Reoccuring keying system

1. A communication method, comprising:

determining, by a first device, that a key issued by a master authority is to be used to secure a communication between the first device and a second device;

after the determining and prior to attempting to use the key for the communication, submitting a security authorization request to the master authority, requesting verification that the key is currently valid, wherein the security authorization request comprises information identifying the first device, the second device, and a desired transaction for the communication;

receiving confirmation that the key is currently valid;

using the key to conduct the communication;

receiving, by the first device, an array comprising:

a plurality of keys; and

for each key, an identification of a transaction type for communications involving the first and second devices; and

receiving an instruction from the master authority to update the array to associate a first transaction type with a different key in the array.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining, prior to submitting the security authorization request, that a verification waiting period associated with the key issued by the master authority has passed.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

receiving, from the master authority, a message changing the verification waiting period associated with the key issued by the master authority.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the key issued by the master authority is transaction- and device pair-specific.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the submitting is performed for every communication between the first and second devices that is secured by the key issued by the master authority.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein when the key issued by the master authority is no longer valid, the method further comprising receiving a replacement key and using the replacement key in a subsequent secure communication.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the security authorization request comprises a master authority last secure data value identifying a last known data received by the first device from the master authority for a pairing of the first device and second device.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second device is dependent on the first device for communication with the master authority.

9. A communication method, comprising:

determining, by a first device, that a key issued by a master authority is to be used to secure a communication between the first device and a second device, wherein the second device is dependent on the first device for communicating with the master authority;

after the determining and prior to attempting to use the key for the communication, submitting a request to the master authority requesting verification that the key is currently valid;

receiving confirmation that the key is currently valid;

using the key to conduct the communication;

receiving, by the first device, an array comprising:

a plurality of keys; and

for each key, an identification of a transaction type for communications involving the first and second devices; and

receiving an instruction from the master authority to update the array to associate a first transaction type with a different key in the array.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the key issued by the master authority is assigned to a group of 3 or more devices for use in communication, wherein the first and second devices are in the group.

11. A method comprising:

determining that a secure communication is to be carried out between a first device and a second device;

identifying a device-pair-specific key that has been previously assigned by a master authority for securing communications between the first device and the second device;

prior to using the device-pair-specific key for the secure communication, transmitting a security authorization request to the master authority, requesting verification that the device-pair-specific key is valid, wherein the security authorization request comprises information identifying the first device, the second device, and a desired transaction for the secure communication, and wherein the device-pair-specific key is transaction-specific;

receiving a response from the master authority indicating the device-pair-specific key is valid; and

using the device-pair-specific key for the secure communication between the first device and the second device.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

determining whether a verification waiting period has elapsed since a prior verification with the master authority.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:

receiving an update from the master authority, changing a time value of the verification waiting period.

14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

performing the transmitting the security authorization request for every use of the device-pair-specific key.

15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

receiving a replacement key in response to the device-pair-specific key being deemed invalid by the master authority; and

using the replacement key to secure subsequent communications with the second device.

16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

including, in the security authorization request, a master authority last secure data value identifying a last known data received by the first device from the master authority for a pairing of the first device and the second device.

17. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

receiving an array comprising:

a plurality of keys; and

for each key in the plurality of keys, an identification of a transaction type for communications involving the first device and the second device.