Enhanced Subscriber Authentication Using Location Tracking

• US 20110167440A1
• Filed: 01/05/2010
• Published: 07/07/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/05/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CSC Holdings LLC (Altice USA, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: CSC Holdings LLC (Altice USA, Inc.)
• Inventors: Greenfield, Jonathan
• Granted Patent: US 9,729,930 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 725/25
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/316 by observing the pattern of computer usage, e.g. typical user behaviour
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles
• 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 65/1066 Session management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25816 involving client authentication restricting access to computer systems by authenticating users using a predetermined code G06F21/33; cryptographic authentication protocols H04L9/32; networks authentication protocols H04L63/08; authentication in wireless network security H04W12/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25841 involving the geographical location of the client retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; arrangements for identifying locations of receiving stations in broadcast systems H04H60/51; location of the user terminal in data switching networks H04L67/52; services making use of the location of users or terminals in wireless networks H04W4/02; locating users or terminals in wireless networks H04W64/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25875 involving end-user authentication restricting access to computer systems by authenticating users using a predetermined code G06F21/33; arrangements for secret or secure communication including means for verifying the identity or authority of a user of the system H04L9/32; networks authentication protocols H04L63/08; authentication in wireless network security H04W12/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/472 End-user interface for requesting content, additional data or services; End-user interface for interacting with content, e.g. for content reservation or setting reminders, for requesting event notification, for manipulating displayed content end-user interfaces for retrieving video data from a database G06F16/739; network services for supporting unicast streaming H04L65/612
• 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 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

Tracking and analysis of the location of user and device access to telecommunications services may be used to validate that a given user or device is part of an authorized subscriber household and is therefore properly accessing those services in accordance with the terms of service. A service provider may determine, based on previously collected data and user information collected while a user accesses a service, whether the user'"'"'s pattern of access establishes a required pattern of access determined by the service provider, such as access on a minimum periodic basis from the home of an authorized subscriber.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, using a processing device, a request to access a service, wherein the request contains user information associated with a user;

tracking, using the processing device, the user information, a time the user information was used to access the service, and a location from which the user information was used to access the service;

determining, using the processing device, if the user has established a required presence in a geographic location associated with an account of a subscriber according to criteria defined by the service provider.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the criteria defined by the service provider requires that the user establish a minimum periodic presence in the geographic location associated with the account of the subscriber.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the criteria defined by the service provider specifies a proportion of access by the user from the geographic location associated with the account of the subscriber.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

determining a last time a user identifier associated with the user was used to access the service from the geographic location associated with an account of a subscriber of the service; and

determining that the user has established a minimum periodic presence in the geographic location associated with the account of the subscriber if the last time the user identifier was used to access the service from the geographic location associated with the account of the subscriber is within a minimum period of time defined by the service provider.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

determining a number of times a user identifier associated with the user was used to access the service since the last time the user identifier was used to access the service from the geographic location associated with the account of the subscriber of the service; and

determining that the user has established the minimum periodic presence in the geographic location associated with the account of the subscriber if the number of times does not exceed a maximum number of requests outside of the geographic location, wherein the maximum number of requests is defined by the service provider.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the geographic location is a home associated with the subscriber account.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the user information includes a user identifier.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the user identifier is a username.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the service is a telecommunications service.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the service is cellular phone service.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the location from which the user information was used to access to the service by utilizing a triangulation method.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the service is internet-based television.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the service is internet access.

14. The method of claim 7, wherein the user identifier is flagged as potentially unauthorized if it is not determined that the user has established the required presence in the location associated with a subscriber account.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the user is denied access to the service after the user identifier is flagged.

16. The method of claim 7, wherein the user is allowed access to the service after the user identifier is flagged.

17. The method of claim 7, wherein the user is allowed access to the service after the user identifier is flagged until it has been confirmed that the user is unauthorized.

18. The method of claim 7, wherein the user identifier is a user e-mail address assigned by a provider of the service.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

if the user has not established the required presence in the geographic location associated with the account of the subscriber, determining if the user is associated with an exception in a list of exceptions associated with the subscriber account; and

if the user has not established the required presence in the geographic location associated with the account of the subscriber and is not associated with the exception, flagging the user identifier as being used by an unauthorized or potentially unauthorized user.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the exception applies to users defined by the service provider as college students.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the exception applies if the user is defined by the service provider as being away from home for a long period of time.

22. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

if the user identifier is associated with an exception, accessing an explanation associated with the exception;

tracking the location of the user associated with the exception;

determining if behavior of the user associated with the exception is consistent with the explanation associated with the exception; and

if it is determined that behavior of the user associated with the exception is inconsistent with the explanation associated with the exception, flagging the user identifier as being used by an unauthorized or potentially unauthorized user.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein if the user identifier is associated with the exception, a time required by the service provider to establish the required presence in the geographic location associated with the account of the subscriber is extended.

24. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

accessing tracked information associated with a plurality of users, wherein the tracked information comprises a plurality of user identifiers, times that users associated with the user identifiers accessed the service, and locations from which the users accessed the service; and

based on the tracked information, inferring that a user associated with the user identifier is a member of an authorized household if the tracked information confirms that multiple members of the authorized household are present together at times and for durations defined by the service provider.

25. The method of claim 7, further comprising authorizing a user associated with the user identifier to access the service if the pattern of access associated with the user identifier reflects a minimum correlation with another user identifier that has been deemed legitimate by the service provider.

26. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

evaluating whether the pattern of access associated with the user identifier is unlikely or impossible; and

flagging the user identifier if the pattern of access associated with the user identifier is unlikely or impossible.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein the user is a human user.

28. The method of claim 7, wherein the user is a device and the user identifier is a device identifier.

29. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

if the service is provided to a portable media device and it is determined that the user has not established a required presence in a geographic location associated with an account of a subscriber, disabling content, associated with the service, loaded onto the portable media device.

66. The method of claim 1, wherein the criteria defined by the service provider requires that the portable media device establish a minimum periodic presence in the geographic location associated with the account of the subscriber.

30. A method comprising:

receiving, using a processing device, a request to access a service;

tracking, using the processing device, data including user information, a time at which the user information was used to access the service, and a location from which the user information was used to access the service; and

determining, using the processing device and based on the tracked data, whether a pattern of access associated with the user information establishes a required pattern of access, wherein the required pattern of access is determined by a service provider of the service.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the user information comprises a user identifier, and wherein the user identifier identifies a user.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the user is a device, and wherein the user identifier is a device identifier.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein the user is a human user.

34. The method of claim 32, further comprising determining whether the user has accessed the service from the home of a subscriber of the service at night a minimum number of times, wherein the minimum number of times is determined by the service provider.

35. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

determining a last time the user identifier was used to access the service from a subscriber location associated with an account of a subscriber of the service; and

determining that the user has established the required pattern of access in the subscriber location if the last time the user identifier was used to access the service from the subscriber location is within a minimum period of time defined by the service provider.

36. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

determining a number of times the user identifier was used to access the service since the last time the user accessed the service from the subscriber location; and

determining that the user has established the required pattern of access if the number of times does not exceed a maximum number of requests outside of the subscriber location, wherein the maximum number of requests is defined by the service provider.

37. The method of claim 35, wherein the subscriber location is a home associated with the account of the subscriber.

38. The method of claim 31, wherein the user identifier is flagged as unauthorized or potentially unauthorized if it is not determined that the user has established a minimum periodic presence in the subscriber location.

39. The method of claim 35, further comprising:

if the user has not established the required pattern of access, determining if the user is associated with an exception in a list of exceptions associated with the account of the subscriber; and

if the user has not established the required pattern of access and is not associated with the exception, flagging the user identifier as being used by an unauthorized or potentially unauthorized user.

40. The method of claim 39, further comprising:

if the user identifier is associated with an exception, accessing an explanation associated with the exception;

tracking the location of the user associated with the exception;

determining if behavior of the user associated with the exception is consistent with the explanation associated with the exception; and

if it is determined that behavior of the user associated with the exception is inconsistent with the explanation associated with the exception, flagging the user identifier as being used by an unauthorized or potentially unauthorized user.

41. The method of claim 39, wherein if the user identifier is associated with the exception, a time required by the service provider to establish the required pattern of access is extended.

42. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

accessing tracked information associated with a plurality of users, wherein the tracked information comprises a plurality of user identifiers, times that users associated with the user identifiers accessed the service, and locations from which the users accessed the service; and

based on the tracked information, inferring that a user associated with the user identifier is a member of an authorized household if the tracked information confirms that multiple members of the authorized household are present together at times and for durations defined by the service provider.

43. The method of claim 31, further comprising authorizing a user associated with the user identifier to access the service if the pattern of access associated with the user identifier reflects a minimum correlation with another user identifier that has been deemed legitimate by the service provider.

44. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

evaluating whether the pattern of access associated with the user identifier is unlikely or impossible; and

flagging the user identifier if the pattern of access associated with the user identifier is unlikely or impossible.

45. A system comprising:

a storing module configured to store, using a computing device, information including subscriber information and access rules requiring a pattern of access, wherein the subscriber information includes account information of an authorized subscriber; and

a tracking module configured to;

receive, using the computing device, a request to access a service,

track, using the computing device, user information, a time at which the user information is used to access the service, and a location from which the user information was used to access the service,

determine, using the computing device, whether the user information corresponds with the subscriber information, and

if it is determined that the user information corresponds with the subscriber information, determine, using the computing device, whether a pattern of access associated with the information corresponds with the required pattern of access.

46. The system of claim 45, wherein the user information comprises a user identifier, and wherein the user identifier identifies a user.

47. The system of claim 46, wherein the user is a device, and wherein the user identifier is a device identifier.

48. The system of claim 46, wherein the user is a human user.

49. The system of claim 45, further comprising determining whether a user identifier associated with the user has accessed the service from the home of a subscriber of the service at night a minimum number of times, wherein the minimum number of times is determined by the service provider.

