Systems and methods to secure user identification

• US 9,490,985 B2
• Filed: 08/14/2014
• Issued: 11/08/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/21/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Visa International Service Association (Visa, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Visa International Service Association (Visa, Inc.)
• Inventors: Carlson, Mark, Bankston, Michael Steven, Jogi, Kalpana, Gallagher, Timothy, Panagiotides, Alesia
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim, Jung
• Assistant Examiner(s): Alata, Ayoub
• Application Number:
  US14/459,749
• Publication Number:
  US 20140359298A1
• Time in Patent Office: 817 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/325 using wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3825 Use of electronic signatures
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/387 Payment using discounts or coupons relating to marketing G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/389 Keeping log of transactions for guaranteeing non-repudiation of a transaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4014 Identity check for transactions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/56 Financial cryptography, e.g. electronic payment or e-cash
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0807 using tickets, e.g. Kerberos cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using tickets or tokens H04L9/3213
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0823 using certificates cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/12 Applying verification of the received information cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for data integrity or data verification H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/123 received data contents, e.g. message integrity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3215 using a plurality of channels network architectures or network communication protocols using different networks H04L63/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3242 involving keyed hash functions, e.g. message authentication codes [MACs], CBC-MAC or HMAC
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3247 involving digital signatures

Abstract

A computing apparatus configured to verify a digital signature applied on a set of data received from a user device, including a user ID assigned by a partner system to uniquely identify a user of the user device among customers of the partner system, and a user device identifier identifying the user device. The digital signature is generated via applying a cryptographic one-way hash function on a combination of the set of data and a secret, shared between the computing apparatus and the partner system via a secure communication channel separate from a channel used to receive the set of data.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

communicating, by a computing device, with a user device to receive information about a user of the user device;

forming, by the computing device, a dataset including

the information about the user received from the user device, and

a first identifier of the user used by the computing device to identify the user from a plurality of users of the computing device;

generating, by the computing device, a digital signature on the dataset;

generating, by the computing device, a second identifier of the user using the digital signature, wherein the second identifier is not part of the dataset; and

providing, by the computing device, an instruction to the user device to redirect the user to a server separate from the computing device, the instruction configured to instruct the user device to use the second identifier to identify the user in submitting the information about the user to the server;

wherein the server is configured to validate the information about the user submitted from the user device with the second identifier via

extracting the first identifier and the digital signature from the second identifier;

combining the first identifier extracted from the second identifier with the information about the user submitted from the user device to the server to form a reconstructed dataset;

validating the reconstructed dataset against the digital signature extracted from the second identifier.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the generating of the second identifier of the user includes combining the first user identifier and the digital signature to allow the first user identifier and the digital signature to be extracted from the second identifier.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

assigning, by the computing device, the first identifier to uniquely identify the user among the plurality of users of the computing device.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the dataset includes a secret shared between the computing device and the server separate from the computing device.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the secret is not communicated between the computing device and the server through the user device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the digital signature comprises a hash of the dataset.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the generating of the second identifier of the user includes generating the second identifier of the user using a secret not communicated through the user device, the secret shared between the computing device and the server.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the dataset further includes:

a secret shared between the computing device and the server.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the secret represents the computing device in the digital signature provided in the identifier of the user.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the validating the reconstructed data set against the digital signature extracted from the second identifier of the user includes:

generating a reconstructed digital signature on the reconstructed dataset; and

determining whether the reconstructed digital signature agrees with the digital signature extracted from the second identifier of the user received in the server.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital signature is generated via applying a cryptographic one-way hash function on the dataset.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the cryptographic one-way hash function is based on SHA-256 designed by the National Security Agency (NSA) and published in 2001 by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as a U.S. Federal Information Processing Standard.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the information about the user includes an identification of the user device extracted from a request received from the user device.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

authenticating, by the computing device, the user of the user device, wherein the information about the user is received in the computing device after the user of the user device is authenticated by the computing device.

14. A non-transitory computer storage medium storing instructions configured to instruct a computing device to at least:

authenticate, by the computing device, a user of a user device;

form, by the computing device, a dataset including

information about the user received from the user device, and

a first identifier of the user used by the computing device to identify the user from a plurality of users of the computing device;

generate, by the computing device, a digital signature on the dataset;

generate, by the computing device, a second identifier of the user using the digital signature, wherein the second identifier is not part of the dataset; and

provide, by the computing device, an instruction to the user device to redirect the user to a server separate from the computing device, the instruction configured to instruct the user device to use the second identifier to identify the user in submitting the information about the user to the server;

wherein the server is configured to validate the information about the user submitted from the user device with the second identifier via

extracting the first identifier and the digital signature from the second identifier;

combining the first identifier extracted from the second identifier with the information about the user submitted from the user device to the server to form a reconstructed dataset;

validating the reconstructed dataset against the digital signature extracted from the second identifier.

15. The computer storage medium of claim 14, wherein the instruction comprises a query string for the server, the query string including the second identifier of the user and the information about the user.

16. A computing device, comprising:

at least one microprocessor; and

a memory storing instructions configured to instruct the at least one microprocessor to;

authenticate, by the computing device, a user of a user device;

communicate, by the computing device, with the user device to receive information about the user after authentication of the user of the user device;

form, by the computing device, a dataset including

the information about the user received from the user device, and

a first identifier of the user used by the computing device to identify the user from a plurality of users of the computing device;

generate, by the computing device, a digital signature on the dataset;

generate, by the computing device, a second identifier of the user using the digital signature, wherein the second identifier is not part of the dataset; and

provide, by the computing device, an instruction to the user device to redirect the user to a server separate from the computing device, the instruction configured to instruct the user device to use the second identifier to identify the user in submitting the information about the user to the server;

wherein the server is configured to validate the information about the user submitted from the user device with the second identifier via

extracting the first identifier and the digital signature from the second identifier;

combining the first identifier extracted from the second identifier with the information about the user submitted from the user device to the server to form a reconstructed dataset;

validating the reconstructed dataset against the digital signature extracted from the second identifier.

17. The computing device of claim 16, wherein the dataset further includes:

a secret shared between the computing device and the server to represent the computing device.

18. The computing device of claim 17, wherein the digital signature is generated by applying a cryptographic one-way hash function on the dataset to obtain a hash value;

and the first user identifier and the hash value are extractable from the second identifier of the user.