Authenticating users based upon an identity footprint

• US 8,863,307 B2
• Filed: 06/29/2012
• Issued: 10/14/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Sorek, Noam
• Primary Examiner(s): Mehedi, Morshed
• Assistant Examiner(s): LYNCH, SHARON S
• Application Number:
  US13/537,672
• Publication Number:
  US 20130326600A1
• Time in Patent Office: 837 Days
• US Class Current: 726/28
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4016 involving fraud or risk level assessment in transaction processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0492 by using a location-limited connection, e.g. near-field communication or limited proximity of entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0815 providing single-sign-on or federations
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/107 wherein the security policies are location-dependent, e.g. entities privileges depend on current location or allowing specific operations only from locally connected terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3297 involving time stamps, e.g. generation of time stamps
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/12 Detection or prevention of fraud
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/126 Anti-theft arrangements, e.g. protection against subscriber identity module [SIM] cloning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/68 Gesture-dependent or behaviour-dependent
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences

Abstract

Disclosed are various embodiments of generating a user signature associated with a user and authenticating a user. At least one behavior associated with at least one sensor in a computing device is identified. A timestamp is generated and associated with the behavior. A user signature corresponding to a user based at least in part upon the behavior and the timestamp is generated and stored.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

at least one sensor configured to determine at least one of a position or movement of the system; and

circuitry in communication with the at least one sensor, the circuitry being configured to;

identify, using the at least one sensor, at least one behavior associated with use of the system over a first period of time;

generate at least one timestamp associated with the at least one behavior and the first period of time;

generate a user signature corresponding to the use of the system over the first period of time based at least in part upon the at least one behavior and the at least one timestamp,

obtain a request to authenticate a user of the system from a system requesting authentication, wherein the request to authenticate the user indicates one of a higher level of authentication or a lower level of authentication,

in response to the request, determine whether use of the system over a second period of time other than the first period of time corresponds to the user signature and identify a deviation between the use of the computing device over the second period of time and the use of the computing device over the first period of time;

when the request to authenticate the user indicates the higher level of authentication, comparing the deviation against a lower level of deviation permitted for authentication of the user;

and when the request to authenticate the user indicates the lower level of authentication, comparing the deviation against a higher level of deviation permitted for authentication of the user; and

authenticating the user when the use of the computing device over the second period of time corresponds to the use of the computing device over the first period of time in accordance with the user signature.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the at least one sensor comprises an accelerometer, and the circuitry is further configured to;

identify an acceleration of the system using data from the accelerometer; and

associate the acceleration with the at least one timestamp in the user signature.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the at least one sensor comprises a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) chipset, and the circuitry is further configured to;

identify a location of the system using data from the GNSS chipset; and

associate the location with the at least one timestamp in the user signature.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the at least one sensor comprises an accelerometer and a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) chipset, and the circuitry is further configured to;

identify a velocity of the system using data from at least one of the accelerometer or the GNSS chipset; and

associate the velocity with the at least one timestamp in the user signature.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to:

identify at least one network to which a wireless network interface of the system is within communication range; and

associate the at least one network with the timestamp in the user signature.

6. A method, comprising:

identifying, with at least one circuit, at least one behavior associated with use of a computing device over a first period of time using data from at least one sensor;

generating, with the at least one circuit, at least one timestamp associated with the at least one behavior and the first period of time;

generating, with the at least one circuit, a user signature corresponding to the use of the computing device over the first period of time based at least in part upon the at least one behavior and the at least one timestamp,

obtaining a request to authenticate a user of the computing device from a system requesting authentication, wherein the request to authenticate the user indicates one of a higher level of authentication or a lower level of authentication;

in response to the request, determining whether use of the computing device over a second period of time other than the first period of time corresponds to the user signature and identifying a deviation between the use of the computing device over the second period of time and the use of the computing device over the first period of time;

