Virtual universe account protection

• US 8,056,121 B2
• Filed: 10/26/2007
• Issued: 11/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Activision Publishing Incorporated (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hamilton, II, Rick A., Kozloski, James R., O'Connell, Brian M., Pickover, Clifford A., Walker, Keith R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chai, Longbit
• Application Number:
  US11/924,769
• Publication Number:
  US 20090113524A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,474 Days
• Field of Search: 726/4
• US Class Current: 726/4
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

A protection mechanism(s) for a virtual universe account maintains integrity of the virtual universe account as well as the virtual universe. An avatar associated with a virtual universe account may be misappropriated and/or used inappropriately by a non-comporting user against the wishes or without the knowledge of the virtual universe account owner. A non-comporting user (i.e., a user not authorized to use the virtual universe account, an authorized user who misuses a virtual universe account, etc.) can use an avatar to perform potentially damaging and/or damaging activities in the virtual universe (e.g., destroy property, impact reputation associated with the virtual universe account, reduce value of the virtual universe account, etc.) Embodiments of the inventive subject matter detect when a user misappropriates and/or misuses a virtual universe account (i.e., detects a non-comporting user), and attempts to restore state of the virtual universe prior to the misuse and/or misappropriation.

Claims

1. A method virtual universe account protection, the method comprising the steps of:

a computer collecting data representing one or more characteristics of a user controlling an avatar in a virtual universe, wherein the data representing the one or more characteristics comprises at least one of avatar navigation in the virtual universe, and object interaction data in the virtual universe;

the computer evaluating the collected data against a permitted user profile associated with a virtual universe account associated with the avatar;

the computer determining that the collected data represents one or more characteristics that do not comport with the permitted user profile based, at least in part, on said evaluating the collected data against the permitted user profile;

the computer recording one or more activities performed by the avatar that modify persistent state of the virtual universe at least with respect to the avatar, wherein the one or more activities comprise an activity in the virtual universe that impacts a reputation of a virtual universe account associated with the avatar, an activity that destroys property in the virtual universe, and an activity that reduces a value of the virtual universe account associated with the avatar; and

the computer rolling back the recorded one or more activities to restore the virtual universe to a state prior to the recorded one or more activities responsive to said determining that the collected data represents one or more characteristics that do not comport with the permitted user profile.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said recording the one or more activities performed by the avatar that modify persistent state of the virtual universe at least with respect to the avatar occurs coincident with the user logging on to the virtual universe account, occurs before said determining that the collected data represents one or more characteristics that do not comport with the permitted user profile, or occurs in response to said determining that the collected data represents one or more characteristics that do not comport with the permitted user profile.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more activities comprise moving one or more items from respective default locations, and wherein the computer rolling back the recorded one or more activities comprises returning the one or more items to the respective default locations.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said recording occurs continuously while the user controls the avatar and said rolling back occurs periodically while the user controls the avatar.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

the computer maintaining a confidence value for the collected data, wherein the confidence value represents confidence that the user controlling the avatar is using the avatar improperly,

wherein said determining that the collected data represents one or more characteristics that do not comport with the permitted user profile is based, at least in part on the confidence value, and

wherein said evaluating the collected data against the permitted user profile comprises at least one of,

evaluating an entered password against a list of one or more alternate passwords indicated in the user profile,

evaluating key stroke recognition data of the collected data with key stroke recognition data associated with the user profile,

evaluating avatar navigation data of the collected data with avatar navigation data associated with the user profile,

evaluating preferred communication method data of the collected data against preferred communication method data associated with the user profile,

evaluating region preference data of the collected data against region preference data associated with the user profile, and

evaluating age recognition data of the collected data against age recognition data associated with the user profile.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said rolling back occurs in response to the confidence value reaching a threshold.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said rolling back occurs in response to the user logging off the virtual universe account.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

the computer determining that said rolling back involves a second avatar in the virtual universe; and

the computer notifying the second avatar that those of the recorded activities that involve the second avatar will be rolled back.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the recorded one or more activities include an activity that affects a second virtual universe account, the method further comprising:

the computer recording an indication of the second virtual universe account; and

the computer transmitting a request to the second virtual universe account, the request requesting acquiescence to roll back the activity that affects the second virtual universe account or requesting an alternate resolution that addresses the activity that affects the second virtual universe account.

