EP1300017A1 - Time stamping and time stamp validity verification system, method and device in a digital broadcasting environment - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention concerns a time stamping method for digital data comprising: an operation which consists in defining (902) a sequence of services (CS) comprising at least a service (TSS), each service being selected from a list of services (TSS) in accordance with a selection process which gives a variable result at each of the service sequence defining operations (902); and an operation for collecting (807) a sequence of time stamping information elements, which consists in extracting at least an information element (TSI(CS[i])) of each service (CS[i]) of the sequence of services (CS) to form the elements of the sequence of information elements, each information element including an information representing a current time stamp.

Description

 System, method and device for time stamping and checking the validity of a time stamp in a digital broadcasting environment

Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the field of time stamping (in English "time stamping") in a digital television environment, data time stamping being the action of marking this data using information taking into account a specific time and / or date, called a time stamp. More specifically, the invention relates to the time stamping of data requiring high security against fraud, from data broadcast in particular in digital television services.

In general, a digital data stream such as for example a digital television service or a physical or logical digital data transmission channel will hereinafter be called "service".

State of the art

Various time stamping techniques are known in the state of the art. In particular, a time stamping system is known which is used in a digital television environment. This system is described in patent application WO 95.15653 from the inventors Lappington, Marshall, Yamamoto, Wilson, Berkobin and Simons, whose applicant is the company Zing Systems and which was published in June 1995. This document describes a system where two Datasets with a time stamp are sent separately to remote units including a data decoder, a remote control, and an operations center. Within each remote unit, the timestamps are compared to a remote clock and a difference in timestamp is noted for each of the two sets of data. The two differences are compared to determine if one of the sets has been delayed compared to the other. Only non-delayed sets can be validated.

A disadvantage of this technique of the prior art is the lack of security that it provides. Indeed, we can detect several flaws linked to a lack of resistance to certain attacks in particular: the play of a prerecorded video stream, the theft of a set of data belonging to another person, using the same timestamp applied to separate data.

The invention according to its different aspects aims in particular to overcome these drawbacks of the prior art. More specifically, an object of the invention is to provide a system, method and device for time stamping and / or checking the validity of a time stamp which provides high reliability and security in the time stamping of digital data to from data broadcast by digital television and / or radio services in particular. Security has two essential aspects: integrity and non-revocation. Integrity means that you cannot change the time stamp. Non-revocation implies that the issuer of time-stamped data cannot claim that the data was time-stamped at a time different from the time-stamp. For example, for a bet on a race, it is important to be sure that the bet was made before the start of the race.

Timestamping is easy when the event to be timestamped takes place directly with a trusted authority. It is much more complex when it takes place in a remote manner; if it is necessary to use for example a telephone center to make a bet, the moment of reception of a call is not desirable to time stamp an event since there may exist a waiting time if necessary a girl; this reception time may be different from the actual bet time. An objective of the invention is to allow precise time stamping (for example to the nearest second). Another object of the invention is to allow a trusted authority to authenticate and validate this timestamp to, for example, allow the user to obtain bet wins or the trusted authority to determine the effective order of responses to a question.

Disclosure of the invention For this purpose, the invention proposes a method of time stamping digital data remarkable in that it comprises:

an operation for defining a sequence of services comprising at least one service, each service being chosen from a list of services according to a method of choice giving a variable result for each occurrence of definition of a sequence of services; and an operation for collecting a sequence of timestamp information elements, according to which at least one information element is extracted from each service of the service sequence to form the elements of the sequence of elements of information, each piece of information comprising information representative of a current time stamp.

Thus, the invention makes it possible to define a sequence of services which is not known in advance to a possible fraudster, a sequence which contains information representative of a time stamp which can subsequently be used for a time stamping of data, this sequence being difficult to reproduce, to predict or to falsify. If a fraudster wants to thwart the system, he must record several flows and have the possibility of replaying them in a perfectly synchronized manner. If the number of flows is large enough, the cost of such fraud becomes prohibitive. Note that the list of services can have any size including the size equal to one. In the latter case, the implementation of the invention is simplified (the choice being a trivial operation). However, to optimize the effectiveness of the invention, it is desirable to have at least two services. The number of services can be varied according to needs (desired level of security).

According to a particular characteristic, the time stamping method is remarkable in that the method of choice giving a variable result is a method of random or pseudo-random drawing. The same approach can be applied for the number of services taken into account. Thus, in this very advantageous mode of the invention, a potential fraudster has no means of predicting the defined sequence of services.

According to a particular characteristic, the time stamping method is remarkable in that it comprises a step of sending and / or receiving a message comprising the number of services in the sequence of services and the list of services.

In this way, the invention advantageously allows a service broadcaster or an application server to determine an implicit degree of security by playing on the number of services in the service list and the number of services in the service sequence. . According to a particular characteristic, the time stamping method is remarkable in that it comprises an operation for constructing a time stamped data group comprising:

- a group of information including: - digital data;

- an identifier of each of the services in the sequence of services;

- the timestamp information sequence;

- and a signature of at least one element of the information group.

According to a particular characteristic, the time stamping method is remarkable in that it further comprises an operation of collecting a sequence of information signatures, each of the signatures being associated in a one-to-one manner with each of the time stamp information and signing information comprising timestamp information and an identifier of the service from which it originates and the timestamping method also being remarkable in that the timestamped data group further comprises the sequence of information signatures.

