Methods and systems for creating uniquely identifiable software installations

1 . A method for creating a uniquely identifiable software installation, the method comprising:

installing a software installation of software on a machine-readable medium;

generating a key pair comprising a private key and a public key for the installed software installation of software;

creating random numbers during generation of the key pair;

supplementing the created random numbers with installation-specific data of the software installation;

generating the private key based on the random numbers supplemented with the installation-specific data, wherein the private key is configured to allow for software-entity-specific licensing options without including a hardware-based second factor dongle; and

securely storing the generated private key.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the installation-specific data comprises a time of the software installation and/or specifications about working memory available at the time of the software installation and/or a system start time.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the software installation-specific data comprises a time of the software installation and/or specifications about working memory available at the time of the software installation and the system start time.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the installation-specific data include of a time of the software installation and/or specifications about working memory available at the time of the software installation and the system start time.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising creating the key pair based on elliptic curves.

6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising creating the key pair based on isogenies of the elliptic curves.

7 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising creating the key pair based on isogenies of supersingular elliptic curves.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the software is embodied as software for configuration of digital twins.

9 . A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium on which a computer program is stored, the computer program comprising commands that, when the computer program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out a method as set forth in claim 1 .

10 . A system comprising a data medium signal, which transmits a computer program as set forth in claim 9 , and a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium on which the computer program is stored.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the random numbers have entropy.

12 . A method for onboarding of a device of an automation plant, the method comprising:

providing a software installation with a key pair comprising a private key and a public key in accordance with a method of claim 1 ;

setting up a trustworthy communication between the device and the software installation;

configuring the device by the software installation; and

transferring the public key to the device.

13 . The method of claim 12 , further comprising transferring the public key in an encrypted manner to the device.

14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the device is embodied as an embedded device.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the embedded device is designed as a runtime or an loT device or as a digital twin.

16 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the device comprises a whitelist into which the public key is entered.

17 . A non-transitory machine-readable data media on which a computer program is stored, the computer program comprising commands that, when the computer program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out a method as set forth in claim 12 .

18 . An onboarding system, comprising:

a device of an automation plant; and

a system comprising a machine-readable storage medium on which a software installation of software is present and a private key assigned to the software installation, the private key created based on random numbers supplemented with installation-specific data of the software installation, is securely stored, wherein the system further comprises a processor, which is embodied in such a way and/or which is configured to carry out the onboarding of the device according to the method of claim 12 .

19 . Apparatus comprising a processor, the processor embodied and/or configured to carry out a method as set forth in claim 12 .

20 . Apparatus, comprising a processor, the processor embodied and/or configured to carry out a method as set forth in claim 1 .

21 . The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the processor is implemented as a virtual processor, a virtual machine, or a soft CPU.

22 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the private key is configured to be software entity-specific.