Patent ID: 8577044

Claim:
A method for automatic, secure, and confidential distribution of an asymmetric key security credential in a utility computing environment (UCE) comprising: providing an asymmetric key at a management server, said asymmetric key automatically associated with a logical device identifier of a provisionable resource capable of being provisioned by the UCE; establishing an isolated asymmetric key security credential distribution virtual network only between the management server and the provisionable resource for said distribution of said asymmetric key security credential; providing the asymmetric key from the management server to the provisionable resource within the isolated asymmetric key security credential distribution virtual network without requiring the provisionable resource to request the asymmetric key; and dissolving the isolated asymmetric key security credential distribution virtual network only between the management server and the provisionable resource after the asymmetric key is provided to said provisionable resource within the isolated asymmetric key security credential distribution virtual network, wherein the providing of the asymmetric key at the management server, the establishing, the providing of the asymmetric key from the management server, and the dissolving are performed prior to provisioning the provisionable resource to a user; wherein said asymmetric key is a public-private key pair.