Thus, the invention advantageously offers an additional degree of security thanks to the signatures which prevent any alteration of the signed elements.

According to a particular characteristic, the time stamping method is remarkable in that:

- each timestamp information also includes the definition of a recovery challenge to be extracted from the list of services; and

- in that the timestamping method further comprises an operation for extracting a response corresponding to the definition of each recovery challenge. Thus, in this advantageous embodiment of the invention, the degree of security of the time stamping process is further increased, the means necessary to defraud being very heavy and of a prohibitive cost while the time stamping process itself remains relatively simple to implement. According to a particular characteristic, the time stamping method is remarkable in that the time stamped data group comprises in addition to the answer corresponding to the definition of each collection challenge.

According to a particular characteristic, the timestamping method is remarkable in that each timestamp information additionally comprises a fingerprint of the response.

An information fingerprint is an extract or digest of information obtained by a hash technique.

Thus, the invention advantageously lends itself to a verification of the timestamp not requiring a priori knowledge of the response to the collection challenge, but requiring the sole taking into account of one or more public keys which preferably will be used to verify the signature of the time stamp information and / or of the response fingerprint.

The timestamping process notably makes it possible to send a summary of the responses to the collection challenge expected from a broadcaster at a collection center. This digest goes through a user terminal but the expected responses are not accessible by the user. Furthermore, the time stamping method remains simple to implement thanks in particular to the presence of fingerprints which make it possible to limit the memory size or the bandwidth necessary for the transmission of the expected responses.

According to a particular characteristic, the time stamping method is remarkable in that it comprises an operation for transmitting the time stamped data group. Thus, the invention advantageously allows remote operation or verification of the data timestamp.

For the aforementioned purposes, the invention also proposes a method for verifying the validity of a timestamp of digital data, obtained according to a timestamping method as described above. According to a particular characteristic, this method is remarkable in that it performs a verification of at least one group of data capable of being time-stamped by a time-stamping method as previously described.

Thus, advantageously exploits the timestamp associated with data and which has been produced according to a reliable process opposing any fraud. According to a particular characteristic, the method for verifying the validity of a timestamp is remarkable in that it comprises at least one verification operation forming part of the group comprising:

- a signature group verification operation;

- an operation to verify the number of services required;

- a verification operation attesting that each timestamp information corresponds to a required service;

- an operation to verify the validity of a response to a possible recovery challenge required for each time stamp information; and

- a timestamp consistency check operation extracted from a group of timestamped data.

According to a particular characteristic, the method for verifying the validity of a timestamp is remarkable in that it comprises an operation for transmitting validated digital data.

Thus, the verification method advantageously makes it possible to verify each of the points which guarantee the authenticity of a timestamp in a manner which can possibly be adapted to a desired degree of security. The verification process notably takes into account a summary of the responses to the expected recovery challenge which remains inaccessible to the user of the time stamping process. Furthermore, the verification process remains simple to implement thanks in particular to the presence of fingerprints which make it possible to limit the size of memory required (a trace of the information to be verified is not kept in memory).

The invention also relates to a system comprising means for implementing:

a method of broadcasting services, each of the services containing pieces of information representative of a time stamp;

- a timestamping method and a method for verifying the validity of timestamps as described above.

The invention also proposes, for the same purposes as above, a device for time stamping digital data which is remarkable in that it comprises means suitable for setting up implementation of a time stamping process and / or verification of the validity of a time stamp according to one of the processes mentioned above.

Likewise, the invention proposes a device for time-stamping digital data which is remarkable in that it comprises: a means of defining a sequence of services comprising at least one service, each of the services being chosen within a list of services according to a method of choice giving a variable circulation for two uses of the means of defining a sequence of services; and - means for collecting a sequence of timestamp information elements extracting at least one information element from each of the services of the service sequence to form the elements of the sequence of information elements, each piece of information comprising information representative of a current time stamp.

Likewise, the invention proposes a device for verifying the validity of a timestamp of digital data remarkable in that it comprises at least one verification means forming part of the group comprising: - a signature verification means of a data group;

- a means of verifying a number of required services;

- a means of verification attesting that each timestamp information corresponds to a required service;

- a means of verifying the validity of a response to a possible recovery challenge required for each time stamp information; and

- a means of checking the timestamp consistency extracted from a group of timestamped data.

The particular characteristics and advantages of the devices and of the time stamping and time stamp validity verification system being the same as those of the time stamping and time stamp validity checking methods, they are not repeated here.

