Patent ID: 8838953

Claim:
A method for programming security parameters into a plurality of networked devices in order to enable secure communication between the networked devices over a communications network, the method comprising: programming a provisioning device with at least one security parameter comprising at least one of a password and a security key, the security parameters stored in non-volatile memory on the provisioning device; for each networked device, transferring the at least one security parameter to internal storage of the networked device using a trusted out-of-band communications port of the device and in response to a user command while the provisioning device is activated, the communications port communicating over a local, non-network channel; using a security protocol of the network and the at least one security parameter for at least one of encryption of data transmitted over the network and securing access to the networked devices; and deactivating the provisioning device and inhibiting the provisioning device, while deactivated, from transferring additional security parameters to a specific networked device after the at least one security parameter has been successfully transferred to the specific networked device, until the provisioning device is reactivated.