Application authentication method and electronic device supporting the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9280655-B2
Application number	US-201414209017-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 13, 2014
Priority date	Mar 13, 2013
Publication date	Mar 8, 2016
Grant date	Mar 8, 2016

Abstract

A method for operating an electronic device is provided. The method includes executing, by a processor of the electronic device operable in a first mode (e.g. a trusted execution environment (TEE)) or a second mode (e.g. a non-trusted execution environment (NTEE)), wherein the first mode is more secure than the second mode; receiving, by the processor operating in the first mode, data or information related to a first software program stored in a first memory region; and authenticating, by the processor operating in the first mode, at least a portion of the data or information using a second software program stored in a second memory region.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for operating an electronic device including a processor configured to operate in a first mode or a second mode and a memory including a first region and a second region, the method comprising:
executing, by the processor, the first mode, wherein the first mode is more secure than the second mode;
receiving, by the processor operating in the first mode, data or information related to a non-secure software program stored in the first region; and
authenticating, by the processor operating in the first mode, at least a portion of the data or information using a secure software program stored in the second region,
wherein authenticating the at least a portion of the data or information comprises comparing a value computed from at least a portion of the received data or information with a pre-stored value, and
wherein the value computed from at least a portion of the received data or information represents memory address information of at least a part of the non-secure software program.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the processor accesses at least one of the first region and the second region in the first mode, and
wherein the processor accesses only the first region in the second mode.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first mode corresponds to a secure mode and the second mode corresponds to a non-secure mode.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the data or information comprises utilizing identification information of at least a part of the non-secure software program.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least a part of the non-secure software program is at least one of at least a portion of a kernel, at least a portion of middleware, at least a portion of an application programming interface, and at least a portion of an application.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing data received from the non-secure software program or sending stored data to the non-secure software program according to an authentication result.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining to perform an operation of the first mode according to an authentication result or providing the authentication result to a user.

8. An electronic device comprising:
a memory unit including a first region and a second region; and
a processor configured to execute a first mode and a second mode, wherein the first mode is more secure than the second mode,
wherein the processor, when executing the first mode, receives data or information related to a non-secure software program stored in the first region of the memory unit and authenticates at least a portion of the received data or information using a secure software program stored in the second region of the memory unit,
wherein the processor compares a value computed from at least a portion of the received data or information with a pre-stored value for authentication, and
wherein the value computed from at least a portion of the received data or information represents memory address information of at least a part of the non-secure software program.

9. The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the processor is configured to access at least one of the first region and the second region of the memory unit in the first mode, and
wherein the processor is configured to access only the first region of the memory unit in the second mode.

10. The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the first mode corresponds to a secure mode and the second mode corresponds to a non-secure mode.

11. The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the processor utilizes identification information of at least a part of the non-secure software program to receive the data or information related thereto.

12. The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein at least a part of the non-secure software program is at least one of at least a portion of a kernel, at least a portion of middleware, at least a portion of an application programming interface, and at least a portion of an application.

13. The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the processor stores data received from the non-secure software program or sends stored data to the first non-secure software program according to an authentication result.

14. The electronic device of claim 8 , wherein the processor determines to perform an operation of the first mode according to an authentication result or provides the authentication result to a user.

15. An electronic system comprising:
at least one memory unit including a first region and a second region; and
a processor configured to execute a first mode and a second mode, wherein the first mode is more secure than the second mode,
wherein the processor, when executing the first mode, receives data or information related to a non-secure software program stored in the first region of the at least one memory unit and authenticates at least a portion of the received data or information using a secure software program stored in the second region of the memory unit,
wherein the processor compares a value computed from at least a portion of the received data or information with a pre-stored value for authentication, and
wherein the value computed from at least a portion of the received data or information represents memory address information of at least a part of the non-secure software program.

16. The electronic system of claim 15 , wherein the at least one memory unit is physically separated into two partitions, and
wherein the first region is included in one partition and the second region is included in the other partition.

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd
• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Korkishko Tymur
• Lee Kyunghee
• Lukin Andrii
• Kovba Sergii
• Gropianov Anton
• Belousov Sergey

Classifications

• G06F21/53

  by executing in a restricted environment, e.g. sandbox or secure virtual machine · CPC title

• G06F21/44 Primary

  Program or device authentication · CPC title