Protection of software using a challenge-response protocol embedded in the software
AssigneeFujitsu Siemens Computers GmbH
InventorsGlenn Benson, Markus Dichtl
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for protecting an item of software, wherein at least one challenge is associated with the protected item of software, and at least one response accesses one private keying material. The challenge has no access to the private keying material. The challenge and the response are generating shared secret information, respectively, in accordance with an asymmetric confidentiality scheme. The response proves that it discovered the shared secret and the challenge validates the proof. The challenge proof validation procedure uses the public keying material that corresponds to the response private keying material.
Claims50
A computer system, comprising:
- computer-readable media encoded with data structures including:
- a protection mechanism for protecting software, the protection mechanism including challenge means for issuing a challenge and associated with a protected item of software, and
- response means for responding to said challenge with private keying material that it can access, wherein
- said challenge means has no access to the private keying material,
- said challenge means and said response means have means for generating shared secret information, respectively, in accordance with an asymmetric confidentiality scheme,
- said response means having means for providing to said challenge means that said response means has access to the private keying material by interacting with said challenge means using an asymmetric confidentiality proof scheme,
- said challenge means having means for prohibiting a customer from using at least some of said items of software unless a proof is successful.
A method for protecting software, comprising:
- associating at least one challenge means with a protected item of software, and accessing private keying material with at least one response means,
- the challenge means has no access to the private keying material,
- generating shared secret information with the challenge means and the response means, respectively, in accordance with an asymmetric confidentiality scheme,
- the response means proving to the challenge means that the response means has access to the private keying material,
- the challenge means prohibiting a customer from using some or all of said items of software unless a proof is successful.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.