Establishing a secure file transfer session for secure file transfer to a demarcation device

1. A method of establishing a secure file transfer session for secure downloading of configuration files at a Demarcation device, comprising:

establishing communication with a first network device, the first network device coupled to the Demarcation device and a second network device for establishing a connection between the Demarcation device and the second network device;

receiving a password challenge message including a dynamically-assigned password challenge parameter from the first network device, wherein the password challenge message is configured into a form of a sequence of information elements, each of the information elements including a type field, a length field, and a value field that includes a part number for identifying each of the information element in the sequence to allow a transmission of the dynamically-assigned password challenge parameter having an arbitrary length;

generating, using a device-specific identification, a username that is globally unique; wherein the device-specific identification includes a media access control (MAC) identification (ID), a MAC address, a device serial number, a vendor ID or an identification certificate;

generating a password using the password challenge message and a locally stored salt key, wherein the generating of the password includes:

discarding the password challenge message upon determining that the part numbers identifying the information elements are incomplete, and

assembling, upon determining that the part numbers are complete, the sequence of information elements based on values of the part numbers to obtain the password using a hash mechanism; and

communicating the globally unique username and the password to the second network device to facilitate establishing the secure file transfer connection with the second network device;

wherein the first network device comprises a data over cable service interface specification (DOCSIS) optical network unit (D-ONU) and the second network device comprises a DOCSIS back-office server.

2. The method as in claim 1 , wherein each of the information elements further includes a name field, a subtype field, and an originating user identification field, a format of each of the information elements following requirements of IEEE Std 802.1AB-2009.

3. An apparatus for establishing a secure file transfer session for secure downloading of configuration files at a Demarcation device, comprising:

a memory; and

a processor configured to read code instructions from the memory and perform operations of:

establishing communication with a first network device, the first network device coupled to the Demarcation device and a second network device for establishing a connection between the Demarcation device and the second network device;

receiving a password challenge message including a dynamically-assigned password challenge parameter from the first network device, wherein the password challenge message is configured into a form of a sequence of information elements, each of the information elements including a type field, a length field, and a value field that includes a number to identify each of the information element in the sequence to allow the dynamically-assigned password challenge parameter to have an arbitrary length;

generating, using a device-specific identification, a username that is globally unique;

wherein the device-specific identification includes a media access control (MAC) identification (ID), a MAC address, a device serial number, a vendor ID or an identification certificate;

generating a password using the password challenge message and a locally stored salt key, wherein the generating of the password includes:

discarding the password challenge message upon determining that the part numbers identifying the information elements are incomplete, and

assembling, upon determining that the part numbers are complete, the sequence of information elements based on values of the part numbers to obtain the password using a hash mechanism; and

communicating the username and the password to the second network device to facilitate establishing a secure file transfer connection with the second network device;

wherein the first network device comprises a data over cable service interface specification (DOCSIS) optical network unit (D-ONU) and the second network device comprises a DOCSIS back-office server.

4. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions comprising code for:

establishing communication with a first network device, the first network device coupled to the Demarcation device and a second network device for establishing a connection between the Demarcation device and the second network device;

receiving a password challenge message including a dynamically-assigned password challenge parameter from the first network device, wherein the password challenge message is configured into a form of a sequence of information elements, each of the information elements including a type field, a length field, and a value field that includes a number to identify each of the information element in the sequence to allow the dynamically-assigned password challenge parameter to have an arbitrary length,

generating, using a device-specific identification, a username that is globally unique;

wherein the device-specific identification includes a media access control (MAC) identification (ID), a MAC address, a device serial number, a vendor ID or an identification certificate;

generating a password using the password challenge message and a locally stored salt key, wherein the generating of the password includes:

discarding the password challenge message upon determining that the part numbers identifying the information elements are incomplete, and

assembling, upon determining that the part numbers are complete, the sequence of information elements based on values of the part numbers to obtain the password using a hash mechanism; and

communicating the username and the password to the second network device to facilitate establishing a secure file transfer connection with the second network device;

wherein the first network device comprises a data over cable service interface specification (DOCSIS) optical network unit (D-ONU) and the second network device comprises a DOCSIS back-office server.

5. The apparatus as in claim 3 , wherein each of the information elements further includes a name field, a subtype field, and an originating user identification field, a format of each of the information elements following requirements of IEEE Std 802.1AB-2009.

6. The computer program product of claim 4 , wherein each of the information elements further includes a name field, a subtype field, and an originating user identification field, a format of each of the information elements following requirements of IEEE Std 802.1AB-2009.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the locally stored salt key includes a MAC address of the Demarcation device.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the secure file transfer session uses a secure file transfer protocol (SFTP).

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the secure file transfer session uses a secure hypertext transfer protocol (HTTPS).

10. The apparatus as in claim 3 , wherein the locally stored salt key includes a MAC address of the Demarcation device.

11. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the secure file transfer session uses a secure file transfer protocol (SFTP).

12. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the secure file transfer session uses a secure hypertext transfer protocol (HTTPS).

13. The computer program product of claim 4 , wherein the locally stored salt key includes a MAC address of the Demarcation device.

14. The computer program product of claim 4 , wherein the secure file transfer session uses a secure file transfer protocol (SFTP).

15. The computer program product of claim 4 , wherein the secure file transfer session uses a secure hypertext transfer protocol (HTTPS).