Patent ID: 8250375

Claim:
A system that generates data from an artifact of an electronic device, comprising: a processor; a memory, communicatively coupled to the processor, the memory comprising components including: a communication component that receives a first request from an external device to identify the electronic device that is part of a particular class of devices; a measurement component that, responsive to the first request to identify the electronic device, analyzes a processing or storage artifact of the electronic device and determines a value associated with the processing or storage artifact that is substantially unique to the electronic device; and a security component that compares the value to stored value information expected for the particular class of devices, transforms the determined value into an identifier when the comparison results in an acceptable match, associates the identifier with the electronic device, and provides the identifier to the external device instead of storing the identifier in persistent memory associated with the electronic device, wherein, subsequent to providing the identifier to the external device, the communication component receives a second request from the external device or another external device to identify the electronic device and instructs the measurement component to re-determine the value by re-analyzing the same processing or storage artifact of the electronic device.