Method for master key generation and registration

摘要

A method of manufacturing transaction evidencing devices, such as digital postage meters, includes the steps of generating a master key in a logical security domain of a Key Management System (10); installing the master key into a digital postage meter (36); verifying the installation of the master key; and registering the master key to a logical security sub-domain in the Key Management System. The step of generating the master key further includes the steps of generating a domain; generating at least one sub-domain; installing the domain in secure boxes of the Key Management System; generating a master key and test token within the domain; and recording the master key in the domain archive. The step of installing the master key further includes the steps of installing the master key into a digital meter (36);and associating the master key with a unique device identifier. The step of registering the master key to a logical security sub-domain in the Key Management System (10) further includes the steps of assigning a sub-domain to the digital meter; installing a postal identifier into the digital meter; associating the postal identifier to the unique device identifier; generating a registration token in the digital meter based on the postal identifier and the unique device identifier; generating registration tokens using the master key recorded in the archives (25); verifying that the registration tokens are identical; and recording the master key in the sub-domain. The steps are repeated for each domain assigned to the digital postage meter.