Patent ID: 8347092

Claim:
A computer implemented method for determining authenticity and integrity of a subsystem of a notebook computer, the method comprising: communicating, from a security station, with a security token within a replaceable subsystem of the notebook computer to perform a challenge/response operation with the security token using a first secret stored in the security token, without powering on the notebook computer, thereby receiving a first response, formed using the first secret, from the security token, the notebook computer being separate from the security station; communicating, from the security station, with a remote secret store in an authenticated communication session over a public computer network to perform a challenge/response operation with the remote secret store using a second secret stored in the remote secret store, thereby receiving a second response, formed using the second secret, from the remote secret store, the remote secret store being separate from the notebook computer and the security station; comparing the first response with the second response for correspondence; and responsive to the comparison, generating a failure alarm if the comparison indicates no correspondence between the first secret and the second secret, and generating a pass indication if the comparison indicates correspondence between the first secret and the second secret.