Brief description of the drawings

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly on reading the following description of modes of preferential embodiments, given by way of simple illustrative and nonlimiting examples, and of the appended drawings, among which:

- Figure 1 shows an infrastructure for broadcasting multimedia digital data with the use of a time stamp according to the invention according to a particular embodiment;

- Figure 2 illustrates a multimedia digital decoder present in the infrastructure of Figure 1 according to the invention according to a particular embodiment;

- Figure 3 describes a secure processor allowing a time stamp according to the invention according to a particular embodiment;

FIG. 4 describes a device for collecting responses and verifying timestamps having a modem for retrieving the responses according to the invention according to a particular embodiment;

FIG. 5 describes a device for collecting responses and verifying timestamps which, according to another preferred embodiment, has a secure processor reader, in accordance with the invention according to a particular embodiment;

- Figure 6 describes an exchange protocol between a broadcaster, a central processor, a secure processor and a response collection device as described with reference to Figure 4 according to the invention according to a particular embodiment;

- Figure 7 describes an exchange protocol between a broadcaster, a central processor, a secure processor and a response collection device as described with reference to Figure 5 according to the invention according to a particular embodiment;

- Figure 8 describes a flowchart of operation of a central processor with time stamping method according to the invention according to a particular embodiment;

- Figure 9 describes an operating flow diagram of a secure processor with time stamping method according to the invention according to a particular embodiment; and

- Figure 10 describes a flowchart of operation of a response collection device with method for verifying the validity of time stamp according to the invention according to a particular embodiment. Detailed description of embodiments of the invention

The general principle of the invention is mainly based on the use of a number N of digital streams to define a time stamp required by an application. In the case for example of a digital television and / or radio broadcasting system, N is typically of the order of a hundred and these streams are specific services (S1, S2, ... SN) of television and / or digital radio broadcast by a broadcaster. Each of these services is called “time stamping service”.

Service ”) or TSS. The application defined by an interactive service provider can itself be transmitted from an application server to a broadcaster and then broadcast when it is used by an interactive television and received by a digital multimedia decoder (in English "set top box ”) at a user's home. The regular TSS services carry additional data, called “time stamping information” or TSI.

Each of this TSI information includes the following information: - the current time stamp t;

- a TSS service identifier;

- a definition of a recovery challenge;

- an imprint of the response to the mentioned collection challenge, this imprint being produced using a private key specific to the broadcaster;

a means of preventing the alteration of the TSI information, for example a signature of TSI based on a private key specific to the TSS service.

In addition to the information traditionally delivered by the service to which the time stamping applies, the broadcaster provides a time stamping challenge (in English "Time Stamping Challenge") or TSC preferably coming from the application server which includes:

- the size of a challenge called SCH between 1 and N;

- the number N of TSS services; - the list of all TSS services, that is to say an ordered list of N services which provide time information.

The TSC timestamp challenge and the TSI information are received by a digital terminal which can be a multimedia digital decoder and which includes:

- a means of extracting the information given by a TSC;

- a means of extracting a time stamp from each of the TSS services; and

- a secure processor, removable or not, having its own private encryption key.

To build a timestamp, the terminal uses a secure processor which randomly (or pseudo-randomly) defines a sequence (ie an ordered sequence) of service identifiers including SCH services taken from the N services in the list mentioned in the TSC challenge.

The secure processor must then collect the successive timestamps present in the TSI information of each of the service SCHs defined by the ordered sequence. The set of services to be scanned being defined randomly by the secure processor, a fraudster who would like to reconstruct a time stamp should register all the TSS services and replay in deferred time all the TSS services broadcast, which is extremely cumbersome to implement and prohibitive cost. In fact, SCH preferably having a value between 1 and 10, the probability that a fraudster chooses the right service values is low and all the more low as SCH is large. If the need for security must be increased, a SCH value greater than 10 or even N may be taken. The SCH value is preferably defined by the application server requiring a time stamp as a function of the desired degree of security. The application server can change the SCH value often in order to increase security.

In addition, to increase the difficulty of the fraudster, an additional level of challenge called recovery challenge (in English "retrieval challenge") has been defined: it is a challenge asking to extract, according to a preferred embodiment, a variable number of bytes in one or more of the components of at least one service considered and, according to another embodiment, in the set services. Typical challenges consist, for example, of finding the bytes numbered 12 to 35 in a video stream at the precise moment when the title of the event is broadcast. Thus, the secure processor must also collect the response corresponding to the definition of successive recovery challenges present in the TSI information of each of the SCH services defined by the ordered sequence.

After collecting the necessary information, the secure processor gathers in a TSM timestamp message:

- SCH time stamps; - CHS responses to collection challenges;

- an imprint of each of the expected responses to the recovery challenges provided by the broadcaster in the TSI information;

- SCH signatures of TSI, (we can refer to the book “Applied Cryptography” written by de B. Schneier at the publisher

Wesley & Sons in 1996 for the implementation of signature methods).

Then, the secure processor signs the set consisting of the data or data to be timestamped and the TSM message with its private key. Everything is sent to a response collection center (in English “Answer

Collecting Center ”) or ACC (or more generally a digital data collection center) via, for example, a telephone line coupled to a modem or a removable secure processor reader (a smart card for example). The response collection center is itself linked to an application server requiring a time stamp via, for example, a telephone line.

The ACC center having in its possession the value (s) of SCH, the list of the public keys used for the verification of signatures and fingerprints used during a period of validity of the time-stamped data, performs a verification of the TSM message at several levels comprising:

- a check that the number of services scanned is indeed equal to the value of SCH valid at the time stamp; - a verification of the signature of all of the time-stamped data or data and of the TSM message; - verification that the footprint of the response to each recovery challenge corresponds to the footprint of each expected response provided by the broadcaster in the TSI information; - a verification of each TSI signature corresponding to a service of the ordered sequence;

- a check of the validity of the time stamps supplied.

Note that the ACC center does not need to know the correct answers to the challenges apart from the data provided by the TSM message.

