Methods, systems and computer program products for detecting tampering of electronic equipment based on constrained time to obtain computational result
AssigneeAT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P.
InventorJeffrey A. Aaron
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Tampering of electronic equipment may be detected by instructing the electronic equipment to perform at least one computational operation at the electronic equipment, such as hashing of at least some of the memory of the electronic equipment, to produce a result. The result is received from the electronic equipment. Tampering of the electronic equipment is detected if the result is not received within a constrained time of the instructing, even if the result is correct. Tampering also may be detected if the result is not correct.
Claims27
A method of detecting tampering of electronic equipment comprising:
- instructing the electronic equipment to perform at least one computational operation at the electronic equipment to produce a result;
- receiving the result from the electronic equipment;
- detecting tampering of the electronic equipment if the result is not received within a constrained time of the instructing, even if the result is correct;
- and
- disconnecting the electronic equipment from a network by which it communicates and/or at least partially disabling the electronic equipment upon detecting tampering;
- wherein detecting comprises:
- determining a first time to instruct the electronic equipment to perform at least one computational operation;
- determining a second time to perform at least one computational operation at the electronic equipment to produce the result;
- determining a third time to receive the result from the electronic equipment;
- and
- detecting tampering of the equipment if the result is not received within a constrained time that is a function of the first, second and third times, even if the result is correct.
A system for detecting tampering of electronic equipment comprising:
- a tampering detection initiator that is configured to instruct the electronic equipment to perform at least one computational operation at the electronic equipment to produce a result, and to receive the result from the electronic equipment;
- and
- a tampering detection controller that is configured to detect tampering of the electronic equipment if the result is not received within a constrained time of the instructing, even if the result is correct, and to disconnect the electronic equipment from a network by which it communicates and/or at least partially disable the electronic equipment upon detecting tampering;
- wherein the tampering detection controller is further configured to detect tampering of the electronic equipment by:
- determining a first time to instruct the electronic equipment to perform at least one computational operation;
- determining a second time to perform at least one computational operation at the electronic equipment to produce the result;
- determining a third time to receive the result from the electronic equipment;
- and
- detecting tampering of the equipment if the result is not received within a constrained time that is a function of the first, second and third times, even if the result is correct.
A computer program product that is configured to detect tampering of electronic equipment, the computer program product comprising a computer usable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied in the medium, the computer-readable program code comprising:
- computer-readable program code that is configured to instruct the electronic equipment to perform at least one computational operation at the electronic equipment to produce a result;
- computer-readable program code that is configured to receive the result from the electronic equipment;
- and
- computer-readable program code that is configured to detect tampering of the electronic equipment if the result is not received within a constrained time of the instructing, even if the result is correct, and to disconnect the electronic equipment from a network by which it communicates and/or at least partially disable the electronic equipment upon detecting tampering;
- wherein the computer-readable program code that is configured to detect tampering comprises:
- computer-readable program code that is configured to determine a first time to instruct the electronic equipment to perform at least one computational operation;
- computer-readable program code that is configured to determine a second time to perform at least one computational operation at the electronic equipment to produce the result;
- computer-readable program code that is configured to determine a third time to receive the result from the electronic equipment;
- and
- computer-readable program code that is configured to detect tampering of the equipment if the result is not received within a constrained time that is a function of the first, second and third times, even if the result is correct.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.