Authentication using emoji-based passwords

• US 10,169,566 B1
• Filed: 07/25/2018
• Issued: 01/01/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Capital One Services LLC (Capital One Financial Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Capital One Services LLC (Capital One Financial Corporation)
• Inventors: Mossoba, Michael, Benkreira, Abdelkadar M'Hamed, Edwards, Joshua
• Primary Examiner(s): Avery, Jeremiah L
• Application Number:
  US16/045,442
• Time in Patent Office: 160 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/36 by graphic or iconic representation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/12 Use of codes for handling textual entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3226 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

Abstract

An application platform may receive an input from a user associated with a user account. The input may relate to a request for access to the user account, and include a selection of emojis or images. The application platform may identify text strings associated with the emojis or images, where each text string may correspond to a respective emoji or image. The application platform may perform an action to generate a combined text string based on the text strings, and process the combined text string to derive an output value after performing the action. The application platform may determine whether the output value corresponds to a particular value after processing the combined text string, and authenticate the user to permit the user to access the user account based on determining whether the output value corresponds to the particular value.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a device, an input from a user,

the user being associated with a user account,

the input relating to a request for access to the user account, and including a selection of a plurality of emojis;

identifying, by the device, a plurality of text strings associated with the plurality of emojis after receiving the input,

each text string, of the plurality of text strings, corresponding to a respective emoji of the plurality of emojis;

performing, by the device, an action to generate a combined text string based on the plurality of text strings;

processing, by the device, the combined text string to derive an output value after performing the action;

determining, by the device, whether the output value corresponds to a particular value after processing the combined text string; and

authenticating, by the device, the user to permit the user to access the user account based on determining that the output value corresponds to the particular value.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein a first data structure contains a mapping of each text string, of the plurality of text strings, and the corresponding respective emoji;

and

wherein a second data structure, different from the first data structure, contains the particular value.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first data structure is maintained by a first entity, and the second data structure is maintained by a second entity different from the first entity.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein identifying the plurality of text strings comprises:

identifying the plurality of text strings based on accessing the first data structure.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the mapping, of each text string, of the plurality of text strings, and the corresponding respective emoji, is user-defined.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein determining whether the output value corresponds to the particular value comprises:

determining whether the output value corresponds to the particular value based on accessing the second data structure.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

causing a set of emojis, that includes the plurality of emojis and additional emojis, to be initially presented for selection; and

causing a portion of the set of emojis to be subsequently presented after an emoji in the set of emojis is selected,

the portion of the set of emojis not including the emoji that is selected.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

causing a set of emojis, that includes the plurality of emojis and additional emojis, to be initially presented in a first pattern or sequence; and

causing at least a portion of the set of emojis to be subsequently presented in a second pattern or sequence, different from the first pattern or sequence, after an emoji in the set of emojis is selected.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an initial user input prior to receiving the input; and

causing, prior to receiving the input, a set of emojis, that includes the plurality of emojis and additional emojis, to be presented based on receiving the initial user input.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the initial user input includes user identification information.

11. A device, comprising:

one or more memories; and

one or more processors, communicatively coupled to the one or more memories, configured to;

receive an input from a user,

the user being associated with a user account,

the input relating to a request for access to the user account, and including a selection of a plurality of emojis or images;

identify a plurality of text strings associated with the plurality of emojis or images after receiving the input,

each text string, of the plurality of text strings, corresponding to a respective emoji or image of the plurality of emojis or images;

perform an action to generate a combined text string based on the plurality of text strings;

process the combined text string to derive an output value after performing the action;

determine whether the output value corresponds to a particular value after processing the combined text string; and

selectively authenticate the user to selectively permit the user to access the user account based on determining whether the output value corresponds to the particular value.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein the particular value includes a hashed value.

13. The device of claim 11, wherein one or more of the plurality of emojis or images are provided by the user for use with authenticating requests to access the user account.

14. The device of claim 11, wherein the one or more processors, when performing the action, are configured to:

concatenate the plurality of text strings to generate the combined text string.

15. The device of claim 11, wherein the one or more processors, when processing the combined text string, are configured to:

cause a salt value to be appended to the combined text string to arrive at a salted text string; and

cause the salted text string to be hashed, in accordance with a hashing algorithm, to obtain the output value.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, the instructions comprising:

one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to;

receive a user input in connection with a request to access a resource,

the user input including a selection of a plurality of emojis or images;

identify a plurality of text strings associated with the plurality of emojis or images after receiving the user input,

each text string, of the plurality of text strings, corresponding to a respective emoji or image of the plurality of emojis or images;

perform an action to generate a combined text string based on the plurality of text strings;

process the combined text string to derive an output value after performing the action;

determine whether the output value corresponds to a particular value after processing the combined text string; and

permit the user to access the resource based on determining that the output value corresponds to the particular value.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the plurality of text strings does not include Unicodes.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein a first data structure contains a mapping of each text string of a first set of text strings, of the plurality of text strings, and the respective emojis or images corresponding to the first set of text strings;

wherein a second data structure, different from the first data structure, contains a mapping of each text string of a second set of text strings, of the plurality of text strings, and the respective emojis or images corresponding to the second set of text strings; and

wherein a third data structure, different from the first data structure and the second data structure, contains the particular value.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the first data structure is maintained by a first entity, and the second data structure and the third data structure are maintained by a second entity different from the first entity.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the first data structure is maintained by a first entity, the second data structure is maintained by a second entity different from the first entity, and the third data structure is maintained by a third entity different from the first entity and the second entity.