Secure peripheral management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12432194-B2
Application number	US-202318535345-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 11, 2023
Priority date	Dec 11, 2023
Publication date	Sep 30, 2025
Grant date	Sep 30, 2025

Abstract

Techniques for secure peripheral management are described. One example method includes detecting that a peripheral device has been connected to the computer system; sending, via a network, a verification request for the peripheral device to a management server identified by a network address stored in a firmware of the peripheral device, wherein the verification request is encrypted based on credentials associated with the peripheral device; receiving, via the network, a verification response from the management server including a policy associated with the peripheral device; determining that the verification response is authentic based on the credentials stored in the firmware of the peripheral device; and in response, operating the peripheral device according to the received policy.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for managing peripheral devices in a network comprising:
detecting, by a computer system including at least one processor, that a peripheral device has been connected to the computer system;
sending, by the computer system via the network, a verification request for the peripheral device to a management server identified by a network address stored in a firmware of the peripheral device, wherein the verification request is encrypted based on credentials associated with the peripheral device;
receiving, by the computer system via the network, a verification response from the management server including a policy associated with the peripheral device;
determining, by the computer system, that the verification response is authentic based on the credentials stored in the firmware of the peripheral device; and
in response, operating, by the computer system, the peripheral device according to the received policy.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the received policy includes restrictions on the use of the peripheral device.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the restrictions on the use of the peripheral device include one or more of a restriction on the use of the peripheral device outside of a corporate workspace, a restriction on the use of the peripheral device when the computer system is not connected to a particular virtual private network (VPN), or a prohibition on the use of the peripheral device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the peripheral device is selected from the group consisting of a mouse, a universal serial bus (USB) storage device, a camera, a keyboard, a microphone, a docking station, a display device, and a smartphone.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the credentials include a network certificate associated with the network address stored in the firmware of the peripheral device.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the network certificate, the network address, and a unique device identifier are stored in the firmware of the peripheral device by a manufacturer of the peripheral device.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the peripheral device is a first peripheral device, the method further comprising: receiving, by the computer system via the network, a second verification response including a second policy associated with a second peripheral device; determining, by the computer system, that the second verification response is not authentic based on credentials stored in firmware of the second peripheral device; and in response, prohibiting, by the computer system, use of the peripheral device.

8. A system for managing peripheral devices comprising:
a computer system including at least one processor and a memory, and configured to perform operations including:
detecting that a peripheral device has been connected to the computer system;
sending, via a network, a verification request for the peripheral device to a management server identified by a network address stored in a firmware of the peripheral device, wherein the verification request is encrypted based on credentials associated with the peripheral device;
receiving, via the network, a verification response from the management server including a policy associated with the peripheral device;
determining that the verification response is authentic based on the credentials stored in the firmware of the peripheral device; and
in response, operating the peripheral device according to the received policy.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the received policy includes restrictions on the use of the peripheral device.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the restrictions on the use of the peripheral device include one or more of a restriction on the use of the peripheral device outside of a corporate workspace, a restriction on the use of the peripheral device when the computer system is not connected to a particular virtual private network (VPN), or a prohibition on the use of the peripheral device.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the peripheral device is selected from the group consisting of a mouse, a universal serial bus (USB) storage device, a camera, a keyboard, a microphone, a docking station, a display device, and a smartphone.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the credentials include a network certificate associated with the network address stored in the firmware of the peripheral device.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the network certificate, the network address, and a unique device identifier are stored in the firmware of the peripheral device by a manufacturer of the peripheral device.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the peripheral device is a first peripheral device, the operations further comprising: receiving, via the network, a second verification response including a second policy associated with a second peripheral device; determining that the second verification response is not authentic based on credentials stored in firmware of the second peripheral device; and in response, prohibiting use of the peripheral device.

15. An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory, computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions thereon that are executable by a processor of a computer system to perform operations for managing peripheral devices, the operations comprising:
detecting that a peripheral device has been connected to the computer system;
sending, via a network, a verification request for the peripheral device to a management server identified by a network address stored in a firmware of the peripheral device, wherein the verification request is encrypted based on credentials associated with the peripheral device;
receiving, via the network, a verification response from the management server including a policy associated with the peripheral device;
determining that the verification response is authentic based on the credentials stored in the firmware of the peripheral device; and
in response, operating the peripheral device according to the received policy.

16. The article of claim 15 , wherein the received policy includes restrictions on the use of the peripheral device.

17. The article of claim 16 , wherein the restrictions on the use of the peripheral device include one or more of a restriction on the use of the peripheral device outside of a corporate workspace, a restriction on the use of the peripheral device when the computer article is not connected to a particular virtual private network (VPN), or a prohibition on the use of the peripheral device.

18. The article of claim 15 , wherein the peripheral device is selected from the group consisting of a mouse, a universal serial bus (USB) storage device, a camera, a keyboard, a microphone, a docking station, a display device, and a smartphone.

19. The article of claim 15 , wherein the credentials include a network certificate associated with the network address stored in the firmware of the peripheral device.

20. The article of claim 19 , wherein the network certificate, the network address, and a unique device identifier are stored in the firmware of the peripheral device by a manufacturer of the peripheral device.

Assignees

• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Reddy Karunakar Palicherla
• Robison Charles D
• Gatson Michael S

Classifications

• H04L63/20

  for managing network security; network security policies in general (filtering policies H04L63/0227) · CPC title

• H04L63/0435 Primary

  wherein the sending and receiving network entities apply symmetric encryption, i.e. same key used for encryption and decryption (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for symmetric key encryption H04L9/06) · CPC title

• H04L63/0823 Primary

  using certificates (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263) · CPC title