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Method of securing data on a portable gaming device from tampering

Method of securing data on a portable gaming device from tampering description/claims

This application is related to the following applications, which are all herein incorporated herein by reference:

U.S. Pat. No. 6,846,238, titled, “WIRELESS GAME PLAYER” issued Jan. 25, 2005; and

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/014,150, titled, “WIRELESS GAME PLAYER” filed on Dec. 14, 2004, and which claims priority to U.S. Pat. No. 6,846,238.

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to gaming systems and more particularly to methods of securing data on portable devices.

2. Description of the Related Art

Recently, the gaming industry has begun efforts to produce handheld portable gaming devices that can move to different areas of the gaming floor (typically controlled areas of the gaming floor). These devices are typically client devices that communicate with a server via a network such as a wireless network.

Because of the portability of these devices, there are concerns that these devices may be more easily compromised than traditional floor style gaming machines. For example, they may be removed from the gaming floor thereby allowing them to be more easily tampered with. Therefore, for security reasons, the secured server not the less secure client typically contains the gaming logic. That is, the server stores the game, processes or plays the game in conjunction with the inputs received from the client, generates an outcome of the game and sends the game result to the client. Although the client doesn't include the gaming logic, it does include limited code for performing basic gaming functions such as inputs and outputs. For example, the client typically includes input means to make selections such as type of bet, amount of bet and various game plays as well as output means to display the game and the results of the game being played.

Unfortunately, there are still concerns by gaming regulators that the gaming device may compromised. For example, the gaming device may be removed from the gaming floor, the code may be hacked, and new code may be installed into the gaming device, i.e., code that allows the hacker to appear as a winner if they are not, or if they are indeed a winner, a winner with an increased pay out.

In lieu of the above, enhanced security measures for ensuring the integrity of gaming devices and more particularly portable gaming device are therefore desired.

The invention relates, in one embodiment, to a gaming device. The gaming device includes writeable memory containing gaming data used to perform operations at the gaming device. The gaming device also includes a first mechanism for determining whether the gaming device is a trusted device. The gaming device further includes a second mechanism for wiping the gaming data from the writeable memory when it is determined that the gaming device can no longer be trusted.

The invention relates, in another embodiment, to a method for securing data on a gaming device. The method includes storing data in writeable memory on a gaming device. The data includes at least select data. The method also includes at the gaming device, continuously determining whether the gaming device is trusted. The method further includes immediately removing at least the select data from writeable memory when it is determined that the gaming device is not trusted.

The invention relates, in another embodiment, to a method of securing data on a client device against tampering. The method includes selecting data stored on a client device. The data includes at least operational data associated with operating the client device. The operational data comprises executable code, binaries or resources. The method also includes locally monitoring a client device to see if it has been compromised. The method further includes immediately removing the selected data from the client device when it is determined that the client has been compromised.

The invention will be readily understood by the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate like structural elements, and in which:

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