Patent ID: 7937754

Claim:
An information processing apparatus comprising: a storage unit configured to store firmware data for controlling the information processing apparatus and root certificate data used in secured communication; at least one controller, the controller being programmed to control one or more of: a managing unit configured to perform management by storing specific information in a root certificate into a management table in the storage unit, the root certificate currently managed by the managing unit, the specific information including at least a first serial code for identifying the root certificate data stored in the storage unit and an expiration date allocated to the root certificate, wherein the first serial code of the root certificate data is an identification code specific to the root certificate; an acquiring unit configured to acquire a second serial code of root certificate data formed as part of firmware data stored in an external apparatus capable of communicating with the information processing apparatus, from a firmware update information file, the firmware update information file including the version number of the firmware data stored in the external apparatus, the second serial code of root certificate data formed as part of firmware data stored in the external device and location information indicating the location of the firmware data; a comparing unit configured to compare the second serial code included in the firmware update information file acquired by the acquiring unit with the first serial code of the root certificate currently managed by the managing unit, wherein the acquiring unit is configured to acquire the firmware data stored in the external apparatus based on the location information included in the firmware update information file if, in accordance with a result obtained by the comparison performed by the comparing unit, the second serial code acquired by the acquiring unit is different from the first serial code of the root certificate currently managed by the managing unit; and an updating unit adapted to extract, from the firmware data acquired by the acquiring unit, specific information including the second serial code of the root certificate data formed as part of the firmware data to write the extracted specific information into the management table.