SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MUTUAL AUTHENTICATION AND SECURE COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN A POSTAGE SECURITY DEVICE AND A METER SERVER

摘要

A method is provided for establishing mutual authentication and secure communications between an microprocessor-based transaction evidencing device and a microprocessor-based server coupled thereto. A session key Ks is generated at the transaction evidencing device and encrypted with a first key K1 to form a first message. The first message is sent to the server and decrypted using a second key K2. In response to the first message a second message is generated at the server and encrypted using the session key Ks. The encrypted second message is sent to the transaction evidencing device and decrypted using the session key Ks. A response to the second message is generated at the transaction evidencing device and is signed using a third key K3. The signed response is encrypted with the session key Ks and transmitted to the server. The encrypted signed response is decrypted using the session key Ks and the signature is verified using a fourth key K4.