Biometric certifying authorities

• US 6,105,010 A
• Filed: 12/31/1997
• Issued: 08/15/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: GTE Service Corporation (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Musgrave, Clyde
• Primary Examiner(s): Trammell, James P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Cuong H.
• Application Number:
  US09/001,323
• Time in Patent Office: 958 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1, 705/39, 705/44, 380/23, 380/25, 382/115-119
• US Class Current: 705/44
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4014 Identity check for transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/37 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voice recognition

Abstract

A biometric certifying authority (BCA) management system and method provide and maintain a hierarchical relationship among biometric certifying authorities in the issuance of biometric certificates. Biometric certificates may be used in all electronic transactions requiring authentication of the participants, based on the accuracy and uniqueness of the biometric, which allows the electronic transaction to be insured to provide global standards for all electronic commerce. The BCA management system includes a transaction request parser which extracts a biometric certificate signal and transaction-type data from a electronic transaction request. A biometric verification processor verifies the biometric certificate signal against previously stored biometric data in a database. The biometric verification processor generates a verification message corresponding to the authenticity or fraudulent status of the biometric certificate signal. A transaction type classifier receives the electronic transaction request, and generates a classification message according to the transaction-type data. A certifying authority processor generates an access-or-denial message to indicate the status of the electronic transaction, and to report the classification of the transaction request.

Claims

1. A biometric certifying authority (BCA) management system comprising:

a transaction request parser for receiving a request to authenticate an electronic transaction having transaction-type data and a biometric certificate signal, the request parser operating to extract the biometric certificate signal and the transaction-type data from the request;

a biometric verification processor which receives the biometric certificate signal, determines an authenticity of the biometric certificate signal based on previously stored biometric data in a database, and based on the determination, generates a verification comprising one of an authentic status and a fraudulent status of the biometric certificate signal;

a transaction type classifier for receiving the transaction type data and for determining a security level associated with the electronic transaction based on at least one of the transaction-type data and a predetermined hierarchy of electronic transactions; and

a certifying authority processor for generating an access-or-denial message based on at least one of the verification and the security level.

2. The BCA management system of claim 1 wherein the certifying authority processor generates a confidence level value based on at least the predetermined hierarchy of electronic transactions.

3. The BCA management system of claim 1 wherein the predetermined hierarchy is a list of rankings of BCAs according to predetermined security and authentication levels.

4. The BCA management system of claim 1 further comprising:

a billing rate database for storing billing rates corresponding to transaction classifications; and

wherein the certifying authority processor, responsive to the classification of the transaction request, retrieves a corresponding billing rate from the billing rate database and generates a bill for payment in performing the transaction authentication associated with the generation of the access-or-denial message.

5. The BCA management system of claim 4 wherein the billing rate database stores billing rates which increase for corresponding transaction classifications having greater associated security and authentication levels.

6. The BCA management system of claim 4 wherein the bill is a charge for insurance to insure an authentication of the electronic transaction.

7. A biometric certifying authority (BCA) management system for authenticating an electronic transaction request, including a biometric certificate signal and transaction-type data, comprising:

a biometric verification processor which receives a biometric certificate signal, verifies the biometric signal based on biometric data in a database, and generates a verification comprising one of an authentic status and a fraudulent status of the biometric certificate signal;

a transaction type classifier which receives the request and generates a security level associated with the electronic transaction based on at least one of the transaction-type data and a predetermined hierarchy of electronic transactions;

a billing rate database which stores a plurality of billing rates corresponding to a plurality of security levels; and

a certifying authority processor for generating an access-or-denial message based on at least the verification, the certifying authority processor further operative to retrieve a corresponding billing rate from the billing rate database, and to generate a bill in accordance with the billing rate for the access-or-denial message.

8. The BCA management system of claim 7 wherein the bill is a charge for insurance to insure an authentication of the electronic transaction.

9. The BCA management system of claim 7 wherein the certifying authority processor generates the bill according to the predetermined hierarchy of electronic transactions.

10. The BCA management system of claim 9 wherein the billing rate database stores billing rates which increase for corresponding transaction classifications having greater associated security and authentication levels.

11. The BCA management system of claim 7 wherein the predetermined hierarchy is a list of rankings of BCAs according to predetermined security and authentication levels.

12. The BCA management system of claim 11 wherein the predetermined hierarchy includes rankings of BCAs from a group including at least one of:

root BCAs, electronic fund transfer BCAs, insurance BCAs, business purchase BCAs, and physical security BCAs.

13. A method for authenticating a request for an electronic transaction, comprising the steps of:

receiving a biometric certificate signal and transaction-type data associated with a request for authenticating an electronic transaction;

comparing the biometric certificate signal to predetermined biometric data;

generating a verification comprising one of an authentic and a fraudulent status of the biometric certificate signal, based on the comparing step;

classifying the request according to the transaction-type data;

generating, in response to the verification, an access-or-denial message to indicate one of the authentic and the fraudulent status of the electronic transaction;

retrieving a billing rate from a billing rate database according to the classification of the request, wherein the billing rate database stores a plurality of billing rates corresponding to plurality of transaction types; and

generating a bill, in accordance with the billing rate, for performing the request.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the step of verifying includes the steps of:

retrieving first biometric data from a biometric database;

retrieving second biometric data from the biometric certificate signal; and

comparing the first and second biometric data.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein the step of generating the bill includes the step of:

generating a confidence level value of the access-or-denial message according to a predetermined hierarchy of electronic transactions.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the predetermined hierarchy is a list of rankings of biometric certifying authorities (BCAs) according to predetermined security and authentication levels.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the predetermined hierarchy includes rankings of BCAs from a group including at least one of:

root BCAs, electronic fund transfer BCAs, insurance BCAs, business purchase BCAs, and physical security BCAs.

18. The method of claim 13, further comprising the steps of:

receiving the request incorporating the transaction-type data and the biometric certificate signal; and

parsing the electronic transaction request to extract the biometric certificate signal and the transaction-type data therefrom.

19. The method of claim 13 wherein the step of storing includes the step of storing billing rates in the billing rate database, with the billing rates increasing for corresponding transaction classifications having greater associated security and authentication levels.

20. The method of claim 13 further comprising the step of:

transmitting the bill to a transaction requester which submitted the request as a charge for insurance to insure an authentication of the electronic transaction.