System and method of owner control of electronic devices

• US 8,302,185 B2
• Filed: 08/26/2010
• Issued: 10/30/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Little, Herbert A., Clark, David R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Perungavoor, Venkat
• Application Number:
  US12/869,589
• Publication Number:
  US 20100325741A1
• Time in Patent Office: 796 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 726/21
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/30 Authentication, i.e. establishing the identity or authorisation of security principals
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/62 Protecting access to data via a platform, e.g. using keys or access control rules
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/64 Protecting data integrity, e.g. using checksums, certificates or signatures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2103 Challenge-response
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2143 Clearing memory, e.g. to prevent the data from being stolen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2149 Restricted operating environment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2153 Using hardware token as a secondary aspect

Abstract

A system and method of owner control of an electronic device are provided. Owner identification information, such as data integrity and source authentication information, is stored on the electronic device. Received owner control information is stored on the electronic device where the integrity of the received owner control information is verified and/or the source is authenticated using the owner identification information. In one embodiment, owner identification information comprises an owner signature private key.

Claims

1. A method of owner control of electronic devices, comprising the steps of:

receiving, at an electronic device, owner information which includes owner identification information, wherein the owner identification information includes source authentication information;

receiving, at the electronic device, owner control information; and

using the received owner identification information to check integrity of the received owner control information, the source authentication information being usable for authenticating that the received owner control information is from an owner of the electronic device

wherein the owner control information includes an authorized software application list that identifies an authorized software application by a hash of the software application, and wherein the software application is to be used on the electronic device based upon an integrity check relative to the hash of the software application.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the owner control information is received at the electronic device at a different time than the owner information is received at the electronic device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, based upon the check of the integrity of the owner control information, whether to use the received owner control information on the electronic device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the owner identification information includes data integrity information which is used to check the integrity of the received owner control information.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the data integrity information of the owner information comprises a digital signature.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein mobile device branding information is used in determining whether to use the received owner control information.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein determining whether to use the received owner control information is based upon the source of the owner control information being authenticated.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the source is an authorized source.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the authorized source is a source acting on behalf of the owner.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of checking integrity of the owner identification information by use of a digital signature.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the digital signature is created by application of a cryptographic algorithm to the owner information, the cryptographic algorithm including use of one of:

a symmetric key; and

an asymmetric key.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the owner control information comprises a description of at least one of:

functions or software applications the electronic device is prohibited to use; and

functions or software applications the electronic device is permitted to use in a modified manner.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of determining whether to perform an operation on the electronic device based upon at least one of:

whether the owner information exists on the electronic device;

whether the owner control information exists on the electronic device; and

an operation permissions list contained in the owner control information.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

receiving, at the electronic device, an erase command, wherein the erase command indicates that the owner information is to be erased from the electronic device, and wherein the erase command is digitally signed; and

determining whether to perform the erase command based upon checking integrity of the digitally signed erase command.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

issuing a cryptographic challenge using an encryption key, the encryption key being stored on the electronic device, being associated with an owner of the electronic device, and being a public key of the owner or a secret key shared between the owner and the electronic device; and

determining whether to perform an operation on the electronic device based upon determination of the issued cryptographic challenge.

16. An owner control apparatus, comprising:

an owner information store configured to store owner identification information having data integrity information; and

an owner control information store configured to store owner control information to control operations of an electronic device, and wherein the stored data integrity information is used to check integrity of the owner control information, and wherein whether to use the stored owner control information on the electronic device is determined based upon the check of the integrity of the owner control information,

wherein the owner control information includes an authorized software application list that identifies an authorized software application by a hash of the software application, and wherein the software application is to be used on the electronic device based upon an integrity check relative to the hash of the software application.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the owner control information is stored at the electronic device at a different time than the owner information is stored at the electronic device.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the owner identification information includes source authentication information for authenticating that the owner control information is from an owner of the electronic device.

19. The apparatus of claim 16 further comprising an insertion module configured to receive owner control information.