METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING USER AUTHENTICATION BASED ON USER ACTIONS

• US 20110154444A1
• Filed: 12/17/2009
• Published: 06/23/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/17/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Sriraghavan, Priyanka G., Nrusimhan N.V., Lakshmi
• Granted Patent: US 8,925,070 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/36 by graphic or iconic representation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

An approach is provided for authenticating using user actions. A prompt is initiated on a display for an input to authenticate a user. The input is received as a sequence of user actions on the display. A predetermined sequence associated with the user is retrieved. The received sequence is compared with the predetermined sequence to determine a match. The user is declared to be authenticated based on the comparison.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

initiating prompting on a display for an input to authenticate a user;

receiving the input as a sequence of user actions on the display;

retrieving a predetermined sequence associated with the user;

comparing the received sequence with the predetermined sequence to determine a match; and

declaring the user to be authenticated based on the comparison.

2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

determining one of a plurality of areas defined by a graphical user interface presented on the display according to each of the user actions,

wherein the sequence is defined by the determined areas.

3. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an alphanumeric input as only a portion of the sequence.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the user action is provided via an input device including a mouse, a touch pad, or a cursor controller.

5. A method according to claim 4, wherein the display is a touch screen display, and the user actions are inputted through the touch screen display.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the user actions is associated with an action of an input device, the input device action including a left mouse click and a right mouse click.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined sequence is retrieved from a local memory or remotely from a database over a communication network.

8. An apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to initiate prompting on a display for an input to authenticate a user, and to receive the input as a sequence of user actions on the display,

wherein the processor is further configured to retrieve a predetermined sequence associated with the user, to compare the received sequence with the predetermined sequence to determine a match, and to declare the user to be authenticated based on the comparison.

9. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to determine one of a plurality of areas defined by a graphical user interface presented on the display according to each of the user actions, and the sequence is defined by the determined areas.

10. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to receive an alphanumeric input as only a portion of the sequence.

11. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the user action is provided via an input device including a mouse, a touch pad, or a cursor controller.

12. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the display is a touch screen display, and the user actions are inputted through the touch screen display.

13. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein at least one of the user actions is associated with an action of an input device, the input device action including a left mouse click and a right mouse click.

14. An apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the predetermined sequence is retrieved from a local memory or remotely from a database over a communication network.

15. An apparatus comprising:

a display;

a processor configured to initiate prompting on the display for an input to authenticate a user, and to receive the input as a sequence of user actions on the display; and

a memory configured to store a predetermined sequence associated with the user,

wherein the processor is further configured to retrieve the predetermined sequence, to compare the received sequence with the predetermined sequence to determine a match, and to declare the user to be authenticated based on the comparison.

16. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to determine one of a plurality of areas defined by a graphical user interface presented on the display according to each of the user actions, and the sequence is defined by the determined areas.

17. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to receive an alphanumeric input as only a portion of the sequence.

18. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the user action is provided via an input device including a mouse, a touch pad, or a cursor controller, and the display is a touch screen display, and the user actions are inputted through the touch screen display.

19. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein at least one of the user actions is associated with an action of an input device, the input device action including a left mouse click and a right mouse click.

20. An apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising:

a communication interface configured to communicate over a communication network with a database configured to store a plurality of predetermined sequences for, respectively, a plurality of users,

wherein the predetermined sequence is retrieved from the memory or from the database.