10. A method comprising:

a computer detecting activation of a limited use mode for a virtual universe account by evaluating collected data against a permitted user profile associated with said virtual universe account associated with an avatar, wherein the collected data represents one or more characteristics of a user controlling the avatar in a virtual universe, wherein the collected data comprises at least one of avatar navigation in the virtual universe, and object interaction data in the virtual universe;

while the limited use mode is activated, the computer monitoring activity requests for an avatar associated with the virtual universe account by recording one or more activities performed by the avatar that modify persistent state of the virtual universe at least with respect to the avatar, wherein the one or more activities comprise an activity in the virtual universe that impacts a reputation of a virtual universe account associated with the avatar, an activity that destroys property in the virtual universe, and an activity that reduces a value of the virtual universe account associated with the avatar;

the computer preventing performance of an activity that would stem from at least one of the monitored activity requests, wherein the activity is indicated as prohibited for the virtual universe account while the limited use mode is activated after determining that the collected data represents one or more characteristics that do not comport with the permitted user profile; and

the computer rolling back the recorded one or more activities to restore the virtual universe to a state prior to the recorded one or more activities responsive to said determining that the collected data represents one or more characteristics that do not comport with the permitted user profile.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

the computer recording data that represents permitted activities performed during the limited use mode; and

the computer rolling back the recorded activities after the limited use mode is deactivated for the virtual universe account.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

the computer creating a new virtual universe account based on the virtual universe account; and

the computer performing the recorded activities to set state for the new virtual universe account.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the recorded activities comprise activities that affect persistent state of a virtual universe, wherein the computer monitoring activity requests for the avatar associated with the virtual universe account while the limited use mode is activated comprises the computer monitoring the activity requests in accordance with a policy that indicates at least one of individual activities and types of activities prohibited while the limited use mode is activated.

14. A program product for virtual universe account protection, the computer program product comprising:

one or more computer-readable, tangible storage devices;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to collect data representing one or more characteristics of a user controlling an avatar in a virtual universe, wherein the data representing the one or more characteristics comprises at least one of avatar navigation in the virtual universe, and object interaction data in the virtual universe;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to evaluate the collected data against a permitted user profile associated with a virtual universe account associated with the avatar;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to determine whether the collected data represents one or more characteristics that do not comport with the permitted user profile based, at least in part, on evaluation of the collected data with the permitted user profile;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to record one or more activities by the avatar that modify persistent state of the virtual universe at least with respect to the avatar, wherein the one or more activities comprise an activity in the virtual universe that impacts a reputation of a virtual universe account associated with the avatar, an activity that destroys property in the virtual universe, and an activity that reduces a value of the virtual universe account associated with the avatar; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to roll back the recorded one or more activities to restore the virtual universe to a state prior to the recorded one or more activities responsive to a determination that the collected data represents one or more characteristics that do not comport with the permitted user profile.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, further comprising:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to maintain a confidence value for the collected data, wherein the confidence value represents confidence that the user controlling the avatar is using the avatar improperly,

wherein the program instructions to determine whether the collected data represents one or more characteristics that do not comport with the permitted user profile use the confidence value,

wherein the program instructions to evaluate the collected data with the permitted user profile comprises at least one of,

program instructions to evaluate an entered password against a list of alternate password indicated in the user profile,

program instructions to evaluate key stroke recognition data of the collected data with key stroke recognition data associated with the user profile,

program instructions to evaluate avatar navigation data of the collected data with avatar navigation data associated with the user profile,

program instructions to evaluate preferred communication data of the collected data with preferred communication data associated with the user profile,

program instructions to evaluate region preference data of the collected data with region preference data associated with the user profile, and

program instructions to evaluate age recognition data of the collected data with age recognition data associated with the user profile.

16. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein the one or more activities comprise moving one or more items from respective default locations, wherein the program instructions to roll back the recorded one or more activities comprises program instructions to return the one or more items to the respective default locations.

17. The computer program product of claim 14, further comprising:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to determine that rolling back involves a second avatar in the virtual universe; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to notify the second avatar that those of the recorded activities that involve the second avatar will be rolled back.

18. A computer system for virtual universe account protection, the computer system comprising:

one or more processors, one or more computer-readable memories and one or more computer-readable, tangible storage devices;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to collect data that represents one or more characteristics of a user controlling an avatar in a virtual universe, wherein the data that represents the one or more characteristics comprises at least one of avatar navigation in the virtual universe, and object interaction data in the virtual universe;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to determine if the one or more characteristics as represented by the collected data comports with a permitted user profile associated with the virtual universe account;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to determine activities of the user that modify persistent state of the virtual universe at least with respect to the avatar and to determine activities of the user that do not modify persistent state of the virtual universe at least with respect to the avatar, wherein the activities that modify the persistent state of the virtual universe comprise an activity in the virtual universe that impacts a reputation of a virtual universe account associated with the avatar, an activity that destroys property in the virtual universe, and an activity that reduces a value of the virtual universe account associated with the avatar;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to record the activities that modify the persistent state; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to roll back the recorded activities if the one or more characteristics as represented by the collected data is determined to not comport with the permitted user profile.

19. The computer system of claim 18 further comprising:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to create a policy that indicates one or more activities prohibited for the virtual universe account while a limited use mode is activated; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to apply the policy while the limited use mode is activated.