Location validation for authentication

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11120118-B2
Application number	US-201715820802-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 22, 2017
Priority date	Nov 22, 2017
Publication date	Sep 14, 2021
Grant date	Sep 14, 2021

Abstract

Examples of techniques for location validation for authentication are disclosed. In one example implementation according to aspects of the present disclosure, a computer-implemented method includes presenting, by a processing device, a location-based security challenge to a user. The method further includes responsive to presenting the location-based security challenge to the user, receiving, by the processing device, media from the user. The method further includes validating, by the processing device, the media received from the user against the location-based security challenge to determine whether the user is located at an authorized location. The method further includes responsive to determining that the user is located at an authorized location, authenticating, by the processing device, the user to grant access for the user to a resource.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for location validation for authentication, the method comprising:
receiving, by a processing device from a user, a reference media for use in a location-based security challenge and a text description of an object depicted in the reference media, wherein the reference media comprises a plurality of images in an expected order;
presenting, by the processing device, the location-based security challenge to the user, wherein the location-based security challenge includes the text description of the object;
responsive to presenting the location-based security challenge to the user, receiving, by the processing device, media from the user, wherein the media comprises a plurality of images in a sequence and wherein the plurality of images were captured by the user in response to the location-based security challenge;
validating, by the processing device, the media received from the user against the location-based security challenge to determine whether the user is located at an authorized location, wherein validating the media received from the user against the location-based security challenge comprises verifying that the media received from the user matches the reference media and verifying that the sequence of the plurality of images of the media matches the expected order and wherein the plurality of images includes at least two images; and
responsive to determining that the user is located at an authorized location, authenticating, by the processing device, the user to grant access for the user to a resource.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the media is at least one video.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein it is determined that the user is located at an authorized location when a similarity between the media received from the user and the reference media previously provided by the user is greater than a first threshold.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein it is determined that the user is located at an authorized location when a similarity between the media received from the user and the reference media previously provided by the user is greater than a first threshold and less than a second threshold.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein it is determined that the user is not located at an authorized location when a similarity between the media received from the user and the stored reference media previously provided by the user is less than a first threshold.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein it is determined that the user is not located at an authorized location when a similarity between the media received from the user and the reference media previously provided by the user is less than a first threshold or greater than a second threshold.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the location-based security challenge is presented to the user responsive to the user requesting access to a restricted resource.

8. A system for location validation for authentication, the system comprising:
a memory comprising computer readable instructions; and
a processing device for executing the computer readable instructions for performing a method, the method comprising:
presenting, by the processing device, a location-based security challenge to a user, wherein the location-based security challenge is a text description of an object that is expected to be at a specified location within a proximity to the user, wherein the text description of the object was previously provided by the user, and wherein the object is depicted in reference media comprising a plurality of images in an expected order;
responsive to presenting the location-based security challenge to the user, receiving, by the processing device, media from the user, wherein the media comprises a plurality of images in a sequence and wherein the plurality of images were captured by the user in response to the location-based security challenge;
validating, by the processing device, the media received from the user against the location-based security challenge to determine whether the user is located at an authorized location; and
responsive to determining that the user is located at an authorized location, authenticating, by the processing device, the user to grant access for the user to a resource,
wherein validating the media received from the user against the location-based security challenge comprises verifying that the media received from the user matches the reference media and verifying that the sequence of the plurality of images of the media matches the expected order and wherein the plurality of images includes at least two images.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the media is at least one video.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein it is determined that the user is located at an authorized location when a similarity between the media received from the user and the reference media previously provided by the user is greater than a first threshold.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein it is determined that the user is located at an authorized location when a similarity between the media received from the user and the reference media previously provided by the user is greater than a first threshold and less than a second threshold.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein it is determined that the user is not located at an authorized location when a similarity between the media received from the user and the reference media previously provided by the user is less than a first threshold.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein it is determined that the user is not located at an authorized location when a similarity between the media received from the user and the reference media previously provided by the user is less than a first threshold or greater than a second threshold.

14. A computer program product for location validation for authentication, the computer program product comprising:
a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processing device to cause the processing device to perform a method comprising:
presenting, by the processing device, a location-based security challenge to a user, wherein the location-based security challenge is a text description of an object that is expected to be at a specified location within a proximity to the user and wherein the text description of the object and reference media depicting the object were previously provided by the user, wherein the reference media comprises a plurality of images in an expected order;
responsive to presenting the location-based security challenge to the user, receiving, by the processing device, media from the user, wherein the media comprises a plurality of images in a sequence and wherein the plurality of images were captured by the user in response to the location-based security challenge;
validating, by the processing device, the media received from the user against the location-based security challenge to determine whether the user is located at an authorized location; and
responsive to determining that the user is located at an authorized location, authenticating, by the processing device, the user to grant access for the user to a resource,
wherein validating the media received from the user against the location-based security challenge comprises verifying that the media received from the user matches the reference media and verifying that the sequence of the plurality of images of the media matches the expected order and wherein the plurality of images includes

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Maresh Mark E
• Nolan Colm
• Vargas Juan F
• Whitney Michael J

Classifications

• G06F21/36 Primary

  by graphic or iconic representation · CPC title

• H04L63/107

  wherein the security policies are location-dependent, e.g. entities privileges depend on current location or allowing specific operations only from locally connected terminals · CPC title

• G06F2221/2111

  Location-sensitive, e.g. geographical location, GPS · CPC title

• G06F2221/2103

  Challenge-response · CPC title

• H04L63/08

  for authentication of entities (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32) · CPC title