Voice-capable system and method for providing input options for authentication

• US 20070143625A1
• Filed: 12/21/2005
• Published: 06/21/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Jung, Edward, Malamud, Mark, Lord, Robert, Levien, Royce, Rinaldo, John
• Granted Patent: US 8,539,242 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/182
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/37 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voice recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 17/24 the user being prompted to utter a password or a predefined phrase

Abstract

A system and method for use with a voice-capable system, includes but is not limited to a method including receiving one or more user-centric authentication preferences, and preparing one or more categories of authentication questions based on the one or more user-centric authentication preferences.

Claims

1. A method for use with a voice-capable system, the method comprising:

receiving one or more user-centric authentication preferences; and

preparing one or more categories of authentication questions based on the one or more user-centric authentication preferences.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the receiving one or more user-centric authentication preferences includes:

receiving the one or more user-centric authentication preferences in response to a user-centric query of a user of the voice-capable system.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the receiving the one or more user-centric authentication preferences in response to a user-centric query of a user of the voice-capable system includes:

parsing the one or more user-centric authentication preferences to identify the one or more categories of authentication questions;

storing one or more parsed user-centric authentication preferences according to the one or more categories of authentication questions; and

determining whether the one or more categories of authentication questions meet a diversity standard associated with an authentication requirement.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the receiving the one or more user-centric authentication preferences in response to a user-centric query of a user of the voice-capable system includes:

verifying an identity of the user according to an authentication protocol; and

providing the user-centric query of the user during a voice-capable setup procedure, the user-centric query providing one or more questions linked to a series of categories.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein the receiving the one or more user-centric authentication preferences in response to a user-centric query of a user of the voice-capable system includes:

verifying an identity of the user according to an authentication protocol; and

providing the user-centric query of the user after an authentication, the user-centric query providing one or more questions linked to a series of categories.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

generating one or more questions for a future authentication session.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the generating one or more questions for a future authentication session includes:

selecting the one or more questions for the future authentication session via a weighting of the one or more categories of authentication questions in accordance with the one or more user-centric authentication preferences.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein the generating one or more questions for a future authentication session includes:

receiving from a user the one or more user-centric authentication preferences in the form of a prioritization of the one or more categories.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the receiving from a user the one or more user-centric authentication preferences in the form of a prioritization of the one or more categories includes:

notifying the user if the prioritization of the one or more categories results in an invalid authentication configuration.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the notifying the user if the prioritization of the one or more categories results in an invalid authentication configuration includes:

cautioning the user if the prioritization of the one or more categories results in excluding a category; and

providing the user with an option to reinstate an excluded category and/or add a category.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein the notifying the user if the prioritization of the one or more categories results in an invalid authentication configuration includes:

consulting a threshold related to the one or more categories, the threshold determined via a metric identifying a number of categories and/or authentication questions required for a predetermined security requirement.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the consulting a threshold related to the one or more categories, the threshold determined via a metric identifying a number of categories and/or authentication questions required for a predetermined security requirement includes:

determining the threshold by performing evaluation testing to measure a security level associated with the one or more thresholds.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the consulting a threshold related to the one or more categories, the threshold determined via a metric identifying a number of categories and/or authentication questions required for a predetermined security requirement includes:

altering the threshold according to the metric identifying the number of categories and/or authentication questions required for the predetermined security requirement to achieve a predetermined success rate.

14. The method of claim 6 wherein the generating one or more questions for a future authentication session includes:

generating the one or more questions for the future authentication session using family data.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the generating the one or more questions for the future authentication session using family data includes:

consulting family data, the family data including one or more of financial records, personal data, and/or timely events of a member within a household of the user.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the receiving one or more user-centric authentication preferences includes:

receiving from a user the user-centric authentication preferences including an indication of one or more categories of authentication questions to be avoided.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein the receiving one or more user-centric authentication preferences includes:

receiving from a user the user-centric authentication preferences including an indication of one or more categories of authentication questions the user prefers to receive during an authentication session.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein the preparing one or more categories of authentication questions based on the one or more user-centric authentication preferences includes:

