Method and system for accessing a secure area

• US 8,051,476 B2
• Filed: 08/22/2006
• Issued: 11/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/22/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: McArdle, James Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Orgad; Edan
• Assistant Examiner(s): OLION, BRIAN L
• Application Number:
  US11/466,218
• Publication Number:
  US 20080052522A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,897 Days
• Field of Search: 713182-186, 726/17
• US Class Current: 726/17
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3234 involving additional secure or trusted devices, e.g. TPM, smartcard, USB or software token network architectures or network communication protocols for supporting authentication of entities using an additional device in a packet data network H04L63/0853

Abstract

A system for accessing a secure area. In response to reading a plurality of security device orientations, the plurality of security device orientations are recorded. The plurality of recorded security device orientations are compared with stored security device orientation data. In response to determining that a match occurs between the plurality of recorded security device orientations and the stored security device orientation data, access is granted to the secure area.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for accessing a secure area, the computer implemented method comprising:

inputting by a user of a security device a specific sequence of a plurality of different positions of the security device used to access a secure area to form stored security device orientation data, wherein the user utilizes the security device to access a plurality of different secure areas and utilizes a different specific sequence of security device positions to access each of the plurality of different secure areas;

presenting by the user the security device that includes security device information including an identification number and biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device and a unique design including eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in a circular configuration on the security device in front of a digital scanner for scanning by the digital scanner the security device information and all of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device to access a secure area;

performing by the user the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner so that an orientation of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in front of the digital scanner changes with each position in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions;

scanning by the digital scanner the security device information and the orientation of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in each position of the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner;

recording the security device information to form recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device;

recording the orientation of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in each position of the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner to form a plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner;

determining whether a new orientation of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device is presented to the digital scanner within a predetermined period of time;

responsive to determining that a new orientation of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device is not presented within the predetermined period of time, comparing the recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device with stored security device information data and comparing the plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner with the stored security device orientation data;

determining whether the recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device is associated with the plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner;

responsive to determining that a match occurs between the recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device and stored security device information data and between the plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner and the stored security device orientation data and to determining that the recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device is associated with the plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner, granting access to the secure area;

responsive to determining that a match does not occur between the recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device and stored security device information data or between the plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner and the stored security device orientation data or to determining that the recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device is not associated with the plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner, denying access to the secure area; and

responsive to determining that access has been denied to the secure area a predetermined number of times, sending a security alert to a system administrator.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner are orientations of the security device in relation to the digital scanner.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the security device is one of a security badge or security card.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein each forty-five degree increment is a different security device orientation in relation to the digital scanner to comprise the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner to access the secure area.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to determining that a new orientation of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device is presented within the predetermined period of time, scanning by the digital scanner the new orientation of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device and recording the new orientation of the unique design.

4. A data processing system for accessing a secure area, comprising:

a bus system;

a storage device connected to the bus system, wherein the storage device includes a set of instructions; and

a processing unit connected to the bus system, wherein the processing unit executes the set of instructions to input by a user of a security device a specific sequence of a plurality of different positions of the security device used to access a secure area to form stored security device orientation data, wherein the user utilizes the security device to access a plurality of different secure areas and utilizes a different specific sequence of security device positions to access each of the plurality of different secure areas;

present by the user the security device that includes security device information including an identification number and biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device and a unique design including eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in a circular configuration on the security device in front of a digital scanner for scanning by the digital scanner the security device information and all of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device to access a secure area;

perform by the user the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner so that an orientation of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in front of the digital scanner changes with each position in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions;

scan by the digital scanner the security device information and the orientation of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in each position of the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner;

record the security device information to form recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device;

record the orientation of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in each position of the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner to form a plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner;

determine whether a new orientation of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device is presented to the digital scanner within a predetermined period of time;

compare the recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device with stored security device information data and compare the plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner with the stored security device orientation data in response to determining that a new orientation of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device is not presented within the predetermined period of time;

determine whether the recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device is associated with the plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner;

grant access to the secure area in response to determining that a match occurs between the recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device and stored security device information data and between the plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner and the stored security device orientation data and to determining that the recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device is associated with the plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner;

deny access to the secure area in response to determining that a match does not occur between the recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device and stored security device information data or between the plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner and the stored security device orientation data or to determining that the recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device is not associated with the plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner; and

send a security alert to a system administrator in response to determining that access has been denied to the secure area a predetermined number of times.

5. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage device having computer usable program code embodied therein that is executable by a computer for accessing a secure area, the computer program product comprising:

computer usable program code for inputting by a user of a security device a specific sequence of a plurality of different positions of the security device used to access a secure area to form stored security device orientation data, wherein the user utilizes the security device to access a plurality of different secure areas and utilizes a different specific sequence of security device positions to access each of the plurality of different secure areas;

computer usable program code for presenting by the user the security device that includes security device information including an identification number and biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device and a unique design including eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in a circular configuration on the security device in front of a digital scanner for scanning by the digital scanner the security device information and all of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device to access a secure area;

computer usable program code for performing by the user the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner so that an orientation of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in front of the digital scanner changes with each position in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions;

computer usable program code for scanning by the digital scanner the security device information and the orientation of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in each position of the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner;

computer usable program code for recording the security device information to form recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device;

computer usable program code for recording the orientation of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in each position of the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner to form a plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner;

computer usable program code for determining whether a new orientation of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device is presented to the digital scanner within a predetermined period of time;

computer usable program code for comparing the recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device with stored security device information data and comparing the plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner with the stored security device orientation data in response to determining that a new orientation of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device is not presented within the predetermined period of time;

computer usable program code for determining whether the recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device is associated with the plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner;

computer usable program code for granting access to the secure area in response to determining that a match occurs between the recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device and stored security device information data and between the plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner and the stored security device orientation data and to determining that the recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device is associated with the plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner;

computer usable program code for denying access to the secure area in response to determining that a match does not occur between the recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device and stored security device information data or between the plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner and the stored security device orientation data or to determining that the recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device is not associated with the plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner; and

computer usable program code for sending a security alert to a system administrator in response to determining that access has been denied to the secure area a predetermined number of times.

6. The computer program product of claim 5, wherein the plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner are orientations of the security device in relation to the digital scanner.

9. An apparatus for accessing a secure area, the apparatus comprising:

means for inputting by a user of a security device a specific sequence of a plurality of different positions of the security device used to access a secure area to form stored security device orientation data, wherein the user utilizes the security device to access a plurality of different secure areas and utilizes a different specific sequence of security device positions to access each of the plurality of different secure areas;

means for presenting by the user the security device that includes security device information including an identification number and biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device and a unique design including eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in a circular configuration on the security device in front of a digital scanner for scanning by the digital scanner the security device information and all of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device to access a secure area;

means for performing by the user the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner so that an orientation of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in front of the digital scanner changes with each position in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions;

means for scanning by the digital scanner the security device information and the orientation of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in each position of the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner;

means for recording the security device information to form recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device;

means for recording the orientation of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in each position of the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner to form a plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner;

means for determining whether a new orientation of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device is presented to the digital scanner within a predetermined period of time;

means for comparing the recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device with stored security device information data and comparing the plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner with the stored security device orientation data in response to determining that a new orientation of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device is not presented within the predetermined period of time;

means for determining whether the recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device is associated with the plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner;

means for granting access to the secure area in response to determining that a match occurs between the recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device and stored security device information data and between the plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner and the stored security device orientation data and to determining that the recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device is associated with the plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner;

means for denying access to the secure area in response to determining that a match does not occur between the recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device and stored security device information data or between the plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner and the stored security device orientation data or to determining that the recorded security device information that includes the identification number and the biometric fingerprint information that identifies the user of the security device is not associated with the plurality of recorded orientations of the unique design including the eight different series of rectangular shapes placed at forty-five degree increments in the circular configuration on the security device in the specific sequence of the plurality of different positions of the security device in front of the digital scanner; and

means for sending a security alert to a system administrator in response to determining that access has been denied to the secure area a predetermined number of times.