Securely recovering a computing device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017346631-A1
Application number	US-201715619276-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 9, 2017
Priority date	Jan 7, 2007
Publication date	Nov 30, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method and an apparatus for establishing an operating environment by certifying a code image received from a host over a communication link are described. The code image may be digitally signed through a central authority server. Certification of the code image may be determined by a fingerprint embedded within a secure storage area such as a ROM (read only memory) of the portable device based on a public key certification process. A certified code image may be assigned a hash signature to be stored in a storage of the portable device. An operating environment of the portable device may be established after executing the certified code.

First claim

1 . A method for updating an application established at a file system of a client device, the method comprising, at the client device:
providing a request to a computing device to update the application; receiving, from the computing device, a code image that is (i) digitally signed by a signature, and (ii) associated with an application package; determining whether the code image is certified by verifying the signature; and
in response to determining that the code image is certified:
verifying whether an integrity of one or more files of the application package is compromised:
when the integrity of the one or more files is not compromised:
 establishing the one or more files at the file system by executing the code image.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein, subsequent to establishing the one or more files at the file system, the method further comprises:
rebooting an operating system of the client device.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein, when the integrity of the one or more files is compromised, the method further comprises:
preventing the one or more files from being established at the file system.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the signature is verified using a fingerprint embedded within a ROM (read-only memory) of the client device.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein a unique identifier associated with the client device is stored within the ROM, and the code image is digitally signed according to the unique identifier.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the client device derives a hash value from the code image that is based on the unique identifier.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the integrity of the one or more files is verified by comparing the signature to the hash value.

8 . The method of claim 5 , wherein, in response to determining that the code image is non-certified, the method further comprises:
executing the code image, and disabling access to the unique identifier.

9 . A system for updating an application, the system comprising:
at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions, that when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to:
provide a request to a computing device to update the application;
receive, from the computing device, a code image that is (i) digitally signed by a signature, and (ii) associated with an application package;
determine whether the code image is certified by verifying the signature; and
in response to determining that the code image is certified:
verify whether an integrity of one or more files of the application package is compromised:
when the integrity of the one or more files is not compromised:
 establish the one or more files at a file system of the system by executing the code image.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein, subsequent to establishing the one or more files at the file system, the at least one processor further causes the system to:
reboot an operating system of the system.

11 . The system of claim 9 , wherein, when the integrity of the one or more files is compromised, the at least one processor further causes the system to:
prevent the one or more files from being established at the file system.

12 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the signature is verified using a fingerprint embedded within a ROM (read-only memory) of the system.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein a unique identifier associated with the system is stored within the ROM, and the code image is digitally signed according to the unique identifier.

14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the system derives a hash value from the code image that is based on the unique identifier.

15 . The system of claim 13 , wherein, in response to determining that the code image is non-certified, the at least one processor further causes the system to:
execute the code image, and disable access to the unique identifier.

16 . At least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium configured to store instructions that, when executed by at least one processor included in a computing device, cause the computing device to:
provide a request to a host computing device to update an application established at a file system of the computing device; receive, from the host computing device, a code image that is (i) digitally signed by a signature, and (ii) associated with an application package; determine whether the code image is certified by verifying the signature; and
in response to determining that the code image is certified:
verify whether an integrity of one or more files of the application package is compromised:
when the integrity of the one or more files is not compromised:
establish the one or more files at the file system by executing the code image.

17 . The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein, subsequent to establishing the one or more files at the file system, the at least one processor further causes the computing device to:
reboot an operating system of the computing device.

18 . The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein, when the integrity of the one or more files is compromised, the at least one processor further causes the computing device to:
prevent the one or more files from being established at the file system.

19 . The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the signature is verified using a fingerprint embedded within a ROM (read-only memory) of the computing device.

20 . The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 19 , wherein a unique identifier associated with the computing device is stored within the ROM, and the code image is digitally signed according to the unique identifier.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• De Atley Dallas Blake
• De Cesare Joshua
• Smith Michael
• Reda Matthew
• Sen Shantonu
• Wright John Andrew

Classifications

• G06F21/575

  Secure boot · CPC title

• H04L9/14

  using a plurality of keys or algorithms · CPC title

• H04L9/302 Primary

  involving the integer factorization problem, e.g. RSA or quadratic sieve [QS] schemes · CPC title

• H04L9/3247

  involving digital signatures · CPC title

• H04L9/3249

  using RSA or related signature schemes, e.g. Rabin scheme · CPC title