Establishing a secure channel with a human user

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016277385-A1
Application number	US-201615167051-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 27, 2016
Priority date	Apr 25, 2002
Publication date	Sep 22, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method of establishing a secure channel between a human user and a computer application is described. A secret unique identifier (“PIN”) is shared between a user and an application. When the user makes a request that involves utilizing the PIN for authentication purposes, the application renders a randomly selected identifier. The randomly selected identifier is in a format that is recognizable to a human but is not readily recognizable by an automated agent. The randomly selected identifier is then presented to the human user. The user identifies the relationship between the randomly selected identifier and the PIN. If the user's input reflects the fact that the user knows the PIN, then the user is authenticated.

First claim

We claim:

1 . A computer system comprising:
a display screen; a processor; and authentication software that, when executed by the processor, displays a first sequence of characters on the display screen, and, in response to user input comprising an indication of a series of locations on the display screen, determines a second sequence of characters from the user input, and conditionally grants the user access to information stored on the computer system based upon a determination that the second sequence of characters correspond to a password.

2 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the computer system is selected from the group consisting of: personal computer, automated teller machine, set-top box, laptop computer, cellular phone, personal digital assistant, and workstation.

3 . The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the computer system comprises a cellular phone.

4 . A method of controlling access to a computing device, the method comprising:
displaying a plurality of characters on a display screen; receiving a first input from a user, the first input comprising an indication of a first location on the display screen of a first character; receiving a second input from the user, the second input comprising an indication of a second location on the display screen of a second character; processing said first and second inputs to determine if said first and second locations correspond to the first and second characters of a password; and conditionally granting the user access to the computing device based, at least in part, on a determination that said first and second locations correspond to first and second characters of a password.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the computing device is selected from the group consisting of: personal computer, automated teller machine, set-top box, laptop computer, cellular phone, personal digital assistant, and workstation.

6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the computing device comprises a cellular phone.

7 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the plurality of characters are displayed in distorted form.

8 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the plurality of characters are displayed such that they overlap at least in part.

Assignees

• Intertrust Tech Corp

Inventors

• Pinkas Binyamin
• Haber Stuart A
• Tarjan Robert E
• Sander Tomas

Classifications

• G07C9/33

  by means of a password · CPC title

• H04W12/08

  Access security · CPC title

• G07F7/10

  together with a coded signal {, e.g. in the form of personal identification information, like personal identification number [PIN] or biometric data} · CPC title

• H04L63/10

  for controlling access to devices or network resources · CPC title

• H04L9/3226

  using a predetermined code, e.g. password, passphrase or PIN (network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using passwords in a packet data network H04L63/083) · CPC title