System and method for authentication for field replaceable units

A method to authenticate a removable transceiver coupled to a network element, the method comprising:

• detecting the removable transceiver coupled to the network element, wherein the removable transceiver is not authorized to communicate traffic for the network element;
• authenticating the removable transceiver by re-cryptographically signing cryptographically signed data stored in the removable transceiver using a key stored in the network element, wherein the cryptographically signed data is cryptographically signed with the key prior to the removable transceiver coupling to the network element;
• communicating data using the removable transceiver if the removable transceiver is authenticated;
• and
• disabling the removable transceiver if the removable transceiver is not authenticated.

A network element to authenticate a removable transceiver coupled to the network element, the network element comprising:

• the removable transceiver to communicate network data for the network element;
• secure storage;
• and
• a network card to authenticate the removable transceiver, the transceiver authentication module including,
• a set of software instructions to generate a stored transceiver signature using cryptographically signed transceiver data stored in the removable transceiver by re-cryptographically signing the cryptographically signed transceiver data using a nonce, wherein the cryptographically signed transceiver data is cryptographically signed with a key prior to the removable transceiver coupling to the network element,
• a set of software instructions to generate a hardware transceiver signature using the nonce and data stored in the secure storage of the network element, and
• a set of software instructions to use the removable transceiver to communicate network data for the network element based on a comparison of the stored transceiver signature and the hardware transceiver signature are equal.