50. The system of claim 46, further comprising:

determining a last time the user identifier was used to access the service from a subscriber location associated with the subscriber information; and

determining that the user has established the required pattern of access in the subscriber location if the last time the user identifier was used to access the service from the subscriber location is within a minimum period of time defined by the service provider.

51. The system of claim 46, further comprising:

determining a number of times the user identifier was used to access the service since the last time the user identifier was used to access the service from the subscriber location; and

determining that the user has established the required pattern of access if the number of times does not exceed a maximum number of requests outside of the subscriber location, wherein the maximum number of requests is defined by the service provider.

52. The system of claim 51, wherein the subscriber location is a home associated with the subscriber information.

53. The system of claim 46, wherein the user identifier is flagged as unauthorized or potentially unauthorized if it is not determined that the user has established a minimum periodic presence in the subscriber location.

54. The system of claim 46, further comprising:

if the user has not established the required pattern of access, determining if the user is associated with an exception in a list of exceptions associated with the subscriber information; and

if the user has not established the required pattern of access and is not associated with the exception, flagging the user identifier as being used by an unauthorized or potentially unauthorized user.

55. The system of claim 54, further comprising:

if the user identifier is associated with the exception, accessing an explanation associated with the exception;

tracking the location of the user associated with the exception;

determining if behavior of the user associated with the exception is consistent with the explanation associated with the exception; and

if it is determined that behavior of the user associated with the exception is inconsistent with the explanation associated with the exception, flagging the user identifier as being used by an unauthorized or potentially unauthorized user.

56. The system of claim 54, wherein if the user identifier is associated with the exception, a time required by the service provider to establish the required pattern of access is extended.

57. The system of claim 46, further comprising:

accessing tracked information associated with a plurality of users, wherein the tracked information comprises a plurality of user identifiers, times that users associated with the user identifiers accessed the service, and locations from which the users accessed the service; and

based on the tracked information, inferring that a user associated with the user identifier is a member of an authorized household if the tracked information confirms that multiple members of the authorized household are present together at times and for durations defined by the service provider.

58. The system of claim 46, further comprising authorizing a user associated with the user identifier to access the service if the pattern of access associated with the user identifier reflects a minimum correlation with another user identifier that has been deemed legitimate.

59. The system of claim 46, further comprising:

evaluating whether the pattern of access associated with the user identifier is unlikely or impossible; and

flagging the user identifier if the pattern of access associated with the user identifier is unlikely or impossible.

60. A tangible computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions comprising:

instructions to receive a request to access a service, wherein the request contains user information associated with a user;

instructions to track the user information, a time the user information was used to access the service, and a location from which the user information was used to access the service;

instructions to determine if the user has established a required presence in a geographic location associated with the account of the subscriber according to criteria defined by the service provider.

61. An apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a request to access a service, wherein the request contains user information associated with a user;

means for tracking the user information, a time the user information was used to access the service, and a location from which the user information was used to access the service;

means for determining if the user has established a required presence in a geographic location associated with the account of the subscriber according to criteria defined by the service provider.

62. A method comprising:

tracking a time a portable media device was used to access content, provided by a service provider and loaded onto the portable media device, and a location from which the portable media device accessed the content; and

determining if the portable media device is authorized to access the content, wherein the determining comprises determining if the portable media device has established a required presence in a geographic location associated with an account of a subscriber of the service provider according to criteria defined by the service provider.

63. The method of claim 62, further comprising:

receiving an update message from the portable media device, wherein the update message comprises an expiration date of the content; and

assigning a new expiration date of the content based on the tracked information.

64. The method of claim 62, wherein the portable media device is configured to disable the content if it is determined that the portable media device has not established the required presence in the geographic location associated with the account of the subscriber.

65. The method of claim 64, wherein the determining if the portable media device has established the required presence in the geographic location associated with the account of the subscriber comprises determining whether the portable media device has connected to an authorized device within a period of time defined by the service provider.

67. A method comprising:

tracking information including a time a portable media device was used to access content provided by a service provider and loaded onto the portable media device; and

determining if the portable media device is authorized to access the content, wherein the determining comprises determining whether the portable media device has connected to an authorized device according to first criteria defined by the service provider, and wherein the authorized device is deemed authorized if it has established a required presence in a geographic location associated with an account of a subscriber of the service provider according to second criteria defined by the service provider.

68. The method of claim 67, wherein the determining whether the portable media device has connected to an authorized device comprises determining whether the portable media device accessed a network configured to serve the content from an IP address associated with the authorized device.

69. The method of claim 67, further comprising:

receiving an update message from the portable media device, wherein the update message comprises an expiration date of the content; and

assigning a new expiration date of the content based on the tracked information.

70. The method of claim 67, wherein the portable media device is configured to disable the content if it is determined that the portable media device is not authorized to access the content.