SELF-GENERATION OF CERTIFICATES USING A SECURE MICROPROCESSOR IN A DEVICE FOR TRANSFERRING DIGITAL INFORMATION

摘要

The present invention allows consumer communications device in the figure such as an IP telephony adapter (110) to self-generate public key pairs (224) and certificates (214). This eliminates the need for such keys and certificates to be sent to the devices from an outside source so a single-trust approach can be maintained. A manufacturer's certificate is installed into a device at the time of manufacture. The device only issues itself certificates based on a signed request from an external outside server. The device's self-issued certificates incorporate information obtained from the server in a profile. This allows control by the server over a device's self-issued certificates. In order to prevent tampering, and breaking, of the self-issued certificates, the certificate issuing process occurs within a secure microprocessor.