System, method, and apparata for secure communications using an electrical grid network

A method for location authentication, comprising the steps of:

• displaying on a human authorization detector at least some transaction data and requesting an input to accept or deny a location certificate request;
• receiving the input at the human authorization detector;
• requesting over at least a portion of an electrical grid a location certificate from a power grid server;
• receiving the location certificate from the power grid server over the portion of the electrical grid.

A method for authenticating instructions sent to a control plane of a real-time monitoring or control system, comprising the steps of:

• receiving an electronic instruction at a control plane to modify an operating parameter of a facility;
• displaying on a human authorization detector at least some data associated with either the instruction, the parameter, or both, and requesting an input to accept or deny a location certificate request;
• receiving the input at the human authorization detector;
• requesting over at least a portion of an electrical grid a location certificate from a remote power grid server;
• receiving the location certificate from the power grid server over the portion of the electrical grid;
• and
• after verifying the location certificate and matching it with a copy of the location certificate sent over a separate channel, causing the operating parameter to be modified.

A location authentication device for sending requests over at least a portion of an electrical grid, comprising:

• an input for receiving input from a user to send a request to a remote power grid server for a location certificate;
• a memory for storing at least transaction data;
• a communications module for communicating information between a human authorization detector and an electric meter, the information including at least some of the transaction data;
• and
• an output for displaying information

A method for generating location certificates using an out-of-band channel, comprising the steps of:

• establishing at a substation a link between a substation and at least one power grid server;
• forwarding to the power grid server through the link a location certificate request received from an electric meter;
• at the power grid server, verifying the information in the request;
• and
• constructing the location certificate.

A method for out-of-band location authorization in an electronic financial transaction, comprising the steps of:

• receiving at a human authorization detector an encrypted payload challenge token from a financial institution server, the challenge being sent after a user seeks electronic access over a communications network to an account at the financial institution;
• physically inputting to the human authorization detector a signal that enables the challenge token from the bank to be transmitted through a unique electrical meter and over at least a portion of an electrical grid to a power grid server;
• decrypting at the power grid server the payload using a public key;
• constructing an encrypted response payload;
• and
• transmitting the responsive payload to the financial institution server via the same portion of the electrical grid or a different independent path.

A method for tracking the location of an electronic device, comprising the steps of:

• receiving a signal when the electronic device being tracked is turned on;
• sending to the device a signal, over a portion of the electrical grid or via a separate channel, requesting a response, wherein the signal comprises a challenge token;
• optionally displaying on a human authorization detector separate from the electronic device a request to accept or deny the challenge token;
• optionally receiving the input at the human authorization detector;
• requesting over at least a portion of an electrical grid a location certificate from the power grid server;
• receiving the location certificate from the power grid server over the portion of the electrical grid.

A method for transmitting a signal from an alarm monitoring system at a structure, comprising the steps of:

• receiving a signal when a remote electronic monitoring device is activated indicating an alarm event;
• and
• sending to the remote monitoring server a signal over a side-channel, the signal including the signal information,
• wherein the side-channel comprises an electric meter connected to a portion of the electrical grid, and wherein the electric meter is associated with a structure that is being monitored by alarm monitoring system.

An electric meter for use in an out-of-band network security channel, comprising:

• a first termination point for electrically connecting the electric meter to a distribution system of a structure;
• a second termination point for electrically connecting the electric meter to a substation providing electrical service to the structure;
• and
• a memory device storing a plurality of instructions for transmitting to the substation a data package comprising information about a request for a location certificate received from the structure.