Remote administration of smart cards for secure access systems

A secure access method for use with a communication network which communicates information between an information resource controller and a remote unit, the method comprising:

• identifying, at the remote unit, a command to upload data;
• employing, in response to said command, a hash function at the remote unit to encode contents of at least a portion of a memory at the remote unit and thereby to produce a hashed result;
• transmitting the hashed result to the information resource controller;
• comparing, at the information resource controller, the hashed result with a trusted hashed result maintained at the information resource controller thereby to provide a comparison result;
• and
• determining integrity of the contents of the at least a portion of the memory at the remote unit based, at least in part, on the comparison result.

A secure access method for use with a communication network which communicates information between an information resource controller and a remote unit, the method comprising:

• at the remote unit, identifying a command to upload data;
• in response to the command, performing a hash function at the remote unit on at least a portion of a memory at the remote unit, thereby producing a hashed result;
• transmitting the hashed result to the information resource controller;
• at the information resource controller, comparing the hashed result with a trusted hashed result maintained at the information resource controller;
• and
• if the comparison is favorable, determining that the at least a portion of the memory has integrity, and otherwise determining that the at least a portion of the memory does not have integrity.

A system for providing secure access in a communication network comprising:

• an information resource controller;
• and
• a remote unit,
• wherein the information resource controller and the remote unit are operative to communicate information through the communication network, and
• the remote unit is operative to:
• identify a command to upload data;
• in response to the command, perform a hash function on at least a portion of a memory at the remote unit, thereby producing a hashed result;
• and
• transmit the hashed result to the information resource controller, and
• the information resource controller is operative to:
• compare the hashed result with a trusted hash result maintained at the information resource controller;
• and
• if the comparison is favorable, determine that the at least a portion of the memory has integrity, and otherwise determine that the at least a portion of the memory does not have integrity.