Protection from telephone phishing
First Claim
1. A computer implemented method for protecting mobile users from telephone phishing, the method comprising the steps of:
- detecting, by a mobile phone, an attempt to communicate telephonically;
identifying, by the mobile phone, a phone number associated with the detected attempt to communicate telephonically;
transmitting, by the mobile phone, the identified phone number to a remote computing device in order to glean security information concerning whether the identified telephone number is from a list of unallowable numbers that is automatically gathered from a plurality of independent data sources;
receiving, by the mobile phone, automatically gathered security information concerning whether the identified telephone number is from the list of unallowable phone numbers from the remote computing device; and
responsive to the received automatically gathered security information from the remote computing device, processing, by the mobile phone, the detected attempt to communicate telephonically.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Attempts to communicate telephonically by a mobile phone are detected. When an attempt is detected, an associated phone number is identified and transmitted to a server in order to glean corresponding security information. On the server, a database is maintained containing 1) phone numbers known to present potential security concerns and 2) descriptive security information concerning each of these phone numbers. The server receives phone numbers from mobile phones to check for security information, searches the database for received phone numbers, and transmits corresponding security information to the originating mobile phones. Security information concerning identified telephone numbers is received from the server by mobile phones. Responsive to the contents of the received security information, detected attempts to communicate telephonically are allowed to processed, blocked or otherwise processed.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A computer implemented method for protecting mobile users from telephone phishing, the method comprising the steps of:
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detecting, by a mobile phone, an attempt to communicate telephonically; identifying, by the mobile phone, a phone number associated with the detected attempt to communicate telephonically; transmitting, by the mobile phone, the identified phone number to a remote computing device in order to glean security information concerning whether the identified telephone number is from a list of unallowable numbers that is automatically gathered from a plurality of independent data sources; receiving, by the mobile phone, automatically gathered security information concerning whether the identified telephone number is from the list of unallowable phone numbers from the remote computing device; and responsive to the received automatically gathered security information from the remote computing device, processing, by the mobile phone, the detected attempt to communicate telephonically. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. At least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing a computer program product for protecting mobile users from telephone phishing, the computer program product comprising:
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program code for detecting, by a mobile phone, an attempt to communicate telephonically; program code for identifying, by the mobile phone, a phone number associated with the detected attempt to communicate telephonically; program code for transmitting, by the mobile phone, the identified phone number to a remote computing device in order to glean security information concerning whether the identified telephone number is from a list of unallowable numbers that is automatically gathered from a plurality of independent data sources; program code for receiving, by the mobile phone, automatically gathered security information concerning whether the identified telephone number is from the list of unallowable phone numbers from the remote computing device; and program code for, responsive to the received automatically gathered security information from the remote computing device, processing, by the mobile phone, the detected attempt to communicate telephonically. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A computer system for protecting mobile users from telephone phishing, the computer system comprising:
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at least one processor; system memory; a detecting module to detect an attempt to communicate telephonically; a number identifying module to identify a phone number associated with the detected attempt to communicate telephonically; a transmitting module to transmit the identified phone number to a remote computing device in order to glean security information concerning whether the identified telephone number is from a list of unallowable numbers that is automatically gathered from a plurality of independent data sources; a receiving module to receive automatically gathered security information concerning whether the identified telephone number is from a list of unallowable numbers that is automatically gathered from the remote computing device; and responsive to the received automatically gathered security information from the remote computing device, a blocking module to process, the detected attempt to communicate telephonically.
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Specification