Registers – Systems controlled by data bearing records
Patent
1996-11-12
1999-05-04
Gross, Anita Pellman
Registers
Systems controlled by data bearing records
235382, 2353825, G06F 1700, G06K 500, G06K 701
Patent
active
059006064
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method of writing information securely in a portable information medium provided with a firmware electronic component.
A particularly advantage application of the invention lies in the field of securing portable electronic transaction media against theft, in particular during transport between two preparation sites.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Numerous electronic transactions systems are known that make use of portable information media The. best known comprise payment systems based on memory cards. Other systems use electronic keys. When appropriately programmed, such portable information media give their holders access to goods or services provided by an operator, such as a pay-phone, electricity, or television.
At present, portable electronic transaction media are manufactured in very large quantities at centralized production sites, and then they are delivered ready for use to an operator or to a distribution center which then passes them on to carriers. Naturally, in the event of theft, said media can be sold beyond the control of the operator.
Various means of providing protection against this risk have been conceived, such as physical protection during transport, which nevertheless turns out to be insufficient since it is expensive, inconvenient, and does not always provide a genuine guarantee.
Identifying stolen media by means of a stop list assumes that reader devices have the capacity to process long lists, and often that is not the case.
Finally, transporting media in small batches does indeed limit the risk, but it makes costs and deadlines unacceptable for large volumes.
Also, for portable information media provided with a firmware electronic component, such as prepaid phone cards, a security technique is known whereby a transport code programmed by the manufacturer of the firmware electronic component makes it possible to ensure that only the manufacturer of media for whom the component is intended will be able to use it.
To extend this service to transport between the manufacturer of the media and the operator-client, it would suffice if the manufacturer did no programming, leaving that to the operator-client. However, such a system would suffer from the major drawback that the transport code could not be given to the operator for reasons of confidentiality unless the media manufacturer were to provide components having different codes as a function of different clients. That solution would lead to very expensive and difficult logistic constraints.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to propose a method of writing information securely in a portable information medium provided with a firmware electronic component, which method makes it possible, in a manner that is very simple and cheap, to obtain a high level of protection against dishonest acts that might occur between manufacture of the media and reception thereof by the operator.
According to the present invention, the solution to the technical problem posed consists in that said information is written in at least two stages on at least two distinct sites, with information depending on the chosen second site being written in a first step at the first site, and with information necessary for operation of said medium being written in a second step at the second site.
The first site may be a centralized media manufacturing site, and the second site may be the operator-client site or a distribution site.
The term "operation of the medium" means that the medium is in a condition to access goods or services.
Thus, it will be understood that if portable media are stolen from the first site, e.g. the site of manufacture, or while in transit to the second site, the site of the operator, then the stolen media cannot be used and are not negotiable since they are impossible to ready for use because the information required for their operation has not been fully written therein.
It can also be added that any possibility of d
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patent: 5742035 (1998-04-01), Kohut
patent: 5763869 (1998-06-01), Moll et al.
Koeberle Thierry
Rigal Vincent
Gross Anita Pellman
Schlumberger Industries S.A.
Sherr Daniel
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