After checking the time-stamped data, the ACC center can transmit the validated data and the corresponding time stamp to the application server.

Referring to FIG. 1, an infrastructure for broadcasting digital multimedia data with the use of a time stamp is presented.

This infrastructure includes:

- an application server 109;

- a digital television or radio broadcaster 100; - a response collection center or ACC 108;

- a set of S multimedia digital decoders 102, 103, 104;

- a set of S users 112, 113, 114.

The application server 109 sends requests 110 for services requiring a response (or digital data) with time stamp to a broadcaster 100 and receives responses 111 with time stamp validated from the ACC center 108. Requests 110 for services also include challenges timestamp or TSC containing a SCH value which depends on the desired degree of security as well as a list of N services which can be used for timestamps.

The application server 109 is for example a game or betting server.

The broadcaster 100 is for example a broadcaster of digital television and / or radio services through a medium such as a cable or a satellite. In addition to traditional television and / or radio services, it broadcasts timestamping challenges or TSC 101, which are preferably communicated to it by the application server 109, to the digital multimedia decoders 102, 103 and 104 after reception of a request 110 for services requiring a response with timestamp from the application server 109.

According to a variant not shown, the TSC challenges are produced by the diffuser 100.

The user 112 (respectively 113 and 114) can send a response A 115 to his own multimedia digital decoder 102 (respectively 103, 104) (via for example a keyboard, a remote control, a voice recognition or recording unit or a touch screen) to a question from the application that he is viewing, for example on a television screen connected to his decoder 102 (respectively 103, 104).

Each of the S digital multimedia decoders 102, 103 and 104 receives timestamping challenges or TSC 101. Then when its user has provided an answer to a question from the application, a secure processor present in the decoder concerned 102, 103 or 104 respectively constructs a message comprising the response A (digital data) and a time stamping message, or time stamp, TSM which it transmits on a channel 105, 106 or 107 respectively of the telephone link type or a direct link by secure processor reader to an ACC 108 center. The ACC 108 center receives A response messages with their time stamps. Its role is first of all to validate these messages, generated by the secure processors of the digital decoders 102, 103, 104 and transmitted on a corresponding channel 105, 106 or 107, using the public keys of the secure processors. These public keys are supplied by the broadcaster on any channel 112. The ACC center is also responsible for transmitting responses A with validated timestamps 111 to the application server 109.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a multimedia digital decoder 200 such as one of the decoders 102, 103 or 104 present in the infrastructure of FIG. 1. The decoder 200 comprises interconnected by an address and data bus 203:

- a tuner or tuner 201;

- a processor 202; - a random access memory 205;

- a non-volatile memory 204;

- a timestamp information extractor or TSI, 206;

- a secure processor 207;

- a modem 208; - a man / machine interface marked RHM 217;

- a video decoder 218.

Each of the elements illustrated in Figure 2 is well known to those skilled in the art. These common elements are not described here.

It is further observed that the word “register” used throughout the description designates in each of the memories mentioned, both a low-capacity memory area (some binary data) and a high-capacity memory area (allowing a program to be stored whole or an entire sequence of data).

Note however that the tuner 101 is suitable for extracting and formatting multimedia data corresponding to one or more television and / or radio services as well as data of the time stamping challenge or TSC 101 type originating from a channel 216.

The video decoder 218 transforms the digital data received from the tuner 201 into analog data for television. This analog data is supplied on an output 219.

The random access memory 205 stores data, variables and intermediate processing results, in memory registers bearing in the description, the same names as the data whose values they store. The RAM 205 includes in particular: - a TSC register 210 in which a received time stamp challenge is kept;

- a SCH 211 register in which a challenge size is kept;

- a register 212 containing a response A supplied by a user - a register 213 retaining TSI timestamp information and “ret Challenge” response to a recovery challenge;

- a TSM 214 register in which a time stamp message is kept. The non-volatile memory 204 stores in registers which, for convenience, have the same names as the data they store, in particular the operating program of the processor 202 in a “Prog” register 209.

The TSI extractor 206 is adapted to extract the timestamp information from a data stream supplied by the tuner 201. The extractor transmits the data extracted on the bus 203 to the processor 202.

The modem 208 is suitable for transmitting responses with a time stamp to an ACC center via a telephone line. Other types of return path can of course be used.

The man / machine interface 217 is adapted to take into account the responses given by the user through, for example, a keyboard, a remote control, a voice recognition or recording unit or a touch screen. FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a secure processor 207 as illustrated with reference to FIG. 2.

The secure processor 207 comprises interconnected by an address and data bus 303:

- an input / output interface 301; - a processor 302;

- a non-volatile memory 304 of flash EEPROM type; and

- a random access memory 311;

Each of the elements illustrated in Figure 3 is well known to those skilled in the art. These common elements are not described here. However, it is observed that the input / output interface 301 is able to interface a bus 303 with a bus 203 of a digital multimedia decoder or when the secure processor is removable with a removable processor reader 501 which will be described with reference to the figure. 5.

