Symbiotic biometric security

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9503894-B2
Application number	US-201414201341-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 7, 2014
Priority date	Mar 7, 2014
Publication date	Nov 22, 2016
Grant date	Nov 22, 2016

Abstract

The method, system and device examples provide for a mobile device biometric authentication that authenticates an application user via a biometric input, and thereby reduce the need to enter complex user credentials into a mobile device to gain access to a mobile application. The examples leverage the biometric recognition operations managed by the operating system of the mobile device to allow a mobile application to authenticate the user as a valid user of the mobile application. In an example, a successfully unlocking of a mobile device via a biometric input from a user is used by the mobile application to perform an authentication operation with assistance from an authentication server to authenticate the user of the mobile device as a valid user of the mobile application. As a result, the mobile application grants access to the mobile application based on the user's biometric input.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
providing, by a mobile device and for presentation, a prompt for a user to unlock the mobile device using a biometric input,
the mobile device being in a locked state prior to providing the prompt;

verifying, by the mobile device, a received biometric input as a biometric associated with an authorized user of the mobile device;
unlocking, by the mobile device and based on verifying the received biometric input, the mobile device;
providing, by the mobile device, a first menu including a prompt for the user to select a fingerprint login preference setting as a biometric login preference setting for logging into a mobile device application for execution on the mobile device,
the fingerprint login preference setting allowing the user to access content associated with mobile device application after unlocking the mobile device with a fingerprint input;

providing, by the mobile device, for presentation, and based on receiving a selection of the fingerprint login preference setting, a prompt for input of text-based credentials for authenticating the user for access to the mobile device application;
sending, by the mobile device, the text-based credentials to an authentication server for authentication;
receiving, by the mobile device and based on sending the text-based credentials, an authentication result indicating that the user is allowed to access the mobile device application,
the authentication result including an authentication key;

storing, by the mobile device, the authentication key in a memory of the mobile device;
providing, by the mobile device and for presentation, a second menu that includes the mobile device application for execution on the mobile device;
locking, by the mobile device and based on receiving an input selecting the mobile device application, the mobile device application,
the locking the mobile device application preventing the user of the mobile device from accessing any content associated with the mobile device application;

providing, by the mobile device and for presentation, a prompt for the user to unlock the mobile device application using the fingerprint input;
retrieving, by the mobile device and using the fingerprint input, the authentication key from the memory of the mobile device and an identifier of the mobile device from the memory;
sending, by the mobile device, the authentication key and the identifier to the authentication server;
receiving, by the mobile device and from the authentication server, an indication that the authentication key matches an authentication key computed using the identifier; and
unlocking, by the mobile device and based on receiving the indication, the mobile device application,
the unlocking of the mobile device application allowing the user to access content associated with the mobile device application.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing, for presentation and based on receiving the indication, a user interface that facilitates user access to data associated with the mobile device application.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
confirming, prior to locking the mobile device application, that a login preference setting for authenticating the user by the mobile device application includes the biometric login preference setting; and
transmitting, based on confirming that the login preference setting includes the biometric login preference setting and to an operating system of the mobile device, a request to lock the mobile device.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a signal, from an operating system of the mobile device, indicating that the received biometric input is associated with the authorized user of the mobile device.

5. The method of claim 3 , where the text-based credentials include characters that identify the user, and the method further comprises:
sending, based on receiving the authentication result, a request to the mobile device operating system to place the mobile device into a locked state;
generating, based on sending the request to place the mobile device into the locked state, a fingerprint unlock screen,
the fingerprint unlock screen being an input screen provided to unlock the mobile device using the fingerprint input;

receiving, based on receiving the fingerprint input to the fingerprint unlock screen, an indication of a successful fingerprint verification of the fingerprint input,
the user being registered to access the mobile device application based on the successful fingerprint verification;

retrieving the identifier from the memory;
sending the identifier to the authentication server;
receiving, from the authentication server and based on sending the identifier, a hash key generated from the identifier;
storing the hash key in the memory; and
setting the biometric login preference setting for authenticating the user by the mobile device application as the fingerprint login preference setting.

6. The method of claim 5 , where
the biometric login preference setting is a setting to configure the mobile device to require a fingerprint recognition of the fingerprint input, and
the method further includes:
setting, based on the successful fingerprint verification, the fingerprint login preference setting as a user login preference for the mobile device application.

7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
unlocking, based on the successful fingerprint verification, the mobile device.

8. A mobile device comprising:
a memory to store instructions; and
a processor to execute the instructions to:
provide, for presentation, a prompt for a user to unlock the mobile device using a fingerprint input,
the mobile device being in a locked state prior to providing the prompt;

verify a received fingerprint input as a fingerprint associated with an authorized user of the mobile device;
unlock the mobile device based on verifying the received fingerprint input;
provide a first menu including a prompt for the user to select a fingerprint login preference setting as a biometric login preference setting for logging into a mobile device application for execution on the mobile device,
the fingerprint login preference setting allowing the user to access content associated with mobile device application after unlocking the mobile device with a fingerprint input;

provide, for presentation and based on receiving a selection of the fingerprint login preference setting, a prompt for input of text-based credentials for authenticating the user for access to the mobile device application;
send the text-based credentials to an authentication server for authentication;
receive, based on sending the text-based credentials, an authentication result indicating that the user is allowed to access the mobile device application,
the authentication result including an authentication key;

store the authentication key in a memory of the mobile device;
provide, for presentation, a second menu that includes the mobile device application for execution on the mobile device;
lock the mobile device application based on receiving an input selecting the mobile device application,
the locking the mobile device application preventing the user of the mobile device from accessing any content associated with the mobile device application;

provide, for presentation, a prompt for the user to unlock the mobile device application using the fingerprint input;
retrieve, using the fingerprint input, the authentication key and an identifier of the mobile device from the memory;
send the authentication key and the identifier to the authentication server;
receive, from the authentication server, an indication that the authentication k

Assignees

• Cellco Partnership Dba Verizon

Inventors

• Shanmugam Sankar
• Sengottaiyan Moorthy
• Sivaganesh Sivagnanalingam

Classifications

• H04L63/0853 Primary

  using an additional device, e.g. smartcard, SIM or a different communication terminal (cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving additional secure or trusted devices H04L9/3234) · CPC title

• H04W12/06 Primary

  Authentication · CPC title

• H04W12/065

  Continuous authentication · CPC title