Methods and systems for authenticating a reported geolocation of a mobile device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11178156-B2
Application number	US-201816048221-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 27, 2018
Priority date	Jul 27, 2018
Publication date	Nov 16, 2021
Grant date	Nov 16, 2021

Abstract

An exemplary geolocation authentication system receives user input representative of customized authentication settings that designate a location corroboration factor from a plurality of location corroboration factors that correspond to independent ways of determining geolocations of mobile devices. The system receives, from a mobile device located at a true geolocation, a reported geolocation of the mobile device. Then, in response to the receiving of the reported geolocation, the system accesses a datapoint that characterizes a correlation between the reported geolocation of the mobile device and the true geolocation of the mobile device. The datapoint characterizes the correlation based on the location corroboration factor designated by the customized authentication settings. The system further determines, based on the datapoint, a custom confidence metric representative of a likelihood that the reported geolocation is the true geolocation. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, by a geolocation authentication system, user input representative of customized authentication settings that designate a movement feasibility corroboration factor from a plurality of location corroboration factors that correspond to independent ways of determining geolocations of mobile devices;
receiving, by the geolocation authentication system from a mobile device, a first reported geolocation of the mobile device associated with a first time and a second reported geolocation of the mobile device associated with a second time, wherein the mobile device is located at a true geolocation at the second time;
performing, by the geolocation authentication system and based on movement data derived from the first and second reported geolocations of the mobile device, a movement analysis in which a movement of the mobile device from the first reported geolocation at the first time to the second reported geolocation at the second time is compared to a threshold curve to determine a feasibility metric based on whether the movement is above or below the threshold curve and how close the movement is to the threshold curve; and
determining, by the geolocation authentication system and based on the feasibility metric, a custom confidence metric representative of a likelihood that the second reported geolocation is the true geolocation at the second time.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising presenting, by the geolocation authentication system to a client of a geolocation authentication service provided by the geolocation authentication system, a user interface configured to facilitate the client in providing, to the geolocation authentication system, the user input representative of the customized authentication settings;
wherein the receiving of the user input representative of the customized authentication settings is performed by receiving the user input from the client by way of the user interface.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the customized authentication settings represented by the received user input further designate an additional location corroboration factor from the plurality of location corroboration factors;
the customized authentication settings represented by the received user input include a weight value corresponding to the movement feasibility corroboration factor and an additional weight value corresponding to the additional location corroboration factor;
the method further comprises accessing, by the geolocation authentication system, a datapoint that characterizes, in accordance with the additional location corroboration factor, a correlation between the second reported geolocation and the true geolocation of the mobile device at the second time; and
the determining of the custom confidence metric is further based on the datapoint and is performed in accordance with the weight value and the additional weight value.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the customized authentication settings represented by the received user input further designate threshold settings defining a plurality of access levels to be granted to the mobile devices based on confidence metrics associated with determined geolocations of the mobile devices; and
the method further comprises assigning, by the geolocation authentication system based on the custom confidence metric and the threshold settings, an access level from the plurality of access levels to the mobile device, the access level defining access privileges granted to the mobile device with respect to an access server associated with the geolocation authentication system.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the customized authentication settings represented by the received user input further designate a signal strength corroboration factor from the plurality of location corroboration factors;
the method further comprises accessing, by the geolocation authentication system, a datapoint that characterizes, in accordance with the signal strength corroboration factor designated by the customized authentication settings, a correlation between the second reported geolocation and the true geolocation of the mobile device at the second time, the datapoint based on:
data reported by the mobile device to indicate that the mobile device detects a particular wireless signal at a particular signal strength, and
data accessed from a geolocation corroboration system separate and independent from the mobile device to corroborate the data reported by the mobile device; and

the determining of the custom confidence metric includes:
identifying an expected signal strength at which the mobile device is expected to detect the particular wireless signal,
comparing the particular signal strength at which the particular wireless signal is detected with the expected signal strength at which the mobile device is expected to detect the particular wireless signal, and
computing the custom confidence metric based on the comparing of the particular signal strength with the expected signal strength.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the customized authentication settings represented by the received user input further designate a signal detection corroboration factor from the plurality of location corroboration factors:
the method further comprises accessing, by the geolocation authentication system, a datapoint that characterizes, in accordance with the signal detection corroboration factor, a correlation between the second reported geolocation and the true geolocation of the mobile device at the second time, the datapoint based on:
data reported by the mobile device to indicate a first plurality of wireless signals that has been detected by the mobile device at the second reported geolocation of the mobile device, and
data accessed from a geolocation corroboration system separate and independent from the mobile device to indicate a second plurality of wireless signals that the mobile device is expected to detect if the second reported geolocation is the true geolocation of the mobile device; and

the determining of the custom confidence metric is further based on the datapoint and includes:
comparing the first plurality of wireless signals reported by the mobile device with the second plurality of wireless signals accessed from the geolocation corroboration system, and
computing the custom confidence metric based on the comparing of the first and second pluralities of wireless signals.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, by the geolocation authentication system from the mobile device, a reported user of the mobile device and authentication data provided by a true user of the mobile device;
accessing, by the geolocation authentication system in response to the receiving of the reported user, expected authentication data associated with the reported user; and
determining, by the geolocation authentication system based on the authentication data provided by the true user and the expected authentication data, an additional confidence metric representative of a likelihood that the reported user is the true user.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiving of the user input representative of the customized authentication settings is performed prior to the performing of the movement analysis, and the movement analysis is performed based on the designation of the movement feasibility corroboration factor from the plurality of location corroboration factors.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiving of the user input representative of the customized authentication settings is performed subsequent to the performing of the movement analysis, and the method further includes accessing a datapoint that

Assignees

• Verizon Patent & Licensing Inc

Inventors

• Pegg Antony
• Mandle Daniel
• Wille Michael
• Wood Christopher Benton
• Medaugh Jeff
• Bernardini Marc

Classifications

• H04W4/021

  Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences · CPC title

• H04L63/107 Primary

  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

• H04W12/06

  Authentication · CPC title

• H04L63/0876

  based on the identity of the terminal or configuration, e.g. MAC address, hardware or software configuration or device fingerprint · CPC title

• H04L63/08

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