Patent ID: 7788483

Claim:
For an integrated circuit (IC) manufactured by an IC manufacturer, a method of establishing a secure status and authenticity of the IC by a certification authority (CA), said method comprising the steps of: (a) incorporating cryptographic logic in the IC by the IC manufacturer, the cryptographic logic being operable to generate a cryptographic key intended to be communicated external to the IC; (b) incorporating certification logic in the IC by the IC manufacturer, the certification logic comprising a certification key for use in securely transferring the cryptographic key from the IC to the CA thus establishing a secure certification arrangement; (c) communicating securely the certification key to the CA; (d) establishing a secure certification arrangement between the CA and the IC using the certification key; and (e) during the secure certification arrangement, accessing the cryptographic key by the CA for the purpose of certifying the cryptographic key associated with the IC and in response thereto erasing the certification key from the IC and from the CA, to thereby terminate the secured certification arrangement.