Method and system for phone-number discovery and phone-number authentication for mobile communications devices

A method for securely authenticating, to a remote computational entity, information associated with a mobile communications device by a local computational entity running on the mobile communications device, the method comprising:

• sending a local public encryption key by the local computational entity to the remote computational entity in a first message via a first communications medium;
• receiving, from the remote computational entity, a second message encrypted using the local public encryption key that contains secret information provided by the remote computational entity via the first communications medium;
• decrypting the second message using a private local decryption key;
• and
• sending the secret information by the local computational entity to the remote computational entity via a second communications medium.

A mobile communications device comprising:

• a computational entity local to said mobile communications device, configured to obtain information associated with said mobile communications device that is not directly available to said local computational entity:
• means for sending a request message to a remote computational entity to request specific information previously associated with said mobile communications device;
• and
• means for receiving said requested information previously associated with said mobile communications device from said remote computational entity in a response message.

A mobile communications device comprising:

• a locally based application configured to securely authenticate, to a remote computational entity, information associated with said mobile communications device:
• apparatus for sending a local public encryption key by said local computational entity to said remote computational entity in a first message via a first communications medium;
• apparatus for receiving, from said remote computational entity, a second message encrypted using the local public encryption key that contains secret information provided by said remote computational entity via said first communications medium;
• apparatus for decrypting said second message using a private local decryption key;
• and
• apparatus for sending said secret information by said local computational entity to said remote computational entity via a second communications medium.