Non-volatile memory 304 stores in registers which, for convenience, have the same names as the data they store, in particular: - the operating program of processor 302 in a “Prog” register 305;

- a private user key in a “KPriil” register 306;

The RAM 311 stores data, variables and intermediate processing results, in memory registers bearing in the description, the same names as the data whose values they store. The RAM 311 includes in particular:

- a number of challenges and a number of services in a “SCH, N” register 307; - a response in an “A” register 308;

- TSI timestamp and recovery challenge information as well as the response to the recovery challenge in a “TSI, ret Challenge” register 309;

a time stamp message in a “TSM” register 310. As a variant, the response A and the time stamp message TSM are not placed in the volatile memory 311 but in the rewritable non-volatile memory 304 when in particular the secure processor 207 is removable and when, in particular, the response A and the time stamp message TSM are intended to be transmitted directly from the secure processor to a collection center via the secure processor 207.

FIG. 4 describes a device 400 for collecting ACC responses and verifying timestamps having a modem for retrieving the responses. The device 400 is like the ACC collection center 108 illustrated with reference to FIG. 1.

The device 400 for collecting responses ACC comprises linked together by an address and data bus 403:

- a 401 modem;

- a processor 402; - a non-volatile memory 404;

- a random access memory 405.

Each of the elements illustrated in Figure 4 is well known to those skilled in the art. These common elements are not described here.

However, it is observed that the modem 401 is able to receive and format messages with time stamps coming from a digital multimedia decoder in order to deliver them to the processor 402. The random access memory 405 stores data, variables and intermediate processing results, in memory registers bearing in the description, the same names as the data whose values they store. The random access memory 405 comprises in particular: - a TSM register 409 in which a message received with time stamp is kept;

- a “KPubU” register 407 containing a public key of the secure processor at the origin of the message received;

- a register “KPubTSSi, KPubD” 410 containing the public keys of the TSSi timestamping services and the public key

KPubD of the diffuser;

- a register "A" 408 containing a response.

The public key of the secure processor KPubU could have been transmitted with the TSM message received or recorded beforehand by any means known to those skilled in the art.

The public keys of the KPubTSSi time stamping services or the public key of the KPubD broadcaster are known to the ACC center by any means.

According to an alternative embodiment of the invention described in FIG. 5, a device for collecting responses and checking time stamps has a secure processor reader.

The device of Figure 5 includes elements similar to those of Figure 4 previously described which have the same reference numbers and will not be described further. It is observed that a reader 501 of a removable secure processor replaces the modem 401. This reader 501 is capable of receiving and formatting messages with time stamp originating from a removable secure processor in order to deliver them to the processor 402.

According to FIG. 6 which describes an exchange protocol between a diffuser 100, a central processor 202 of a digital decoder, a secure processor 207 and a device for collecting responses as illustrated with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, further to a service request requiring a response with time stamp, the broadcaster 100 carries out a broadcast 601 of TSC timestamp challenge to the central processor 202. The central processor 202 extracts from TSC the number of SCH challenges and the number of services N to be taken into account for a time stamp and performs a transmission 602 of SCH, N and 603 of a response A, given by the user through l interface 217, to secure processor 207. Next, the secure processor determines a random sequence of time stamping CS, by performing a random or pseudo-random drawing of a sequence of SCH service identifiers CS [i], each value that can take a CS identifier ï / between 1 and N, representing a service from the N services of the list mentioned in the TSC challenge, the indices / being between 1 and SCH included, and two service identifiers in the sequence CS can to be equal.

Next, a first time information request and response to a recovery challenge operation is carried out during which the secure processor sends a time stamp information request 604 corresponding to a first service "Ask (CS [1 ]) ”To the central processor 202. The latter, after setting the tuner 201 to the CS channel [1], extracts the time stamp information from this first TSI service (CS [1]) as well as the response to a first RetC [1] recovery challenge defined by TSI (CS [1]) before transmitting, in step 606, the TSI information (CS [1]) and the RetC response [1] to the secure processor 207. Next, this operation of time information request and response to a recovery challenge for each of the services CS [i] is repeated, with an integer / ranging from 2 to SCH. After receiving the last TSI timestamp (CS [SCH]) and the response to the last ret C retrieval challenge C [SCH], the secure processor signs the TSM message and response A with its private key KPriU 306 during a operation 610 and sends a signed TSM timestamp message 611 to the processor 202 which retransmits this message with the response A in a message 612 to the center> ACC 108.

The ACC center then validates the response during a step 613 and, where appropriate, transmits the validated response and timestamp to the application server. According to FIG. 7 which describes an exchange protocol between a broadcaster 100, a central processor 202 of digital decoder, a secure processor 207 removable and a response collection device as illustrated with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 5, following a request for services requiring a response with time stamp, the broadcaster 100 performs a challenge challenge broadcast 601 TSC timestamp to central processor 202.

The device of FIG. 7 comprises protocol elements similar to those of FIG. 6 previously described which bear the same reference numbers and will not be described further.

However, it is observed that after signing a time-stamped message, the secure processor 207 retains in its non-volatile memory 304 the response A and the corresponding TSM message. The user can then remove the secure processor 207 from the multimedia digital decoder 200 to insert it into the reader 501 of an ACC center 500.

The ACC 500 center then performs a reading 711 of the response A and the signed time stamp message TSM.

The ACC center then validates the response A and if necessary sends the validated response with a time stamp to the application server.

