Authentication and/or authorization launch

Abstract

According to the invention a method for securing information associated with a content receiver that is part of a conditional access system is disclosed. In one step an object is received by the content receiver wherein the object comprises a number of associated checkpoints. At least one of authentication and authorization is performed with the object when a first checkpoint is encountered. The object is stored. At least one of authentication and authorization is performed with the object when a second checkpoint is encountered. Performance of an action is conditioned upon the encountering the second checkpoint.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for securing information associated with a content receiver that is part of a conditional access system, the method comprising steps of: 
 receiving an object by the content receiver wherein the object comprises a plurality of associated checkpoints;    performing at least one of authentication and authorization with the object when a first checkpoint is encountered;    storing the object;    performing at least one of authentication and authorization with the object when a second checkpoint is encountered; and    conditioning performance of an action upon the second listed performing step.    
     
     
         2 . The method for securing information associated with the content receiver that is part of the conditional access system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of associated checkpoints corresponds to at least one of the following steps: 
 reading the object from storage;    loading the object into solid state memory;    processing the object by a processor;    displaying the object; and    playing the object.    
     
     
         3 . The method for securing information associated with the content receiver that is part of the conditional access system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the second listed performing step comprises a step of decrypting the object with a key.  
     
     
         4 . The method for securing information associated with the content receiver that is part of the conditional access system as recited in  claim 3 , wherein the decrypting is performed without interaction with a user of the content receiver.  
     
     
         5 . The method for securing information associated with the content receiver that is part of the conditional access system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the first listed performing step comprises a step of authenticating the object with a first code.  
     
     
         6 . The method for securing information associated with the content receiver that is part of the conditional access system as recited in  claim 5 , further comprising the step of determining a second code different from the first code, wherein the second listed performing step comprises a step of authenticating the object with the second code.  
     
     
         7 . The method for securing information associated with the content receiver that is part of the conditional access system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the action comprises at least one of the following steps of: 
 reading the object from storage;    loading the object into solid state memory;    processing the object by a processor;    displaying the object; and    playing the object.    
     
     
         8 . The method for securing information associated with the content receiver that is part of the conditional access system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the receiving step comprises a step of downloading the object from an encrypted data channel.  
     
     
         9 . The method for securing information associated with the content receiver that is part of the conditional access system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the object comprises at least one of: software program, software dynamic link library, drivers, firmware, video, audio, and data.  
     
     
         10 . The method for securing information associated with the content receiver that is part of the conditional access system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the storing step comprises a step of storing the object in encrypted form.  
     
     
         11 . The method for securing information associated with the content receiver that is part of the conditional access system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the storing step is performed after the first listed performing step.  
     
     
         12 . The method for securing information associated with the content receiver that is part of the conditional access system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the authentication comprises a step of authenticating that the source of the object is valid.  
     
     
         13 . The method for securing information associated with the content receiver that is part of the conditional access system as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the storing step further comprises a step of storing the object proximate to the content receiver.  
     
     
         14 . A method for securing information associated with a content receiver that is part of a conditional access system, the method comprising steps of: 
 authorizing a data channel to the content receiver;    downloading an object with the data channel wherein the object comprises a plurality of associated checkpoints;    authenticating the object;    authorizing the object;    storing the object wherein the authenticating and authorizing steps are performed after the downloading step, but before the storing step;    performing at least one of authentication and authorization with the object when one of the plurality of associated checkpoints is encountered; and    conditioning performance of an action upon at least one of the two authenticating steps and the performing step.    
     
     
         15 . The method for securing information associated with the content receiver that is part of the conditional access system as recited in  claim 14 , wherein: 
 the authorization step comprises a step of generating a first code from the object with an algorithm; and    the performing step comprises a step of generating a second code from the object with the algorithm, wherein the first code is different from the second code.    
     
     
         16 . The method for securing information associated with the content receiver that is part of the conditional access system as recited in  claim 14 , wherein at least some of the plurality of associated checkpoints are stored in other objects.  
     
     
         17 . The method for securing information associated with the content receiver that is part of the conditional access system as recited in  claim 14 , further comprising steps of: 
 counting usage of a function within the object; and    triggering a checkpoint based upon the counting step.    
     
     
         18 . The method for securing information associated with the content receiver that is part of the conditional access system as recited in  claim 14 , wherein at least one of the authenticating step and the performing step is done by an access control processor.  
     
     
         19 . A method for securing an object associated with a content receiver, the method comprising steps of: 
 calculating a first code for the object using an algorithm;    authenticating the object with the first code;    storing the object after the first listed calculating step;    calculating a second code for the object using the algorithm, wherein the first code is different from the second code; and    authenticating the object with the second code.    
     
     
         20 . The method for securing the object associated with the content receiver as recited in  claim 19 , further comprising a step of conditioning performance of an action upon at least one of the two authenticating steps.  
     
     
         21 . The method for securing the object associated with the content receiver as recited in  claim 19 , further comprising a step of translating the object between virtual addressing and physical addressing.  
     
     
         22 . The method for securing the object associated with the content receiver as recited in  claim 19 , further comprising steps of: 
 determining when the object changes; and    recalculating the code when the object changes.    
     
     
         23 . The method for securing the object associated with the content receiver as recited in  claim 19 , wherein the algorithm is chosen from the group consisting of non-linear algorithms, linear algorithms, one-way algorithms, signatures, and checksums.