parsing the user-centric authentication preferences for one or more matching preferences; and

prioritizing the one or more matching preferences to create the one or more categories of authentication questions.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein the preparing one or more categories of authentication questions based on the one or more user-centric authentication preferences includes:

prioritizing the one or more categories of authentication questions in one or more of near real time and/or as prior to a next authentication session.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein the preparing one or more categories of authentication questions based on the one or more user-centric authentication preferences includes:

preparing the one or more categories as default categories, the default categories determined according to one or more organization dependent criteria.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein the preparing one or more categories of authentication questions based on the one or more user-centric authentication preferences includes:

preparing the one or more categories to include questions concerning one or more of financial transactions, recurring transactions, calendared events, personal relationships, names of joint account holders, names of family members, numbers of siblings, relatives, computing activities, personal inventory, and/or recent personal contacts.

22. A computer program product comprising:

a signal bearing medium bearing at least one of;

one or more instructions for receiving one or more user-centric authentication preferences; and

one or more instructions for preparing one or more categories of authentication questions based on the one or more user-centric authentication preferences.

23. The computer program product of claim 22 wherein the signal bearing medium comprises:

a recordable medium.

24. The computer program product of claim 22 wherein the signal bearing medium comprises:

a transmission medium.

25. The computer program product of claim 22 wherein the one or more instructions for receiving one or more user-centric authentication preferences includes:

one or more instructions for receiving the one or more user-centric authentication preferences in response to a user-centric query of a user of the voice-capable system.

26. The computer program product of claim 25 wherein the one or more instructions for receiving the one or more user-centric authentication preferences in response to a user-centric query of a user of the voice-capable system includes:

one or more instructions for parsing the one or more user-centric authentication preferences to identify the one or more categories of authentication questions;

one or more instructions for storing one or more parsed user-centric authentication preferences according to the one or more categories of authentication questions; and

one or more instructions for determining whether the one or more categories of authentication questions meet a diversity standard associated with an authentication requirement.

27. The computer program product of claim 25 wherein the one or more instructions for receiving the one or more user-centric authentication preferences in response to a user-centric query of a user of the voice-capable system includes:

one or more instructions for verifying an identity of the user according to an authentication protocol; and

one or more instructions for providing the user-centric query of the user during a voice-capable setup procedure, the user-centric query providing one or more questions linked to a series of categories.

28. The computer program product of claim 25 wherein the one or more instructions for receiving the one or more user-centric authentication preferences in response to a user-centric query of a user of the voice-capable system includes:

one or more instructions for verifying an identity of the user according to an authentication protocol; and

one or more instructions for providing the user-centric query of the user after an authentication, the user-centric query providing one or more questions linked to a series of categories.

29. The computer program product of claim 22 further comprising:

one or more instructions for generating one or more questions for a future authentication session.

30. The computer program product of claim 29 wherein the one or more instructions for generating one or more questions for a future authentication session includes:

one or more instructions for selecting the one or more questions for the future authentication session via a weighting of the one or more categories of authentication questions in accordance with the one or more user-centric authentication preferences.

31. The computer program product of claim 29 wherein the one or more instructions for generating one or more questions for a future authentication session includes:

one or more instructions for receiving from a user the one or more user-centric authentication preferences in the form of a prioritization of the one or more categories.

32. The computer program product of claim 31 wherein the one or more instructions for receiving from a user the one or more user-centric authentication preferences in the form of a prioritization of the one or more categories includes:

one or more instructions for notifying the user if the prioritization of the one or more categories results in an invalid authentication configuration.

33. The computer program product of claim 32 wherein the one or more instructions for notifying the user if the prioritization of the one or more categories results in an invalid authentication configuration includes:

one or more instructions for cautioning the user if the prioritization of the one or more categories results in excluding a category; and

one or more instructions for providing the user with an option to reinstate an excluded category and/or add a category.

