Patent ID: 8886946

Claim:
A method for permitting authentication of the contents of a container having an interior space configured to be sealed, comprising: providing a seal, configured to adhere to the container and to seal the contents within the container, the seal being tamper evident to reveal an attempt to remove the contents from the container; capturing at least one image with an imager of microbubbles or particles fixed within the seal, and determining a position of the microbubbles or particles fixed within the seal to a precision to uniquely characterize the seal, the positions being subject to stochastic manufacturing variations; encoding a description of the determined positions of the microbubbles or particles fixed within the seal, in a cryptographically protected message, such that an authenticity of the seal is determinable based on a correspondence of the microbubbles or particles fixed within the seal with the cryptographically protected message; imprinting the seal with a code; and physically sealing the container with the seal, such that physical access to the contents of the interior space of the container after physically sealing the container results in ascertainable alteration of the seal to reveal evidence of tampering, wherein an analysis of the imprinted code, the description of the determined positions, a current state of the microbubbles or particles, and an inspection of an integrity of the seal with respect to evidence of tampering, permits reliable authentication of the contents of the interior space of the container at a time after the capturing and physically sealing.