Method to detect man-in-the-middle (MITM) or relay attacks
First Claim
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1. A method for detecting a communication relay attack comprising the steps of:
- establishing a communication link between a wireless payment device and a data receiving device;
transmitting a clock signal from said data receiving device to said wireless payment device for synchronizing data communication between said wireless payment device and said data receiving device;
transmitting data from said wireless payment device to said data receiving device, said data having a first predefined element and a second predefined element;
counting a number of clock cycles occurring in said clock signal between transmission of said first predetermined element of said data and transmission of said second predefined element of said data with said wireless payment device;
counting a number of clock cycles occurring in said clock signal between receipt of said first predefined element of said data and receipt of said second predefined element of said data with said data receiving device;
comparing said number of clock cycles counted by said wireless payment device with said number of clock cycles counted by said data receiving device; and
determining that a communication relay attack has occurred if said number of clock cycles counted by said wireless payment device differs from said number of clock cycles counted by said data receiving device,wherein said first predefined element of said data includes an instruction for said data receiving device to start counting said clock cycles and said second predefined element of said data includes an instruction for said data receiving device to stop counting said clock cycles.
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Abstract
A method for detecting a communication relay attack involves the steps of counting a number of clock cycles occurring in a clock signal between transmission of two predetermined elements of data with a data transmission device, counting a number of clock cycles occurring in the clock signal between receipt of the two predefined elements of data and comparing the number of clock cycles counted by the data transmission device with the number of clock cycles counted by the data receiving device.
32 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method for detecting a communication relay attack comprising the steps of:
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establishing a communication link between a wireless payment device and a data receiving device; transmitting a clock signal from said data receiving device to said wireless payment device for synchronizing data communication between said wireless payment device and said data receiving device; transmitting data from said wireless payment device to said data receiving device, said data having a first predefined element and a second predefined element; counting a number of clock cycles occurring in said clock signal between transmission of said first predetermined element of said data and transmission of said second predefined element of said data with said wireless payment device; counting a number of clock cycles occurring in said clock signal between receipt of said first predefined element of said data and receipt of said second predefined element of said data with said data receiving device; comparing said number of clock cycles counted by said wireless payment device with said number of clock cycles counted by said data receiving device; and determining that a communication relay attack has occurred if said number of clock cycles counted by said wireless payment device differs from said number of clock cycles counted by said data receiving device, wherein said first predefined element of said data includes an instruction for said data receiving device to start counting said clock cycles and said second predefined element of said data includes an instruction for said data receiving device to stop counting said clock cycles. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A system for detecting a communication relay attack comprising:
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a wireless payment device for transmitting data having a first predefined element and a second predefined element, said wireless payment device including a clock counter for counting a number of clock cycles occurring in a clock signal between transmission of said first predefined element of said data and said second predefined element of said data; and a data receiving device for receiving said data from said wireless payment device and including a clock for transmitting a clock signal to said wireless payment device and a clock counter for counting a number of clock cycles occurring in said clock signal between receipt of said first predefined element of said data and receipt of said second predefined element of said data, wherein at least one of said wireless payment device and said data receiving device further includes a comparator for comparing a number of clock cycles counted by said wireless payment device with a number of clock cycles counted by said data receiving device, said comparator further determining that a communication relay attack has occurred if said number of clock cycles counted by said wireless payment device differs from said number of clock cycles counted by said data receiving device, and wherein said first predefined element of said data includes an instruction for said data receiving device to start counting said clock cycles and said second predefined element of said data includes an instruction for said data receiving device to stop counting said clock cycles. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification
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Current AssigneeMastercard International Incorporated (MasterCard Incorporated)
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Original AssigneeMastercard International Incorporated (MasterCard Incorporated)
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InventorsBlythe, Simon
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Primary Examiner(s)Cervetti, David Garcia
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Application NumberUS12/005,576Publication NumberTime in Patent Office1,510 DaysField of Search380/34, 380/28, 380/268, 713/168, 713/169, 713/170, 713/172, 713/502, 726 22- 25, 726/9, 726/20US Class Current713/169CPC Class CodesH04L 63/1466 Active attacks involving in...