when the request to authenticate the user indicates the higher level of authentication, comparing the deviation against a lower level of deviation permitted for authentication of the user;

and when the request to authenticate the user indicates the lower level of authentication, comparing the deviation against a higher level of deviation permitted for authentication of the user; and

authenticating the user when the use of the computing device over the second period of time corresponds to the use of the computing device over the first period of time in accordance with the user signature.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein:

the at least one sensor comprises an accelerometer, and identifying the at least one behavior further comprises;

identifying an acceleration of the computing device using data from the accelerometer; and

associating the acceleration with the at least one timestamp in the user signature.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein:

the at least one sensor comprises a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) chipset, and identifying the at least one behavior further comprises;

identifying a location of the computing device using data from the GNSS chipset; and

associating the location with the at least one timestamp in the user signature.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein:

the at least one sensor further comprises an accelerometer and a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) chipset, and identifying the at least one behavior further comprises;

identifying a velocity of the computing device using data from at least one of the accelerometer or the GNSS chipset; and

associating the velocity with the at least one timestamp in the user signature.

10. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

identifying at least one network to which a wireless network interface of the computing device is within communication range; and

associating the at least one network with the at least one timestamp in the user signature.

11. The method of claim 6, wherein the request to authenticate the user indicates a level of authentication, and the method further comprises:

in response to the request, identifying a deviation between the use of the computing device over the second period of time and the use of the computing device over the first period of time; and

comparing the deviation against a level of deviation permitted for authentication of the user according to the level of authentication.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying a software program thereon, the software program, when executed by a computing device, directing the computing device to perform a method, comprising:

identifying, with the computing device, a behavior associated with use of the computing device over a first period of time using data from at least one sensor;

generating, with the computing device, at least one timestamp associated with the behavior and the first period of time;

generating, with the computing device, a user signature corresponding to the use of the computing device over the first period of time based at least in part upon the behavior and the at least one timestamp;

obtaining a request to authenticate a user of the computing device from a system requesting authentication, wherein the request to authenticate the user indicates one of a higher level of authentication or a lower level of authentication;

in response to the request, determining whether use of the computing device over a second period of time other than the first period of time corresponds to the user signature and identifying a deviation between the use of the computing device over the second period of time and the use of the computing device over the first period of time; and

when the request to authenticate the user indicates the higher level of authentication, comparing the deviation against a lower level of deviation permitted for authentication of the user;

and when the request to authenticate the user indicates the lower level of authentication, comparing the deviation against a higher level of deviation permitted for authentication of the user; and

authenticating the user when the use of the computing device over the second period of time corresponds to the use of the computing device over the first period of time in accordance with the user signature.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein:

the at least one sensor comprises an accelerometer, and identifying the behavior further comprises;

identifying an acceleration of the computing device using data from the accelerometer; and

associating the acceleration with the use of the computing device over the first period of time in the user signature.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein:

the at least one sensor comprises a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) chipset, and identifying the behavior further comprises;

identifying a location of the computing device using data from the GNSS chipset; and

associating the location with the use of the computing device over the first period of time in the user signature.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the request to authenticate the user indicates a level of authentication, and the method further comprises:

in response to the request, identifying a deviation between the use of the computing device over the second period of time and the use of the computing device over the first period of time; and

comparing the deviation against a level of deviation permitted for authentication of the user according to the level of authentication.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the behavior associated with use of the computing device over the first period of time comprises at least one of an angular orientation of the computing device at a time during the first period of time, an acceleration of the system at a time during the first period of time, network access of the computing device during the first period of time, or user input patterns during the first period of time.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, further comprising failing to authenticate the user when the use of the computing device over the second period of time does not correspond to the use of the computing device over the first period of time in accordance with the user signature.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, further comprising failing to authenticate the user when the use of the computing device over the second period of time indicates a pattern of use and the use of the computing device over the first period of time, in accordance with the user signature, does not indicate a pattern of use.