Method for authenticating data

A method for authenticating data transmitted in a system between a source instance and a non-neighboring target instance, wherein the system has at least three instances, the data is transmitted between two of the at least three instances, the at least three instances include a first instance, a second instance, and a third instance, and each of the at least three instances has a unique identity label, the method comprising:

• authenticating, by the first instance as the source instance using an authentication mechanism common with intermediate instance that trusts the first instance, the data to be transmitted by the first instance to a non-neighboring target instance;
• transmitting, by the first instance to the intermediate instance, the data;
• checking, by the intermediate instance, the authentication of the data;
• providing, by the intermediate instance responsive to the checking indicating that the data is authenticated, the data with an identity label of the first instance;
• reauthenticating, by the intermediate instance using an authentication mechanism common with a neighboring instance that trusts the intermediate instance, the data;
• transmitting, by the intermediate instance to the neighboring instance, the data;
• checking, by the neighboring instance, the reauthentication of the data;
• reauthenticating, by the neighboring instance using an authentication mechanism common with a further neighboring instance that trusts the neighboring instance, the data having the identity label of the first instance;
• transmitting, by the neighboring instance to the further neighboring instance, the data;
• and
• repeating the checking of the authentication of the data, the reauthenticating the data, and the transmitting the data until the data reaches the target instance,
• wherein the authentication mechanism common with intermediate instance, the authentication mechanism common with a neighboring instance, or the authentication mechanism common with the further neighboring instance is at least one of the following authentication mechanisms
• authentication based on digital signatures;
• authentication based on symmetrical methods;
• authentication based on Bluetooth;
• authentication based on WLAN;
• authentication based on NFC;
• authentication based on SecOC;
• authentication based on TLS;
• authentication based on biometric methods;
• and
• authentication based on a technology established local proximity.

A method for transmitting data from a source instance to a target instance via at least one intermediate instance, the method comprising:

• authenticating, by the source instance using a first authentication mechanism, the data to be transmitted to the target instance to form authenticated data, wherein the target instance is not a neighbor of the source instance, and wherein the intermediate instance trusts the source instance;
• transmitting, by the source instance to the intermediate instance, the authenticated data;
• checking, by the intermediate instance, the authentication of the authenticated data;
• providing, by the intermediate instance responsive to the checking indicating that the authenticated data is authenticated, the authenticated data with an identity label of the source instance;
• reauthenticating, by the intermediate instance using a second authentication, the authenticated data with the identity label of the source instance to form reauthenticated data, wherein the intermediate instance is a neighbor of the target instance and the target instance trusts the intermediate instance;
• transmitting, by the intermediate instance to the target instance, the reauthenticated data;
• and
• checking, by the target instance, the reauthentication of the reauthenticated data;
• wherein the first and second authentication mechanisms are different authentication mechanism selected from the group comprising
• authentication based on digital signatures;
• authentication based on symmetrical methods;
• authentication based on Bluetooth;
• authentication based on WLAN;
• authentication based on NFC;
• authentication based on SecOC;
• authentication based on TLS;
• authentication based on biometric methods;
• and
• authentication based on a technology established local proximity.