Patent ID: 8130953

Claim:
A method for providing authentication when messages are sent between an electronic communication apparatus and a server according to a synchronization protocol in which a plurality of different authentication methods are available, comprising: providing an authentication method indicator that specifies an authentication method of the plurality of different authentication methods according to which tile authentication is to be executed; wherein the specified authentication method is any of a group comprising Wireless Public Key Infrastructure (WPKI) and Wireless Identity Module (WIM) authentications; incorporating into a message the authentication method indicator comprising a plurality of authentication capabilities of the communication apparatus among the plurality of different authentication methods; transmitting said message to said server according to an authentication protocol of the synchronization protocol; generating, at the server, an integrity key that is encrypted with the public key of the electronic communication apparatus, and an authentication data value comprising an equivalent of an AKA FRESH parameter; sending the encrypted integrity key and the authentication data value to the electronic communication apparatus; using the encrypted integrity key at the electronic communication apparatus to generate Message Authentication Code (MAC) values; and using a hashing function at the electronic communication apparatus to compute a Hash-based Message Authentication Code (HMAC) on the message.