Patent ID: 8621232
Filing Date: 2013-12-31
Classification: G07C

Abstract:
1. A method for producing, allocating and checking authorization approvals that are required in order to fulfill tasks specified by an action plan through performance, by a service technician, of actions on a device or component of a distributed structure, comprising: generating at least one authorization approval having a limited period of validity that is bound to an identity certificate of the service technician which is stored on a storage medium carried or able to be carried by the service technician and that is required for fulfilling at least one task specified by the action plan; signing the authorization approval with a non-public key; wherein the non-public key comprises a non-public key associated with a service center producing the action plan; storing the signed authorization approval on a storage medium carried or able to be carried by the service technician; making at least the identity certificate and the signed authorization approval available to the device or component by the service technician; checking the period of validity of the identity certificate by the device or component; checking the signature of the signed authorization approval by the device or component with the aid of a public key associated with the non-public key used for generating the signature as well as a main certificate of a certification authority that issued the public key; wherein both the public key and the main certificate of the certification authority are available or are made available to the device or component; checking the authorization approval by the device or component, including checking the period of validity of the authorization approval; and if the result of all the checks confirms the identity of the service technician and allows the tasks to be fulfilled, granting of the permission to the service technician by the device or component to carry out the actions requiring to be performed in order to fulfill the tasks set or specified by the action plan.