The present invention is directed to novel systems and methods for authenticating the pedigree and/or confirming the integrity of a transported package. Among other things, a method is disclosed that involves receiving information from an electronic device associated with the package at an authentication appliance at a destination location, transmitting at least a first portion of the information from the authentication appliance to a server, receiving from the server a network address of an authentication computer to be used to evaluate the pedigree and/or integrity of the package, after receiving the network address from the server, transmitting at least a second portion of the information from the authentication appliance to the authentication computer at the network address, and receiving from the authentication computer a signal indicative of a determination made by the authentication computer concerning the pedigree and/or integrity of the package based upon a comparison of the at least the second portion of the information with data stored in a database.