Method and apparatus for verifying the legitimacy of an untrusted mechanism

摘要

The legitimacy of an untrusted mechanism is verified by submitting a first set of information and a second set of information to the untrusted mechanism in an unpredictable sequence. For each submission of either the first set or the second set of information, a response is received from the untrusted mechanism. Each response is tested to determine if the response is correct for the information set submitted. If any of the responses from the untrusted mechanism is incorrect, then it is determined that the untrusted mechanism is not legitimate. Because the submission sequence is unpredictable, it is highly difficult if not impossible for an illegitimate untrusted mechanism to "fake" proper responses. As a result, this verification process provides an effective means for testing and verifying the legitimacy of the untrusted mechanism.