Patent ID: 8639939

Claim:
A non-volatile memory card comprising: housing in a shape of a card and having: a controller; a non-volatile memory storing a key pair comprising a private key and a public key, and a certificate for authenticating the key pair; and an access control structure containing information usable by the controller for authenticating an entity and further information usable by the controller for determining a permission of the entity to access the key pair and certificate once the entity is authenticated by the controller; wherein the controller is operative to authenticate an entity to the non-volatile memory card using the access control structure; and after the entity has been successfully authenticated: receive data and a command to sign the data from the entity to provide proof of identity of the entity, determine a permission of the entity to access the key pair and certificate; employ the private key to sign the data or information derived from the data, wherein the signed data or information derived from the data provides proof of identity of the entity, and send the certificate and the signed data or information derived from the data to the entity to provide proof of identity of the entity.