Patent attributes
A method is disclosed for securely transferring a private key from the user device to an operating device. A proximity-based communication interface is provided between the user and operating devices. The user device is operable to store a private key. The user device requests an identifying code from the operating device, which is then validated by the user device as a valid private key receiving device. The user device is operable to access a predetermined physical interface on the operating device and, in conjunction with access, activate the physical interface to initialize a transfer operation across the communication interface that is dependent upon accessing the physical interface. The stored private key is then transferred to the operating device across the communication interface for storage in a dedicated memory location on the operating device, the transfer operation being a one-way Write-only memory transfer operation. The transfer of information from the dedicated memory location across the communication interface is prohibited, such that any Read operation of the dedicated memory location on the operating device is prohibited across the communication interface.
