System and Method to Perform Passwordless Authentication Operations Offline

A method performed by a network element, comprising:

• establishing a short-range wireless communication link with an offline device;
• receiving, via the short-range wireless communication link, an encrypted message from the offline device, wherein:
• the encrypted message is a request to unlock the offline device;
• the encrypted message comprises a single use value configured to identify an authentication attempt concatenated with a network element identifier associated with the network element and a device identifier associated with the offline device;
• and
• the encrypted message is encrypted using a first public key at the offline device;
• decrypting, using a first private key corresponding to the first public key, the encrypted message;
• determining whether the authentication attempt is approved;
• in response to determining that the authentication attempt is approved, generating an authentication approval including the single use value and an approval message configured to unlock the offline device;
• encrypting, using a second public key, the authentication approval;
• and
• transmitting, via the short-range wireless communication link, an encrypted version of the authentication approval to the offline device, wherein:
• the encrypted version of the authentication approval is configured to be decrypted using a second private key corresponding to the second public key;
• and
• the offline device is configured to unlock in response to successfully decrypting the authentication approval.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions in a network element that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

• establish a short-range wireless communication link with an offline device;
• receive, via the short-range wireless communication link, an encrypted message from the offline device, wherein:
• the encrypted message is a request to unlock the offline device;
• the encrypted message comprises a single use value configured to identify an authentication attempt concatenated with a network element identifier associated with the network element and a device identifier associated with the offline device;
• and
• the encrypted message is encrypted using a first public key at the offline device;
• decrypt, using a first private key corresponding to the first public key, the encrypted message;
• determine whether the authentication attempt is approved;
• in response to determining that the authentication attempt is approved, generating an authentication approval including the single use value and an approval message configured to unlock the offline device;
• encrypt, using a second public key, the authentication approval;
• and
• transmit, via the short-range wireless communication link, an encrypted version of the authentication approval to the offline device, wherein:
• the encrypted version of the authentication approval is configured to be decrypted using a second private key corresponding to the second public key;
• and
• the offline device is configured to unlock in response to successfully decrypting the authentication approval.