IP Library Granted Patent US 11,032,716
Granted Patent B2
US 11,032,716 · App. 16/206,110 · Granted Jun 8, 2021

Secure communication for machine to machine connections

Inventors: Niko Ashley Hammond (Calgary, CA); Adam John Boulton (Wirral, GB)
Assignee: BlackBerry Limited
H04W12/66G06F21/55H04L63/145H04L63/1433H04W12/48G06F8/65H04W4/40H04W4/70
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,032,716
App. No.
16/206,110
Granted
Jun 8, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

Systems, methods, and software can be used to improve the security for machine to machine communications. In some aspects, a method is disclosed comprising: receiving, at a vehicle, a connection request from an electronic device; receiving, at the vehicle, security posture information from the electronic device, wherein the security posture information comprises at least one of operating system update information or antivirus status information; and determining, by the vehicle, whether to connect to the electronic device based on the security posture information of the electronic device.

Claims (40)

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, at a vehicle, a connection request from an electronic device, wherein the connection request is a Bluetooth pairing request; and

in response to receiving the Bluetooth pairing request, initiating, by the vehicle, a Bluetooth pairing operation, wherein the Bluetooth pairing operation comprises:

sending, by the vehicle and to the electronic device, a first Bluetooth message that comprises a query for security posture information;

in response to the query, receiving, at the vehicle, a second Bluetooth message that comprises security posture information from the electronic device, wherein the security posture information comprises at least one of operating system update information or antivirus status information;

determining, at the vehicle, a security confidence score of the electronic device based on the security posture information of the electronic device;

determining, by the vehicle, whether to connect to the electronic device based on the security confidence score of the electronic device; and

in response to determining to connect to the electronic device based on the security posture information of the electronic device, sending, by the vehicle, a third Bluetooth message indicating a successful Bluetooth pairing.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

authenticating, by the vehicle, the electronic device; and wherein

whether to connect to the electronic device is determined by the vehicle after a successful authentication of the electronic device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the security posture information comprises the antivirus status information, and the antivirus status information comprises at least one of information of a time of an antivirus operation performed on the electronic device, a result of the antivirus operation performed on the electronic device, or an update time of an antivirus database used by the antivirus operation.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein whether to connect to the electronic device is further determined based on a security policy configured at the vehicle.

5. A vehicle, comprising:

at least one hardware processor; and

a computer-readable storage medium coupled to the at least one hardware processor and storing programming instructions for execution by the at least one hardware processor, wherein the programming instructions, when executed, cause the at least one hardware processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving, at the vehicle, a connection request from an electronic device, wherein the connection request is a Bluetooth pairing request; and

in response to receiving the Bluetooth pairing request, initiating, by the vehicle, a Bluetooth pairing operation, wherein the Bluetooth pairing operation comprises:

sending, by the vehicle and to the electronic device, a first Bluetooth message that comprises a query for security posture information;

in response to the query, receiving, at the vehicle, a second Bluetooth message that comprises security posture information from the electronic device, wherein the security posture information comprises at least one of operating system update information or antivirus status information;

determining, at the vehicle, a security confidence score of the electronic device based on the security posture information of the electronic device;

determining, by the vehicle, whether to connect to the electronic device based on the security confidence score of the electronic device; and

in response to determining to connect to the electronic device based on the security posture information of the electronic device, sending, by the vehicle, a third Bluetooth message indicating a successful Bluetooth pairing.

6. The vehicle of claim 5 , the operations further comprising:

authenticating, by the vehicle, the electronic device; and wherein

whether to connect to the electronic device is determined by the vehicle after a successful authentication of the electronic device.

7. The vehicle of claim 5 , wherein the security posture information comprises the antivirus status information, and the antivirus status information comprises at least one of information of a time of an antivirus operation performed on the electronic device, a result of the antivirus operation performed on the electronic device, or an update time of an antivirus database used by the antivirus operation.

8. The vehicle of claim 5 , wherein whether to connect to the electronic device is further determined based on a security policy configured at the vehicle.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed, cause a computing device to perform operations comprising:

receiving, at a vehicle, a connection request from an electronic device, wherein the connection request is a Bluetooth pairing request; and

in response to receiving the Bluetooth pairing request, initiating, by the vehicle, a Bluetooth pairing operation, wherein the Bluetooth pairing operation comprises:

sending, by the vehicle and to the electronic device, a first Bluetooth message that comprises a query for security posture information;

in response to the query, receiving, at the vehicle, a second Bluetooth message that comprises security posture information from the electronic device, wherein the security posture information comprises at least one of operating system update information or antivirus status information;

determining, at the vehicle, a security confidence score of the electronic device based on the security posture information of the electronic device;

determining, by the vehicle, whether to connect to the electronic device based on the security confidence score of the electronic device; and

in response to determining to connect to the electronic device based on the security posture information of the electronic device, sending, by the vehicle, a third Bluetooth message indicating a successful Bluetooth pairing.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 , the operations further comprising:

authenticating, by the vehicle, the electronic device; and wherein

whether to connect to the electronic device is determined by the vehicle after a successful authentication of the electronic device.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the security posture information comprises the antivirus status information, and the antivirus status information comprises at least one of information of a time of an antivirus operation performed on the electronic device, a result of the antivirus operation performed on the electronic device, or an update time of an antivirus database used by the antivirus operation.

Assignments (5)
NUNC PRO TUNC ASSIGNMENT Recorded Jun 19, 2023
From: BLACKBERRY LIMITED
To: MALIKIE INNOVATIONS LIMITED
Reel/Frame 064271/0199 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 16, 2023
From: BLACKBERRY LIMITED
To: MALIKIE INNOVATIONS LIMITED
Reel/Frame 064104/0103 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 31, 2019
From: HAMMOND, NIKO
To: BLACKBERRY LIMITED
Reel/Frame 049328/0852 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 31, 2019
From: BOULTON, ADAM JOHN
To: BLACKBERRY UK LIMITED
Reel/Frame 049328/0910 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 28, 2019
From: BLACKBERRY UK LIMITED
To: BLACKBERRY LIMITED
Reel/Frame 048461/0832 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20200178072A1 · Jun 4, 2020