Systems and methods for averting unsanctioned access to on-board vehicle networks

• US 10,298,692 B2
• Filed: 06/01/2016
• Issued: 05/21/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gogo Business Aviation LLC (GOGO Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Gogo LLC (GOGO Incorporated)
• Inventors: Lauer, Bryan Adrian
• Primary Examiner(s): Traore, Fatoumata
• Application Number:
  US15/170,649
• Publication Number:
  US 20170353555A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,084 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/36 by graphic or iconic representation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/107 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 Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/63 Location-dependent; Proximity-dependent
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/48 for in-vehicle communication

Abstract

Novel techniques for averting unsanctioned access to on-board vehicle networks include obtaining indications of detected stimuli and/or conditions that are external to a target computing device, and determining whether or not the detected stimuli/conditions are indicative of the target computing device being utilized, operated, held, and/or carried by a person on-board the vehicle. External stimuli/conditions may include signals transmitted by other devices on-board the vehicle, ad-hoc data received via various interfaces of the target computing device, comparisons of vehicle heuristic data with data generated by components of the target computing device, etc. A confidence score may be generated (e.g., over time) based on detected stimuli/conditions. Access of the target computing device to an on-board vehicle network may be granted or denied based on the detected stimuli/conditions and/or the confidence score. Further, the novel techniques are not required to use any user input.

Claims

1. A method of averting unsanctioned access to a network on-board a vehicle, the network being an on-board network, and the method comprising:

detecting, at a portable computing device and based on a presence of a wireless signal that is received via a wireless interface of the portable computing device and that is generated by a transceiver that is on-board the vehicle and fixedly connected to the vehicle, that the portable computing device is on-board the vehicle;

detecting, at the portable computing device via the wireless interface, one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions, the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions excluding a response to a challenge issued at a user interface of the portable computing device and including a first set of values generated over time by one or more spatial positioning sensors that are excluded from the portable computing device and that are disposed on-board the vehicle;

determining whether or not the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are indicative of the portable computing device being at least one of operated, held, or carried by one or more persons who are on-board the vehicle, including comparing the first set of values with a second set of values generated over time by one or more spatial positioning sensors included in the portable computing device;

granting access of the portable computing device to the on-board network, the granting based on a first determination that the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are indicative of the portable computing device being at least one of operated, held, or carried by the one or more persons who are on-board the vehicle, the first determination including a determination, based on the comparison, of a difference between the first set of values and the second set of values over time; and

denying access of the portable computing device to the on-board network based on a second determination that the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are not indicative of the portable computing device being at least one of operated, held, or carried by any person who is on-board the vehicle, the second determination including a determination, based on the comparison, of a consistency between the first set of values and the second set of values over time.

2. The method of claim 1,

further comprising presenting a particular challenge at the user interface of the portable computing device based on the second determination that the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are not indicative of the portable computing device being at least one of operated, held, or carried by a person who is on-board the vehicle;

and

one of;

granting access of the portable computing device to the on-board network upon a reception of a suitable response to the particular challenge;

or

denying access of the portable computing device to the on-board network upon (i) a reception of an unsuitable response to the particular challenge, or (ii) a failure to receive any response to the particular challenge within a time interval.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether or not the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are indicative of the portable computing device being at least one of operated, held, or carried by the one or more persons who are on-board the vehicle further comprises:

determining a confidence score based on more than one externally generated stimuli or conditions, the confidence score corresponding to the difference between the first set of values and the second set of values detected over an interval of time; and

comparing the confidence score to a threshold.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether or not the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are indicative of the portable computing device being at least one of operated, held, or carried by the one or more persons who are on-board the vehicle further comprises at least one of:

obtaining an indication of an input received at the user interface or a manipulatable component of the portable computing device;

or

determining that data captured by an optical interface of the portable computing device while on-board the vehicle is at least one of;

changing over time, including an image of at least a part of a person, or including an image of at least a part of the vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1,

further comprising obtaining, at the portable computing device, respective indications of one or more signals that are generated by one or more devices fixedly connected to the vehicle;

and

wherein determining whether or not the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are indicative of the portable computing device being at least one of operated, held, or carried by the one or more persons who are on-board the vehicle is further based on the respective indications of the one or more signals.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining whether or not one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are indicative of the portable computing device being at least one of operated, held, or carried by the one or more persons who are on-board the vehicle based on the respective indications of the one or more signals comprises at least one of:

comparing respective values of the one or more signals with a threshold corresponding to signal strength;

or

comparing the respective values of the one or more signals with user account data stored at the target computing device.

