Authentication method and system

• US 9,424,567 B2
• Filed: 04/23/2013
• Issued: 08/23/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/21/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Smartcom Labs OY
• Original Assignee: Bookit Oy Ajanvarauspalvelu
• Inventors: Salonen, Jukka
• Primary Examiner(s): Chen, George
• Application Number:
  US13/868,241
• Publication Number:
  US 20130238506A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,218 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/322 Aspects of commerce using mobile devices [M-devices]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4014 Identity check for transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/207 with respect to certain areas, e.g. forbidden or allowed areas with possible alerting when inside or outside boundaries
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/062 Pre-authentication

Abstract

A method and system capable of authenticating transactions involving at least one service provider and one or more users who are each in electronic communication. This electronic communication can be, for example, SMS, MMS, e-mail or online account messaging. Certain embodiments provide for the transaction to be an authentication and/or verification of an entity. Examples of such entities are products, actions and users.

Claims

1. A mediator authorizing a transaction involving a user having a mobile device, the mediator comprising:

a processor that accesses the mobile device'"'"'s address in response to a request by an entity to authorize a transaction involving the user, causes a communication to be sent to the mobile device address from a first reply address, and determines if a communication response to the first reply address authorizes the transaction,

wherein the processor sends a further communication to the entity indicating if the transaction is authorized; and

wherein determination if the communication response to the first reply address authorizes the transaction includes verifying correspondence of both the mobile device'"'"'s address and the first reply address of the communication response with the mobile device'"'"'s address and the first reply address of the sent communication.

2. The mediator of claim 1, wherein the mediator is coupled to telecommunications networks and wherein the request for transaction authorization is received from the entity and the communication response is received from the user'"'"'s mobile device via at least one of the one or more telecommunications networks.

3. The mediator of claim 1, wherein the communication is an SMS message.

4. The mediator of claim 1, wherein the communication response is a SMS message.

5. The mediator of claim 1, wherein the communication response is an email message.

6. The mediator of claim 1, wherein the communication response is a text message.

7. A method of authorizing a transaction via a mediator, the method comprising:

receiving a request at the mediator to authorize a transaction involving a user having a mobile device;

retrieving an address of the user'"'"'s mobile device from a database accessible by the mediator;

generating a communication to be sent to the user'"'"'s mobile device address based on received authorization request;

causing the generated communication to be sent from a reply address to the retrieved mobile device address, wherein the reply address is selected from a plurality of available reply addresses prior to sending the generated message;

determining whether a reply communication received at the reply address from the mobile device address authorizes the transaction, wherein determination if the reply communication received at the reply address authorizes the transaction includes verifying correspondence of both the mobile device'"'"'s address and the reply address of the reply communication with the mobile device'"'"'s address and the reply address of the sent communication; and

sending a response communication to the authorization request in response to a determination that the transaction is authorized.

8. The mediator of claim 7, wherein the mediator is coupled to telecommunications networks and wherein the request for transaction authorization and the reply communication is received from the user'"'"'s mobile device via at least one of the one or more telecommunications networks.

9. The mediator of claim 7, wherein the communication is an SMS message.

10. The mediator of claim 7, wherein the reply communication is a SMS message.

11. The mediator of claim 7, wherein the reply communication is an email message.

12. The mediator of claim 7, wherein the reply communication is a text message.