoked.

13. A method as recited in claim 6, further comprising examining a second certificate revocation list to determine whether the one or more sub-certificate authority certificates have been revoked.

14. A method as recited in claim 2, further comprising comparing a first issuance date and a first expiration date of the certificate against a gaming machine internal clock.

15. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the memory device is a removable, re-writable memory storage device.

16. A gaming system comprising:

a certificate authority server having a batch certificate processing program and a certificate monitoring program;

a gaming machine having a certificate signing request module and a gaming machine certificate issued by the certificate authority server; and

a gaming server having a server certificate.

17. A gaming system as recited in claim 16, wherein the batch certificate processing program processes one or more certificate signing requests obtained from a memory device coupled to the certificate authority server.

18. A gaming system as recited in claim 17, wherein the batch certificate program stores gaming machine certificates on the memory device.

19. A gaming system as recited in claim 16, wherein the certificate monitoring program monitors expiration dates for a plurality of gaming machine certificates.

20. A gaming system as recited in claim 16, wherein the certificate authority server is a root certificate authority server.

21. A gaming system as recited in claim 20, wherein the root certificate authority is operated by a third-party provider and wherein the gaming machine and the gaming server are operated by a gaming operator.

22. A gaming system as recited in claim 16, wherein the certificate authority server is a sub-certificate authority server operated by a gaming operator.

23. A gaming system as recited in claim 17, wherein the gaming machine stores a certificate signing request on the memory device when coupled to the gaming machine.

24. A gaming system as recited in claim 16, wherein the certificate monitoring program has a user interface which allows setting user notifications and related configurations.

25. A gaming system as recited in claim 16, wherein the certificate is transmitted to the gaming machine from the certificate authority server over a network.

26. A gaming system as recited in claim 17, further comprising a secure network connection between the gaming machine and the gaming server established using the gaming machine certificate and the server certificate.