Validation of Software Residing on Remote Computing Devices

A computer implemented method for validating existing software of a remote computing device by a secure computing device, the method comprising:

• receiving, by the remote computing device a software validation request comprising a unique value, from the secure computing device;
• generating, by the remote computing device a first check value based on a unique value and existing software installed on the remote computing device;
• providing the first check value to a secure data repository;
• obtaining, by the secure computing device, an authentic copy of the software installed on the remote computing device, wherein the authentic copy is a last known authorized software provided to the remote computing device;
• obtaining, by the secure computing device the first check value from the secure data repository;
• computing, by the secure computing device, a second check value based on the authentic copy of the software and the unique value;
• determining, by the secure computing device, whether the existing software of the remote computing device is valid based on a comparison of the obtained first check value and the second check value;
• and
• providing, by the secure computing device, an instruction modifying operation of the remote computing device in response to a determination that the existing software is not valid.

A system for validating software, the method comprising:

• a secure data repository configured to store a unique value and a remotely generated check value, wherein the remotely generated check value is generated by a remote computing device based on the unique value and software of the remote computing device;
• a trusted software repository configured to store an authentic copy of the software of the remote computing device;
• and
• a secure computing device in communication with the secure data repository and the trusted software repository, wherein the secure computing device is configured to:
• obtain an authentic copy of the software of the remote computing device;
• obtain the unique value and the first check value from the secure data repository;
• compute a second check value based on the authentic copy of the software of the remote computing device and the unique value;
• and
• determine whether the remote computing device has authentic software based on a comparison of the obtained first check value and the second check value.