Patent ID: 7971239

Claim:
A device control apparatus connected to a plurality of devices, comprising: a processor with first key information embedded therein; and a memory section for storing encrypted second key information for each of the plurality of devices which is obtained by encrypting second key information for each of the plurality of devices using third key information, encrypted third key information which is obtained by encrypting the third key information using the first key information, and a plurality of access programs for accessing the plurality of devices, which are encrypted using the third key information, each of the plurality of access programs is stored in the memory section associated with information specifying a usable second key information, wherein the processor decrypts the encrypted third key information using the embedded first key information to store the decrypted third key information in a memory embedded in the processor, obtains the usable second key information and the associated access program through decryption using the decrypted third key information, encrypts an access instruction requiring access to the device using the usable second key information based on the associated access program, and outputs the encrypted access instruction.