Method and apparatus for centralized processing of hardware tokens for PKI solutions

A system for centralized processing of hardware tokens for PKI solutions comprising:

• a token;
• a token initialization machine, the token being connectable to the token initialization machine;
• a secure processing facility;
• and
• a Root Certificate Authority, the Root Certificate Authority signing certificates of the secure processing facility, the secure processing facility receiving the token and using the token initialization machine to install an operating system on the token, write a unique key encipherment certificate onto the token, write a certificate of the Root Certificate Authority onto the token, write a unique private key onto the token, and load a software package onto the token where the software package is capable of cryptologically validating future keys and certificates, decrypting the keys and certificates, and installing the keys and certificates in the token.

An apparatus comprising a storage medium containing instructions stored therein, the instructions when executed causing a computing device to perform:

• receiving a commercially available token;
• installing an operating system on the token;
• writing the unique key encipherment certificate onto the token;
• writing a Root Certificate Authority certificate onto the token;
• writing a unique private key onto the token, the unique private key being the matching key for the unique key encipherment certificate;
• and
• loading a software package onto the token, the software package capable of cryptologically validating future keys and certificates, decrypting the keys and certificates, and installing the keys and certificates in the token.