In FIG. 8, which shows the operation of a central processor 202 with a time stamping method included in the electronic device illustrated in FIG. 2, it is observed that after an initialization operation 800 during which the registers of the RAM 205 are initialized, during a wait operation 801, the processor 202 waits to receive then receives a response A to time stamp.

Then, immediately, during an operation 802, the processor 202 loads a TSC challenge from a broadcaster.

The TSC challenge includes:

- the size of the SCH challenge, ie the number of services to be taken into account in the challenge;

- the number N of TSS services that can participate in the challenge; - and for each TSSi service, their order being to be considered:

- a network identifier, network D, for this service;

- a transport flow identifier, transport_streamJD, for this service;

- a service identifier, serviceJD. It should be noted that the broadcasting system preferably conforms to the DVB-SI standard of ETSI (European Telecommunications Standard Institute), "Specification for Service Information in Digital Video Broadcasting Systems" published under the reference ETS300468. In the DVB-SI standard, the networkJD triplet, transport_stream_ID, service D uniquely identifies a broadcast service. Then, during an operation 803, the processor 202 extracts from the challenge TSC, the size SCH of the challenge and the number N of services then sends SCH, N and the response A to the secure processor 207.

Then, during an operation 804, the processor 202 initializes a counter “Compt” at 0. Then, during an operation 805, the counter “Compt” is incremented by one.

Then, during an operation 806, the processor 202 waits for a challenge request CS [Compt] coming from the secure processor 207. When it receives such a request, during an operation 807, the processor 202 extracts from the data received via the broadcasting channel the information TSI corresponding to the challenge CS [Account] denoted TSI (CS [Account]) and the response corresponding to the recovery challenge Ret C [Account] found in TSI (CS [ compt]) and then transmits them to the secure processor 207.

In the preferred embodiment, the invention is compatible with the aforementioned DVB-SI standard which defines mandatory packets and private packets. Private packets can be configured as required and can therefore be used for time stamping services. Each TSS service has in its event information table, denoted EIT in the DVB-SI standard, a private data packet called time information packet, denoted TIP.

The standard structure of this TIP packet includes only one identifier and a number of bytes, all other fields being defined by the user. Thus, the TIP packet is perfectly suited to the implementation of the invention and, according to the preferred embodiment, the TSI information (CS [count]) is transmitted in the form of a TIP packet which includes:

- an identifier specific to the type of TIP, TIP_header_tag;

- a number of bytes which follows, length_field; - a challenge type, challenge_type, which contains the packet identifier from which the bytes of the recovery challenge must be extracted;

- a position of the first byte of the recovery challenge, starting_byte, a null value corresponding to the first byte;

- a number of successive bytes to extract for the recovery challenge, numberjoytes;

- a current time stamp, current time, which contains the current time and date in coordinated universal time; - a fingerprint of the correct response to the recovery challenge, hashed_correct_answer, the footprint being defined with a private key from the KPriD broadcaster (an example of hash function used to calculate the footprint being described in the document "Federal Information Processing Standards, secure hash standards ”published by FIPS under the reference 180-1);

- a SIGN signature (current_time \\ hashed_correct_answer, TSSi) which represents the RSA signature of currentjtime and hashed_correct_answer defined using a private key KPriTSSi of the TSSi service; A recovery challenge is completely defined by a CDef definition comprising the fields challengejtype, starting_byte and numbejbytes.

The SIGN signature has two roles: it uniquely identifies the TSSi service with its private key and guarantees the integrity of the time information.

The diffuser 100 can change the parameters of the challengejype, starting_byte and number_bytes challenge at any time.

The public key KPubTSSi of the TSSi service is present in the ACC 108 center. Independent service providers can use the same timestamp information which is provided by the broadcaster 100.

Then, during a test 808, the processor 202 tests whether the value of the counter “Compt” is equal to the number SCH.

If not, increment operation 805 is repeated. If so, during an operation 809, the processor 202 waits for a time stamp message TSM coming from the processor 207. Then, when the TSM message is received, during an operation 810, the processor 202 transmits the response A with the TSM message to the center> ACC.

Then operation 801 is repeated. It is noted that when the transmission of the response is done using a removable secure processor 207, operations 809 and 810 are not carried out and that one passes directly from test 808 with positive response to the reiteration of the 'operation 801.

It is also noted that, as a variant, the processor 202 can place several responses A with time stamp in a queue for transmission before transmitting them in deferred time to a center 108 ACC.

In FIG. 9, which shows the operation of a secure processor 207 with a time stamping method included in the electronic device illustrated in FIG. 2 and illustrated in detail with reference to FIG. 3, it is observed that after an initialization operation 900 during which the registers of the RAM 305 are initialized, during a waiting operation 901 the processor 302 waits to receive then receives a response A to time stamp, the size SCH of the challenge and the number N of services to consider. Then, during an operation 902, the processor 302 randomly or pseudo-randomly selects a sequence of

SCH numbers between 1 and N (each of these numbers being a pointer to a service in the ordered list of TSS services) representing a CS sequence of SCH challenges. Then, during an operation 903, the processor 302 initializes a counter “Compt” to zero.

Then, during an operation 904, the counter “Compt” is incremented by one.

Then, during an operation 905, the secure processor 207 transmits to the central processor 202 the challenge of rank Compt, CSfCompt].

