Granted Patent B2

US 7,885,411 · App. 11/093,954 · Granted Feb 8, 2011

Assignee: Research In Motion Limited

Abstract

Claims (67)

1. A key agreement method carried out by a first system in conjunction with a second system over a bidirectional communication path between the first system and the second system, the method comprising:

generating a first key pair having a first public key and a first private key;

generating a second key pair having a second public key and a second private key, the second public key being generated based upon a secret known to the first system and the second system;

sending the second public key and the first public key to the second system;

receiving a third public key and a fourth public key generated by the second system, the fourth public key being generated based upon the secret; and

calculating a master key based upon the first private key, the second private key, the third public key and the fourth public key,

wherein the first key pair and the third public key are independent of the secret.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving from the second system a key confirmation value generated by the second system in a known manner using what the second system considers to be the master key;

calculating a value in the known manner using the master key; and

where the calculated value is identical to the key confirmation value received from the second system, determining that the second system is in possession of the master key.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising receiving a data payload having a Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI) service entry prior to receiving the key confirmation value.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first system comprises a wireless mobile device.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the second system comprises a host system offering services.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the secret is communicated over a secure out-of-band channel.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the secret comprises a personal identification number (PIN) automatically generated by the host system.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the secret is received from the second system through a web interface following a request by the first system.

9. The method of claim 5 , wherein an exchange of one or more messages over the bidirectional communication path comprises an exchange of e-mail messages, http-based XML messages, or http-based WML messages.

10. The method of claim 5 , wherein the wireless mobile device and the host system are addressed with e-mail addresses or IP addresses.

11. The method of claim 5 , wherein a modified Simple Password Exponential Key Exchange (SPEKE) method is used in calculating the master key.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first system is a host system offering services, and wherein the second system is a mobile wireless device.

13. The method of claim 1 , further comprising using the master key to encrypt one or more messages to be exchanged between the first system and the second system over the bidirectional communication path.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the secret that is used in generating the second public key and that is used in generating the fourth public key is communicated between the first system and the second system indirectly through an intermediary.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the secret that is used in generating the second public key and that is used in generating the fourth public key is unique to the communications between the first system and the second system.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the master key comprises:

calculating a first value based upon the first private key and the third public key;

calculating a second value based upon the second private key and the fourth public key;

creating a concatenation of the first value with the second value; and

calculating the master key as the hash of the concatenation.

17. A first system for carrying out a key agreement method in conjunction with a second system over a bidirectional communication path between the first system and the second system, comprising:

means for generating a first key pair having a first public key and a first private key;

means for generating a second key pair having a second public key and a second private key, the second public key being generated based upon a secret known to the first system and the second system;

means for sending the second public key and the first public key to the second system;

means for receiving a third public key and a fourth public key generated by the second system, the fourth public key being generated based upon the secret; and

means for calculating a master key based upon the first private key, the second private key, the third public key and the fourth public key,

wherein the first key pair and the third public key are independent of the secret.

18. A first system, comprising:

a memory; and

a processing unit coupled to the memory, wherein the processing unit is configured to execute steps of:

generating a first key pair having a first public key and a first private key;

generating a second key pair having a second public key and a second private key, the second public key being generated based upon a secret known to the first system and the second system;

sending the second public key and the first public key to the second system;

receiving a third public key and a fourth public key generated by the second system, the fourth public key being generated based upon the secret; and

calculating a master key based upon the first private key, the second private key, the third public key and the fourth public key,

wherein the first key pair and the third public key are independent of the secret.

19. Computer-readable non-transitory storage medium or mediums encoded with instructions that cause a device with a processor to perform a key agreement method carried out by a first system in conjunction with a second system over a bidirectional communication path between the first system and the second system, said method comprising:

generating a first key pair having a first public key and a first private key;

generating a second key pair having a second public key and a second private key, the second public key being generated based upon a secret known to the first system and the second system;

sending the second public key and the first public key to the second system;

receiving a third public key and a fourth public key generated by the second system, the fourth public key being generated based upon the secret; and

calculating a master key based upon the first private key, the second private key, the third public key and the fourth public key,

wherein the first key pair and the third public key are independent of the secret.

20. The first system of claim 17 , wherein the means for calculating the master key comprises:

means for calculating a first value based upon the first private key and the third public key;

means for calculating a second value based upon the second private key and the fourth public key;

means for creating a concatenation of the first value with the second value; and

means for calculating the master key as the hash of the concatenation.

21. The first system of claim 18 , wherein the processing unit is further configured to execute steps of:

calculating a first value based upon the first private key and the third public key;

calculating a second value based upon the second private key and the fourth public key;

creating a concatenation of the first value with the second value; and

calculating the master key as the hash of the concatenation.

22. Computer-readable storage medium or mediums of claim 19 , wherein calculating the master key comprises:

calculating a first value based upon the first private key and the third public key;

calculating a second value based upon the second private key and the fourth public key;

creating a concatenation of the first value with the second value; and

calculating the master key as the hash of the concatenation.

Assignments (9)

Continuity (3)