Systems and methods for detecting call provenance from call audio

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11050876-B2
Application number	US-201916730666-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 30, 2019
Priority date	Jun 29, 2010
Publication date	Jun 29, 2021
Grant date	Jun 29, 2021

Abstract

Various embodiments of the invention are detection systems and methods for detecting call provenance based on call audio. An exemplary embodiment of the detection system can comprise a characterization unit, a labeling unit, and an identification unit. The characterization unit can extract various characteristics of networks through which a call traversed, based on call audio. The labeling unit can be trained on prior call data and can identify one or more codecs used to encode the call, based on the call audio. The identification unit can utilize the characteristics of traversed networks and the identified codecs, and based on this information, the identification unit can provide a provenance fingerprint for the call. Based on the call provenance fingerprint, the detection system can identify, verify, or provide forensic information about a call audio source.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, by a computing-device, call audio of a first call between a first device and a second device;
extracting, by the computing-device, one or more characteristics from the first call, wherein the one or more characteristics exclude metadata;
identifying, by the computing-device, at least a portion of one or more networks of a transmission path of the first call based on the one or more characteristics extracted from the call audio of the first call; and
identifying, by the computing-device, a geography associated with the first call based on the one or more characteristics extracted from the call audio of the first call.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying, by the computing-device, one or more codecs used to encode the first call based on the one or more characteristics, wherein the computing-device identifies a network of the one or more networks of the transmission path based on a codec.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the geography associated with the first call includes a geographical location of an origin of the first call.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying, by the computing-device, a unique telecommunications device involved in the first call based on the one or more characteristics, wherein the unique telecommunications device is one of the first device or the second device.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining, by the computing-device, a first provenance fingerprint for the first call based on the one or more characteristics.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising comparing, by the computing-device, the first provenance fingerprint against one or more provenance fingerprints stored in a database configured to store a plurality of provenance fingerprints for a plurality of calls.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising determining, by the computing-device, that the first provenance fingerprint satisfies a matching threshold to a second provenance fingerprint of a second call based on comparing the first provenance fingerprint against at least one provenance fingerprint stored in the database.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising identifying, by the computing-device, a common geography associated with the first call and associated with a second call based on the computing-device comparing the first provenance fingerprint for the first call against a second provenance fingerprint for the second call stored in the database.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the computing-device is configured to receive respective call audio of the plurality of calls, and wherein the method further comprises:
for each respective call audio received by the computing-device:
determining, by the computing-device, a provenance fingerprint of a call based on the one or more characteristics extracted from the call audio of the call; and
storing, by the computing-device, the provenance fingerprint into the database.

10. A system comprising:
one or more computing devices, including a computing device configured to:
identify at least a portion one or more networks of a transmission path of a first call between a first device and a second device based on one or more characteristics extracted from call audio of the first call, wherein the one or more characteristics exclude metadata; and
identify a geography associated with the first call based on the one or more characteristics extracted from the call audio from the first call.

11. The system of claim 10 , the one or more computing devices further including at least one computing device configured to:
receive the call audio of the first call between the first device and the second device; and
extract the one or more characteristics from the first call.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the computing device is further configured to identify one or more codecs used to encode the first call based on the one or more characteristics, and wherein the computing device identifies a network of the one or more networks of the transmission path based on a codec.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the geography associated with the first call includes a geographical location of an origin of the first call.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the computing device is further configured to identify a unique telecommunications device involved in the first call based on the one or more characteristics, and wherein the unique telecommunications device is one of the first device or the second device.

15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the computing device is further configured to determine a first provenance fingerprint for the first call based on the one or more characteristics.

16. The system of claim 15 , further comprising a database configured to store a plurality of provenance fingerprints for a plurality of calls; and
wherein the computing device is further configured to compare the first provenance fingerprint against one or more provenance fingerprints stored in the database.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the computing device is further configured to determine that the first provenance fingerprint satisfies a matching threshold to a second provenance fingerprint of a second call based on comparing the first provenance fingerprint against at least one provenance fingerprint stored in the database.

18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the computing device is further configured to identify a common geography associated with the first call and associated with a second call based on the computing device comparing the first provenance fingerprint for the first call against a second provenance fingerprint for the second call stored in the database.

Assignees

• Georgia Tech Res Inst

Inventors

• Balasubramaniyan Vijay
• Ahamad Mustaque
• Traynor Patrick Gerard
• Hunter Michael Thomas
• Poonawalla Aamir

Classifications

• H04L65/1076 Primary

  Screening of IP real time communications, e.g. spam over Internet telephony [SPIT] · CPC title

• H04W12/79

  Radio fingerprint · CPC title

• H04W24/08

  Testing, {supervising or monitoring} using real traffic · CPC title

• H04M3/2281 Primary

  Call monitoring, e.g. for law enforcement purposes; Call tracing; Detection or prevention of malicious calls · CPC title

• H04M7/0078

  Security; Fraud detection; Fraud prevention · CPC title