Then, the processor 302 waits for the information TSI (CS [Comp and for the definition of the corresponding recovery challenge during an operation 906. It then performs an operation of extraction of the response to the recovery challenge Then, during a test 907, the processor 302 checks whether the value of the counter “Compt” is equal to the number of SCH challenges. If not, the increment operation 904 is repeated. If so, during an operation 908, the processor 302 constructs a signed TSM message which includes the following data:

- For each value from / ranging from 1 to SCH: - a service number which defines the TSS service used for the challenge / ^' ; its value is the position of the TSS in the list provided by the TSC challenge; the first service in the list has the number 1;

- For each value ranging from 1 to SCH: - the current timestamp, current ime;

- the hashed_correct_answer fingerprint;

- the SIGN signature (current_time \\ hashed_correct_answer, TSSi);

- the challenge_byte challenge_byte number_bytes extracted from the data stream according to the recovery challenge;

- the signature totajsignature obtained by RSA signature of the concatenation of the response A and all the data of the TSM message excluding its own signature; the totajsignature signature generation operation uses the private key

KPriil 306 from secure processor 207; Then during an operation 909, the signed TSM message is:

- sent to processor 202; or

- kept in memory before being sent directly in deferred time to an ACC center 108 if the secure processor is removable and there is no direct link between the processor 202 and an ACC center; Then, operation 901 is repeated.

In FIG. 10, which shows the operation of a response collection device 108 ACC illustrated in FIG. 4 or in FIG. 5, it is observed that after an initialization operation 1000 during which the registers of the random access memory 405 are initialized, during a wait operation 1001 the processor 402 waits to receive then receives a response A and a corresponding TSM message. Then, during a test 1002, the processor 402 checks whether the signature totajsignature of the response A and of the message TSM is good using the public key KPubU of the secure processor, the public key KPubU having been sent by the secure processor to the ACC center during a previous operation not shown

If so, during a test 1003, the processor 402 checks whether there are indeed SCH challenges present in the TSM message, SCH having been previously communicated by the broadcaster or the application server during an operation not shown.

If so, during an operation 1004, the processor 402 initializes a counter, / ^' to zero. Then during an operation 1005, the processor 402 increments the counter / by one

Then, during a test 1006, the processor 402 checks the validity of the rank challenge / ^' by checking:

- the SIGN signature (currentJime \\ hashed_correct_value, CS [i]) using the public key KPubCS [i] of the service CS [i];

- the imprint of the recovery challenge which must be equal to the corresponding value hashed_correct_value;

If so, during a test 1007, the processor 402 checks whether the counter has reached the value of SCH. When the result of test 1007 is negative, the increment operation

1005 is repeated.

When the result of the test 1007 is positive, during a test 1008, the processor 402, checks the consistency of the time stamp information itself. We note tProcess the maximum time to process a complete challenge including the computing time of the secure processor, the processing time of the central processor and the switching time.

A simple verification consists in testing the value of TI [SCH] corresponding to the timestamp information of rank SCH which must be less than or equal to a value equal to the sum of the timestamp information of rank 1 and of the product of tProcess by the number of challenges minus 1:

TI [SCH] ≤ Tl [1] + (SCH-1) .tProcess. A finer check consists in testing for each value of an integer between 2 and the value SCH, the value of Tl [j] corresponding to the timestamp information of rank j which must be less than or equal to a value equal to the sum of the timestamp information of rank y-1 and tProcess:

TI [i] ≤TI [} - 1] + tProcess for any value of j such that

2≤j≤SCH. According to a variant, the time stamp information Tl [j] for a number j between 1 and SCH relates to a service of rank j: it depends not only on an effective time stamp but also on the service of rank j, each sort of service with its own timescale. It is thus possible to increase security by having a particular coding of the time stamp (which makes it possible to return to a “absolute time” scale). The test 1008 then takes this coding into account, implements an operation which makes it possible to pass from a time stamp relating to a service to an absolute time stamp independent of the service and considers for the test itself only absolute time stamps. If so, during an operation 1009, the TSM message is declared to be valid and the response A is transmitted to the application server with an absolute time stamp corresponding to T1 [1] to be used.

When one of the tests 1002, 1003, 1006 or 1008 is negative, the TSM message is not valid and the response A with the corresponding time stamp information is rejected.

Then, following one of the operations 1009 or 1010, the waiting operation 1001 is repeated.

The embodiment described is not intended to reduce the scope of the invention. Consequently, numerous modifications may be made to it without departing from its scope; in particular, it will be possible to envisage methods, systems or devices with a degraded implementation comprising only a subset of the operations or means of time stamping or of checking of time stamp validity described above. Conversely, additional operations can be added.

Of course, the invention is also not limited to the exemplary embodiments mentioned above.

In particular, the person skilled in the art can make any variant in defining the challenges. It should also be noted that the invention is not limited to a television and / or radio broadcasting infrastructure comprising a broadcaster, decoders and an ACC center, but extends to any infrastructure for broadcasting digital streams with at least one server. application, this application being linked to the use of time stamping or events, such as for example an Internet server.

Similarly, the invention is not limited to the timestamp of responses to a broadcast question, but applies to the timestamp of any type of data transmitted or not by a broadcaster requiring a timestamp such as for example spontaneous messages , multimedia documents, purchase requests, time stamping being based on the use of broadcast digital streams.

