System and method for authentication seed distribution

A method of authenticating a device to a security system based on a master seed associated with the device, said method comprising:

• deriving a derived seed using the master seed and information associated with the security system;
• isolating the master seed from the security system such that the security system cannot access the master seed;
• in the security system. generating an authentication code based at least in part on the derived seed;
• using the authentication code to authenticate the device;
• and
• storing a static password in the device and using the static password along with the derived seed to perform authentication with the security system.

A method comprising:

• at a user device, calculating a verifier seed by applying a cryptographic function to a master seed and to a verifier identifier, the master seed being uniquely associated with the user device, the verifier identifier being associated with a security system;
• at a host server, the host server storing the master seed associated with the user device and the verifier identifier associated with the security system, calculating the verifier seed by applying the cryptographic function to the master seed and to the verifier identifier;
• transmitting the calculated verifier seed from the host server to the security system by a secure mechanism, the security system having no access to the master seed;
• transmitting an authentication message from the user device to the security system;
• and
• at the security system, authenticating, based on the received authentication message and the received calculated verifier seed, that the user device is in possession of the verifier seed.