Mobile Emulator Determination using Sound Detection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020411035-A1
Application number	US-201916458166-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jun 30, 2019
Priority date	Jun 30, 2019
Publication date	Dec 31, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method and apparatus for mobile emulator determination using sound fingerprinting is disclosed. The method includes a verification computer system receiving a transaction request from a computing device purporting to be a mobile device. Responsive to receiving the request, the verification computer system transmits a request for verification information to the computing device. The verification system includes information regarding a tone to be generated by a speaker of the computing device. Thereafter, verification information is received from the computing device. The verification information includes information tone information generated by the computing device, wherein the tone is, after generation, detected by a microphone. The verification system then verifies, based on the receive verification information, whether the information indicates that the computing device is a mobile device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method comprising:
receiving, at a verification computer system, a transaction request from a computing device, wherein device information associated with the transaction request indicates that the computing device is a mobile device; transmitting a request for verification information to the computing device responsive to receiving the transaction request, wherein the request for verification information specifies one or more desired characteristics of a tone to be generated by a speaker of the computing device; receiving verification information from the computing device, wherein the verification information includes tone information generated by the computing device based on a tone that is generated by the computing device, wherein the tone is generated based on the request for verification information and detected through a microphone of the computing device; and verifying, based on the received verification information, whether the device information correctly indicates that the computing device is a mobile device.

2 . The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the one or more desired characteristics include a specified frequency of the tone, and wherein the verifying includes determining a lag between the tone as detected and the tone as generated.

3 . The method as recited in claim 2 , wherein the specified frequency is an ultrasonic frequency.

4 . The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the one or more desired characteristics include a specified frequency of the tone, and wherein the verifying includes determining, based on an expected distance between the speaker and the microphone of the mobile device, whether a phase difference between the tone as generated and the tone as detected corresponds to the expected distance.

5 . The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
accessing, at the verification computer system, an expected distance between the speaker and the microphone of the computing device; wherein the one or more desired characteristics include a specified frequency of the tone; and wherein the verifying includes determining, using the expected distance, whether a phase difference between the tone as generated and the tone as detected corresponds to the expected distance.

6 . The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the one or more desired characteristics include a specified frequency that is randomly determined by the verification computer system, and wherein transmitting the request for verification information to the computing device includes indicating the randomly determined frequency that is to be generated.

7 . The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the verification information includes background noise information recorded by the computing device and further includes a reported location of the computing device at a time of the transaction request, and wherein verifying the computing device includes correlating the background noise information to the reported location of the computing device.

8 . The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the one or more desired characteristics include a modulation value to be used by the computing device to modulate a carrier signal in order to generate the tone, wherein the modulation value corresponds to a first set of information;
wherein the tone information includes a second set of information that is generated from demodulating the tone as detected; and wherein the verifying includes comparing the first set of information to the second set of information to determine whether to approve the transaction request.

9 . The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the transaction request is a payment request issued from a payment application executing on the computing device.

10 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions executable by a computer system to perform operations comprising:
causing an audio tone to be generated by a speaker of the computer system responsive to a transaction request; producing waveform information indicative of a detected audio tone that is detected via a microphone of the computer system responsive to the generated audio tone; determining, using the waveform information, verification information indicative of a time lag between the generated audio tone and the detected audio tone; causing the verification information to be provided to a remote verification system, wherein the verification information is usable to verify whether the computer system is a mobile device by determining whether the time lag corresponds to an expected range of speaker-microphone distances for mobile devices.

11 . The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 10 , wherein causing the audio tone to be generated comprises generating the audio tone at a specified frequency, wherein the specified frequency is greater than or equal to 15 KHz.

12 . The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 10 , wherein causing the audio tone to be generated comprises generating the audio tone at a frequency according to a random number generated by the remote verification system.

13 . The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 10 , wherein producing the waveform information includes filtering background noise from the detected audio tone.

14 . The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 10 , wherein the time lag is determined based on a phase difference between the generated audio tone and the waveform information indicative of the detected audio tone.

15 . The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise:
receiving a user request for a payment; sending the transaction request to the remote verification system responsive to the user request; and receiving a verification request from the remote verification system responsive to the transaction request; wherein causing the audio tone to be generated is performed responsive to receiving the verification request, and wherein the verification information.

16 . An apparatus, comprising:
a speaker; a microphone; a processor configured to execute program instructions stored on the apparatus to:
send a transaction request to a remote verification system;
receive a verification request from the remote verification system, wherein the verification request is responsive to the transaction request; and perform a verification procedure that includes:
causing an audio tone to be generated by the speaker;
detecting, by the microphone, the generated audio tone as a detected audio tone;
generating verification information that is based on the generated audio tone and the detected audio tone; and
transmitting the verification information to a remote verification system, wherein the verification information is usable by the remote verification system to determine whether to approve the transaction request.

17 . The apparatus as recited in claim 16 , wherein the verification information indicates a distance between the speaker and the microphone, wherein the distance is usable by the remote verification system for comparison with an expected speaker-microphone distance to approve the transaction request.

18 . The apparatus as recited in claim 17 , wherein the expected speaker-microphone distance is for a device type indicated by the transaction request.

19 . The apparatus as recited in claim 16 , wherein the verification information indicates a time lag between the generated audio tone and the detected audio tone,

Assignees

• Paypal Inc

Inventors

• Perkal Yotam
• Shafet Yuri

Classifications

• G06Q20/3674

  involving authentication · CPC title

• G06Q20/3272

  using an audio code · CPC title

• G06Q20/322

  Aspects of commerce using mobile devices [M-devices] · CPC title

• G06Q20/401

  Transaction verification · CPC title

• G06Q20/4014

  Identity check for transactions · CPC title