7. A system for averting unsanctioned access to a network on-board a vehicle, the network being an on-board network, and the system comprising a portable computing device having:

one or more wireless interfaces;

one or more processors; and

one or more non-transitory, tangible memories storing computer-executable instructions thereon that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the portable computing device to;

detect, based on a presence of a signal generated by the on-board network and received via the one or more wireless interfaces, that the portable computing device is on-board the vehicle;

detect, via the one or more wireless interfaces, one or more stimuli or conditions that are external to the portable computing device that is on-board the vehicle, the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions excluding a response to a challenge issued at a user interface of the portable computing device and including a first set of values generated over time by one or more spatial positioning sensors that are excluded from the portable computing device and that are disposed on-board the vehicle;

determine whether or not the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are indicative of the portable computing device being at least one of operated, held, or carried by one or more persons who are on-board the vehicle, including comparing the first set of values with a second set of values generated over time by one or more spatial positioning sensors included in the portable computing device;

grant access of the portable computing device to the on-board network, the granting based on a first determination that the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are indicative of the portable computing device being at least one of operated, held, or carried by the one or more persons who are on-board the vehicle, the first determination, based on a difference between the first set of values and the second set of values over time indicated by the comparison; and

deny access of the portable computing device to the on-board network based on a second determination that the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are not indicative of the portable computing device being operated, held, or carried by any person who is on-board the vehicle, the second determination based on a consistency between the first set of values and the second set of values over time indicated by the comparison.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the computer executable instructions are executable to further cause the portable computing device to:

present a particular challenge at the user interface of the portable computing device based on the second determination that the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are not indicative of the portable computing device being at least one of operated, held, or carried by any person who is on-board the vehicle; and

one of;

grant access of the portable computing device to the on-board network upon a reception of a suitable response to the particular challenge;

or

deny access of the portable computing device to the on-board network upon (i) a reception of an unsuitable response to the particular challenge, or (ii) a failure to receive any response to the particular challenge within a time interval.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the computer executable instructions to determine whether or not the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are indicative of the portable computing device being at least one of operated, held, or carried by the one or more persons who are on-board the vehicle include computer executable instructions that, when executed, cause the portable computing device to:

determine a confidence score based on more than one externally generated stimuli or conditions, the confidence score based on the difference between the first set of values and the second set of values detected over an interval of time; and

compare the confidence score to a threshold.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the determination of whether or not the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are contextual to the vehicle and are indicative of the portable computing device being utilized by the one or more persons who are on-board the vehicle is further based on at least one of:

a receipt of an indication of an ad-hoc input received at a user interface or a manipulatable component of the portable computing device;

or

a determination that data captured by an optical interface of the portable computing device while on-board the vehicle is at least one of;

changing over time, including an image of at least a part of a person, or including an image of at least a part of the vehicle.

11. The system of claim 7,

wherein the computer-executable instructions are executable to further cause the system to obtain respective indications of one or more signals that are generated by one or more devices fixedly connected to the vehicle;

and

wherein the one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions correspond to the respective indications of the one or more signals that are generated by the one or more devices fixedly connected to the vehicle.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the determination of whether or not one or more externally generated stimuli or conditions are indicative of the portable computing device being at least one of operated, held, or carried by the one or more persons who are on-board the vehicle is based on at least one of:

a comparison of respective values of the one or more signals generated by the one or more devices fixedly connected to the vehicle with a threshold, the threshold corresponding to signal strength;

or

a comparison of the respective values of the one or more signals generated by the one or more devices fixedly connected to the vehicle with user account data stored at the target computing device.

13. A system for averting unsanctioned access to a network on-board a vehicle, the network being an on-board network, and the system comprising a mobile computing device including:

one or more wireless interfaces via which the mobile computing device determines that the mobile computing device is on-board the vehicle;

a detection engine that is communicatively coupled to the one or more wireless interfaces of the mobile computing device that has been determined to be on-board the vehicle, the detection engine comprising a first set of computer-executable instructions that is stored on a non-transitory memory of the mobile computing device and that, when executed by a processor of the mobile computing device, causes the mobile computing device to detect, via the coupling to the one or more wireless interfaces, one or more stimuli or conditions that are external to the mobile computing device, the one or more stimuli or conditions that are external to the mobile computing device including a first set of values generated over time by one or more spatial positioning sensors that are excluded from the mobile computing device and that are disposed on-board the vehicle;

a determination engine coupled to the detection engine and comprising a second set of computer-executable instructions that is stored on the non-transitory memory of the mobile computing device and that, when executed by the processor of the mobile computing device, causes the mobile computing device to determine, based on the one or more stimuli or conditions detected by the detection engine, whether or not the mobile computing device is being at least one of operated, held, or carried by one or more persons who are on-board the vehicle,

wherein;

a grant or a denial of access of the mobile computing device to the on-board network is based on a determination of the determination engine;

the determination of the determination engine includes a comparison of the first set of values and a second set of values generated over time by one or more spatial positioning sensors included in the mobile computing device; and

a denial of access corresponds to a consistency over time between the first set of values and the second set of values, and a granting of access corresponds to a difference between the first set of values and the second set of values.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more wireless interfaces communicatively couple the mobile computing device to one or more other devices fixedly connected to the vehicle, and wherein the determination of whether or not the mobile computing device is being at least one of operated, held, or carried by the one or more persons is further based on at least one of a respective content or a respective strengths of one or more wireless signals that are (i) generated by one or more other devices fixedly connected to the vehicle, and (ii) received at the mobile computing device via the one or more wireless interfaces.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more components of the mobile computing device include at least one of a user interface or an optical interface via which ad-hoc data is received, and wherein the one or more stimuli or conditions are further based on the received, ad-hoc data.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the processor of the mobile computing device is triggered to execute the first set of computer-executable instructions upon at least one of:

an initialization of the mobile computing device;

an initialization of a web browser at the mobile computing device;

an initialization of a first application in which the first set of computer-executable instructions is included;

an initialization of a second application at the mobile computing device;

or

a detection, at the mobile computing device, of a wireless signal transmitted by a device that is fixedly connected to the vehicle.