34. The computer program product of claim 32 wherein the one or more instructions for notifying the user if the prioritization of the one or more categories results in an invalid authentication configuration includes:

one or more instructions for consulting a threshold related to the one or more categories, the threshold determined via a metric identifying a number of categories and/or authentication questions required for a predetermined security requirement.

35. The computer program product of claim 34 wherein the consulting a threshold related to the one or more categories, the threshold determined via a metric identifying a number of categories and/or authentication questions required for a predetermined security requirement includes:

one or more instructions for determining the threshold by performing evaluation testing to measure a security level associated with the one or more thresholds.

36. The computer program product of claim 34 wherein the consulting a threshold related to the one or more categories, the threshold determined via a metric identifying a number of categories and/or authentication questions required for a predetermined security requirement includes:

one or more instructions for altering the threshold according to the metric identifying the number of categories and/or authentication questions required for the predetermined security requirement to achieve a predetermined success rate.

37. The computer program product of claim 29 wherein the one or more instructions for generating one or more questions for a future authentication session includes:

one or more instructions for generating the one or more questions for the future authentication session using family data.

38. The computer program product of claim 37 wherein the one or more instructions for generating the one or more questions for the future authentication session using family data includes:

one or more instructions for consulting family data, the family data including one or more of financial records, personal data, and/or timely events of a member within a household of the user.

39. The computer program product of claim 22 wherein the one or more instructions for receiving one or more user-centric authentication preferences includes:

one or more instructions for receiving from a user the user-centric authentication preferences including an indication of one or more categories of authentication questions to be avoided.

40. The computer program product of claim 22 wherein the one or more instructions for receiving one or more user-centric authentication preferences includes:

one or more instructions for receiving from a user the user-centric authentication preferences including an indication of one or more categories of authentication questions the user prefers to receive during an authentication session.

41. The computer program product of claim 22 wherein the one or more instructions for preparing one or more categories of authentication questions based on the one or more user-centric authentication preferences includes:

one or more instructions for parsing the user-centric authentication preferences for one or more matching preferences; and

one or more instructions for prioritizing the one or more matching preferences to create the one or more categories of authentication questions.

42. The computer program product of claim 22 wherein the one or more instructions for preparing one or more categories of authentication questions based on the one or more user-centric authentication preferences includes:

one or more instructions for prioritizing the one or more categories of authentication questions in one or more of near real time and/or as prior to a next authentication session.

43. The computer program product of claim 22 wherein the one or more instructions for preparing one or more categories of authentication questions based on the one or more user-centric authentication preferences includes:

one or more instructions for preparing the one or more categories as default categories, the default categories determined according to one or more organization dependent criteria.

44. The computer program product of claim 22 wherein the one or more instructions for preparing one or more categories of authentication questions based on the one or more user-centric authentication preferences includes:

one or more instructions for preparing the one or more categories to include questions concerning one or more of financial transactions, recurring transactions, calendared events, personal relationships, names of joint account holders, names of family members, numbers of siblings, relatives, computing activities, personal inventory, and/or recent personal contacts.

45. A voice-capable system comprising:

a processor;

audio input and/or output circuitry coupled to the processor;

a memory coupled to the processor; and

a security module coupled to the processor, the security module configured to implement a secure protocol, the secure protocol configured to implement an automated system with one or more questions related to security/authentication, the security module configured to include;

an access module for receiving one or more user-centric authentication preferences; and

a category preparation module for preparing one or more categories of authentication questions based on the one or more user-centric authentication preferences.

46. The voice-capable system of claim 45 wherein the security module is coupled to the processor, located within the processor, and/or located in the memory.

47. The voice-capable system of claim 45 wherein the memory is one or more of a random access memory, a read only memory, an optical memory, or a subscriber identity module memory.

48. The voice-capable system of claim 45 wherein the audio input and/or output circuitry includes one or more of a microphone, a speaker, a transducer, and/or audio input and/or output circuitry.

49. The voice-capable system of claim 45 further comprising a housing coupled to the processor, the housing encasing the memory, the processor, and/or the audio input and/or output circuitry.