In addition, the invention is not limited to the terminals responsible for carrying out the time stamping which are of the digital multimedia decoder type but extends to any type of terminal suitable for receiving digital data streams.

In addition, the invention is not limited to transmissions of responses to an ACC center via a modem or a direct link with a secure processor, but extends to transmissions using any means of transmission such as for example a bus or a network. .

It will also be noted that the invention is not limited to a purely material implantation but that it can also be implemented in the form of a sequence of instructions of a computer program or any form mixing a material part and a software part. In the case where the invention is implemented partially or completely in software form, the corresponding sequence of instructions may be stored in a removable storage means (such as for example a floppy disk, a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM) or no, this storage means being partially or totally readable by a computer or a microprocessor.

Claims

1. Method for time stamping digital data characterized in that it comprises - an operation for defining (902) a sequence {CS) of services comprising at least one service, each said service being chosen from a list services (TSS) according to a choice method giving a variable result for each occurrence of said operations for defining (902) a sequence of services; and - a collection operation (807) of a sequence of timestamp information elements, according to which at least one information element {TSI (CS [i])) is extracted from each service {CS [i ]) of said sequence of services (CS) to form the elements of said sequence of information elements, each element of information comprising information representative of a current time stamp.

2. Timestamping method according to claim 1 characterized in that said list of services (TSS) comprises at least one service.

3. Timestamping method according to one of claims 1 or 2 characterized in that said method of choice giving a variable result is a random or pseudo-random method.

4. Timestamping method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 characterized in that it comprises a step of sending and / or receiving (802) a message {TSC) comprising the number of services {SCH ) of said sequence of services (CS) and said list of services.

5. Timestamping method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it comprises an operation of construction (908) of a group of timestamped data comprising:

- a group of information including:

- said digital data (A); - an identifier {service_numbeή of each of the services in said sequence of services;

- said sequence of time stamp information;

- And a signature (totajsignature) of at least one element of said group of information.

6. Timestamping method according to claim 5 characterized in that it further comprises a collection operation (807) of a sequence of information signatures (SIGN), each of the signatures being associated in a one-to-one manner with each of said timestamp information and signing information comprising said timestamp information {currentjime) and an identifier of said service {Service [i]) from which it originates, and in that said timestamped data group further comprises said signature sequence { SIGN) of information.

7. Timestamping method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 characterized in that:

each timestamp information also includes the definition {CDeή of a recovery challenge to be extracted from said list of services; and

- The time stamping method further comprises an extraction operation (807) of a response {Ret_C) corresponding to said definition {CDeή of each said recovery challenge.

8. Timestamping method according to claim 7 depending on one of claims 5 or 6 characterized in that said time stamped data group further comprises said response (Ret_C).

9. Timestamping method according to claim 8 characterized in that each timestamp information further comprises a fingerprint {hashed_correct_answeή of said response.

10. Timestamping method according to any one of claims 5, 6, 8 or 9, characterized in that it comprises a transmission operation (909) of said time-stamped data group.

11. Method for verifying the validity of a digital data timestamp, characterized in that said timestamp was generated by a method of timestamping said digital data according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

12. Method for verifying the validity of a digital data timestamp according to claim 11 characterized in that it performs a verification of at least one group of data capable of being timestamped by a timestamping method according to any one of claims 5, 6, 8 or 9.

13. Method for verifying the validity of a time stamp according to claim 12 characterized in that said verification method comprises at least one verification operation forming part of the group comprising:

- a verification operation (1002) of signature (total_signature) of a group of data;

- a verification operation (1003) of a number of services (SCH) required;

- a verification operation (1006) attesting that each timestamp information corresponds to a required service; - a verification operation (1006) of the validity of a response to a possible recovery challenge required for each time stamp information; and

- a verification operation (1008) of the timestamp consistency extracted from a group of timestamped data.

14. Method for checking the validity of a time stamp according to one of claims 12 or 13 characterized in that it comprises an operation for transmitting (1009) said validated digital data.

15. System characterized in that it comprises means for implementing: - a method for broadcasting services, each of said services containing information elements representative of time stamp;

- a time stamping method according to any one of claims 1 to 10; and

- a method for verifying the validity of a time stamp according to any one of claims 11 to 14.

16. Time-stamping device for digital data, characterized in that it comprises means (200, 207, 400, or 500) suitable for implementing a time-stamping process and / or for verifying the validity of time stamp according to any one of claims 1 to 14.

17. Time-stamping device for digital data, characterized in that it comprises:

a means of defining a sequence (CS) of services, each of the services being chosen from a list (TSS) of services comprising at least one service according to a method of choice giving a result variable for each use of said means for defining a sequence of services; and

a means of collecting a sequence of timestamp information elements, extracting an information element {TSI (CS [i])) from each of the services (CS // T) of said sequence {CS) of services to form the elements of said sequence of information elements, each information element comprising information representative of a current time stamp.

18. Device for verifying the validity of a digital data timestamp, characterized in that it comprises at least one verification means forming part of the group comprising:

- a means of verifying the signature of a group of data;

- a means of verifying a number of required services;

- a means of verification attesting that each timestamp information corresponds to a required service;

- a means of verifying the validity of a response to a possible recovery challenge required for each time stamp information; and

- a means of checking the timestamp consistency extracted from a group of timestamped data.