Identity theft countermeasures

• US 8,381,293 B2
• Filed: 05/20/2011
• Issued: 02/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: James A. Roskind
• Original Assignee: James A. Roskind
• Inventors: Emigh, Aaron T., Roskind, James A.
• Primary Examiner(s): ABYANEH, ALI S
• Application Number:
  US13/112,810
• Publication Number:
  US 20110225652A1
• Time in Patent Office: 641 Days
• Field of Search: 726/22, 726/26, 726/23, 726/27, 713/188
• US Class Current: 726/22
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/552 involving long-term monitoring or reporting
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/56 Computer malware detection or handling, e.g. anti-virus arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0823 using certificates cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1441 Countermeasures against malicious traffic countermeasures against attacks on cryptographic mechanisms H04L9/002
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1483 service impersonation, e.g. phishing, pharming or web spoofing detection of rogue wireless access points H04W12/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

In some embodiments, techniques for computer security comprise preventing and/or mitigating identity theft such as phishing.

Claims

1. A method for computer security, the method being performed by one or more processors and comprising:

accessing a plurality of records to determine documents that have been accessed on a computer system of a user;

determining, from accessing the plurality of records, that the computer system of the user has been compromised as a result of confidential information being communicated from the user'"'"'s computer system to an unauthorized user;

determining what data has been compromised by analyzing one or more records from the plurality of records, wherein the data is associated with an account of the user, the account including at least one of a name of the account, account numbers, a password, or credit card data;

determining a responsible institution that issued the account to the user based on the account associated with the data that has been compromised; and

in response to determining the responsible institution, transmitting a report of the data that has been compromised to the responsible institution.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the computer system of the user has been compromised includes determining that one or more records of the plurality of records is suspicious based on one or more predetermined conditions.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining that the computer system of the user has been compromised includes prompting the user for verification when one or more records of the plurality of records are determined to be suspicious.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the responsible institution includes (i) prompting the user to identify the responsible institution by providing a list of potential responsible institutions, and (ii) receiving a selection input provided by the user.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the report of the data that has been compromised to the responsible institution includes transmitting the report to a system that monitors fraud reports for the responsible institution over a network.

6. A system for providing computer security comprising:

one or more memory resources; and

one or more processors coupled to the one or more memory resources, the one or more processors configured to;

access a plurality of records to determine documents that have been accessed on a computer system of a user;

determine, from accessing the plurality of records, that the computer system of the user has been compromised as a result of confidential information being communicated from the user'"'"'s computer system to an unauthorized user;

determine what data has been compromised by analyzing one or more records from the plurality of records, wherein the data is associated with an account of the user, the account including at least one of a name of the account, account numbers, a password, or credit card data;

determine a responsible institution that issued the account to the user based on the account associated with the data that has been compromised; and

in response to determining the responsible institution, transmit a report of the data that has been compromised to the responsible institution.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the one or more processors determine that the computer system of the user has been compromised by determining that one or more records of the plurality of records is suspicious based on one or more predetermined conditions.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the one or more processors determine that the computer system of the user has been compromised by prompting the user for verification when one or more records of the plurality of records are determined to be suspicious.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein the one or more processors determine the responsible institution by (i) prompting the user to identify the responsible institution by providing a list of potential responsible institutions, and (ii) receiving a selection input provided by the user.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein the one or more processors transmit the report of the data that has been compromised to the responsible institution by transmitting the report to a system that monitors fraud reports for the responsible institution over a network.

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform steps comprising:

accessing a plurality of records to determine documents that have been accessed on a computer system of a user;

determining, from accessing the plurality of records, that the computer system of the user has been compromised as a result of confidential information being communicated from the user'"'"'s computer system to an unauthorized user;

determining what data has been compromised by analyzing one or more records from the plurality of records, wherein the data is associated with an account of the user, the account including at least one of a name of the account, account numbers, a password, or credit card data;

determining a responsible institution that issued the account to the user based on the account associated with the data that has been compromised; and

in response to determining the responsible institution, transmitting a report of the data that has been compromised to the responsible institution.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to determine that the computer system of the user has been compromised by determining that one or more records of the plurality of records is suspicious based on one or more predetermined conditions.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to determine that the computer system of the user has been compromised by prompting the user for verification when one or more records of the plurality of records are determined to be suspicious.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to determine the responsible institution by (i) prompting the user to identify the responsible institution by providing a list of potential responsible institutions, and (ii) receiving a selection input provided by the user.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to transmit the report of the data that has been compromised to the responsible institution by transmitting the report to a system that monitors fraud reports for the responsible institution over a network.