Usb device

Abstract

A portable, application-specific USB autorun device, following connection to a computer terminal, automatically initialises or presents itself as a known type of device and then automatically sends to the terminal a sequence of data complying with a standard protocol, that sequence of data automatically causing content to be accessed or a task to be initiated. The device (i) includes a standardised USB module that includes a USB microcontroller, the standardised module being designed to be attached to or embedded in multiple types of different, application specific packages but (ii) excludes mass memory storage for applications or end-user data.

1 . A portable universal serial bus (USB) device, the device including a package, wherein the device is configured such that, following connection to a computer terminal, the device presents itself to the computer terminal as a human interface device (HID);
 wherein the portable USB device includes a USB module that includes a USB microcontroller, the USB module being attached to or embedded in the package, wherein the portable USB device is applicable to secure on-line access, wherein the portable USB device is operable to generate a one-time-only passcode and to use the one-time-only passcode so that the portable USB device can be authenticated by a secure server via the computer terminal.   
     
     
         2 . The portable USB device of  claim 1 , wherein the device includes a one-time-only passcode generator. 
     
     
         3 . The portable USB device of  claim 2 , wherein the one-time-only passcode generator includes a computer program embodied on a non-transitory storage medium of the portable USB device, wherein the computer program is executable on the portable USB device to generate one-time-only passcodes. 
     
     
         4 . The portable USB device of  claim 1 , wherein the HID device is a HID keyboard device. 
     
     
         5 . The portable USB device of  claim 4 , wherein the portable USB device sends to the computer terminal a sequence of data, the data complying with the HID keyboard standard protocol. 
     
     
         6 . The portable USB device of  claim 4 , wherein a sequence of data is transmitted to the secure server, wherein the data are keycodes, the keycodes complying with the human interface device (HID) keyboard standard protocol. 
     
     
         7 . The portable USB device of  claim 1 , wherein the device includes a button, wherein the device is configured to initiate a pre-programmed sequence, in response to receiving a press of the button. 
     
     
         8 . The portable USB device of  claim 1 , wherein the one-time-only passcode is generated using a seed and hash algorithm. 
     
     
         9 . The portable USB device of  claim 1 , wherein a hash algorithm is a part of a program embodied on a non-transitory storage medium of the portable USB device; the USB module includes a key, stored in a non-transitory storage medium of the USB device; wherein the USB module is configured to use the hash algorithm, the key, and the previous passcode to generate the next passcode; wherein the USB module is configured to store the passcode in a non-transitory storage medium of the portable USB device ready for use next time. 
     
     
         10 . The portable USB device of  claim 9 , wherein the key is unique for each portable USB device. 
     
     
         11 . The device of  claim 1 , in which the one-time passcode is generated using a hash algorithm and seed so as to be unique for each connection of the device and thus one-time-only (OTO). 
     
     
         12 . The device of  claim 1 , in which the device is configured such that communications between the device and the secure server are encrypted. 
     
     
         13 . The device of  claim 1 , in which the package is small enough to be held in a hand and in which the device is readily inserted into a female USB socket on the computer terminal. 
     
     
         14 . The device of  claim 1 , in which the portable USB device is configured to open a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), or a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), of a secure web site on the computer terminal. 
     
     
         15 . The device of  claim 14 , wherein the URL or the URI is one-time only. 
     
     
         16 . The device of  claim 14 ,
 (i) wherein the URL or the URI has appended to it an ID, which is passed as a parameter to the secure server; or   (ii) wherein the URL or the URI has appended to it a password, which is passed as a parameter to the secure server; or   (iii) wherein the device includes a one-time-only passcode generator, wherein the URL or the URI has appended to it an ID, and a one-time-only passcode generated by the one-time-only passcode generator, which are passed as parameters to the secure server.   
     
     
         17 . The device of  claim 1 , in which the device includes a button, wherein the device is configured to auto-launch a URL or a URI relating to the secure server, in response to receiving a press of the button. 
     
     
         18 . The device of  claim 1 , in which a unique device ID and a password or the one-time passcode is appended to a URL or a URI and passed as parameters to the secure server, so that the device can be identified and authenticated. 
     
     
         19 . A system including a secure server and a portable universal serial bus (USB) device, the device including a package, wherein the device is configured such that, following connection to a computer terminal, the device presents itself to the computer terminal as a human interface device (HID);
 wherein the portable USB device includes a USB module that includes a USB microcontroller, the USB module being attached to or embedded in the package, wherein the portable USB device is applicable to secure on-line access;   wherein the portable USB device is operable to generate a one-time-only passcode and to use the one-time-only passcode so that the portable USB device can be authenticated by the secure server via the computer terminal,   and wherein the secure server is configured to authenticate the portable USB device using the one-time-only passcode.   
     
     
         20 . A computer-implemented method of authenticating a portable universal serial bus (USB) device, the device including a package, wherein the portable USB device includes a USB module that includes a USB microcontroller, the USB module being attached to or embedded in the package, wherein the portable USB device is applicable to secure on-line access, the method including the steps of:
 (i) following connection to a computer terminal, the portable USB device presenting itself to the computer terminal as a human interface device (HID);   (ii) the portable USB device generating a one-time-only passcode;   (iii) the portable USB device using the one-time-only passcode so that the portable USB device can be authenticated by a secure server via the computer terminal, and   (iv) the secure server authenticating the portable USB device using the one-time-only passcode.