Patent ID: 8812701

Claim:
A field security device for providing a secure private network (SPN) between a field traffic controller and a traffic management center (TMC), comprising: a first connector for interfacing with the field traffic controller; a communication module; at least one processor operatively coupled to the first connector and the communication module; and a memory module operatively coupled to the at least one processor and comprising executable code that when executed by the processor enables the processor to: access a public network via the communication module; locate an authentication server of the TMC via the public network; generate a device identifier from machine parameters of the field security device, the device identifier uniquely identifying the field security device, the machine parameters including at least one user-configurable parameter and at least one non-user-configurable parameter wherein the at least one non-user-configurable parameter comprises a data sector damage measurement of a storage device; send the device identifier to the authentication server via the communication module; and in response to the authentication server authenticating the device identifier from the field security device, establish the SPN between the field security device and the TMC, wherein the established SPN tunnels across at least one segment of the public network.