Patent ID: 7216226

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for identification of a service node coupled to an administrative node and a certificate authority node via a computer network, the administrative and certificate authority nodes having respective public and private keys, comprising: establishing a shared key between the certificate authority node and the administrative node; while booting the service node, automatically generating by the service node a public key and a private key for the service node; sending a request from the service node to the administrative node, the request including the public key of the service node and indicating to the administrative node that the service node is available for configuration; double encrypting, in response to the request from the service node, a selected value at the administrative node first using the shared key and second using the public key of the service node, whereby a double encrypted value is generated; transmitting the double encrypted value to the service node; decrypting the double encrypted value at the service node, whereby a single encrypted value is generated; transmitting the single encrypted value to the certificate authority node; decrypting the single encrypted value at the certificate authority node using the shared key; generating an authentication code having a value that indicates whether the certificate authority node successfully decrypted the single encrypted value using the shared key; transmitting from the administrative node to the service node configuration data that configures the service node to provide a selected service; and conditionally accepting the configuration data by the service node in response to the value of the authentication code.