Method for virtually connecting two persons, corresponding media and system

• US 10,756,927 B2
• Filed: 09/27/2013
• Issued: 08/25/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Thales DIS France SA (Thales SA)
• Original Assignee: Thales DIS France SA (Thales SA)
• Inventors: Gemeto, Marc, Fine, Jean-Yves
• Primary Examiner(s): Hsieh, Ping Y
• Application Number:
  US14/429,795
• Publication Number:
  US 20150249902A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,524 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4641 Virtual LANs, VLANs, e.g. virtual private networks [VPN] LAN interconnection over a bridge based backbone H04L12/462; encapsulation techniques H04L12/4633; routing of packets H04L45/00; packet switches H04L49/00; virtual private networks for security H04L63/0272
• 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 63/107 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: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/084 using delegated authorisation, e.g. open authorisation [OAuth] protocol
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup

Abstract

The invention specifically relates to a method for virtually connecting two persons, with the first person having a first NFC device and the second person having a second NEC device. One of the NFC devices is a telecommunications terminal comprising an application, and both NFC devices comprise the identity of the person to which they belong. According to the invention, the method includes transmitting the identity of the first person from the first NFC device to the second NFC device; transmitting the identity of the second person from the second NFC device to the first NFC device; generating a secret shared by the persons using the application, with the shared secret giving access to an Internet space shared by the persons; and storing the shared secret in the NFC devices, with a reference relating to the virtual connection thereof.

Claims

1. A method for virtually connecting two persons, with the first one of said persons having a first NFC device and the second one of said persons having a second NFC device, with one of said NFC devices being a telecommunications terminal comprising an application, with each said NFC device comprising the identity of the person to which it belongs, comprising:

transmitting the identity of said first person from said first NFC device to said second NFC device;

transmitting the identity of said second person from said second NFC device to said first NFC device;

generating, using said application, a secret shared by said persons based on at least one of phone numbers of said persons, geographic locations of said persons, or time of transmitting the identities of said persons, with said shared secret providing access to an online storage space shared by said persons; and

storing said shared secret in said NFC devices, with a reference relating to said virtual connection.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein said reference relating to said virtual connection is the date on which said persons exchanged identities.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein said reference relating to said virtual connection is the place where said persons exchanged identities.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein said telecommunications terminal is a mobile terminal.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein said shared secret is an identifier associated with a password.

6. A telecommunications terminal having stored thereon an application configured to establish a virtual connection of two persons, with said telecommunications terminal comprising the identity of a first one of said persons, wherein said application is configured to read the identity of the second one of said persons, with said identity of said second one of said persons being stored in a NFC device, and wherein said application is configured to cause the telecommunications terminal to perform the following operations:

transmitting the identity of said one of said persons from said telecommunications terminal to said NFC device;

participating in the generation of a secret shared by said persons based on at least one of phone numbers of said persons, geographic locations of said persons, or time of transmitting the identities of said persons, with said secret providing access to an Internet space shared by said persons; and

storing said shared secret in said telecommunications terminal and in said NFC device, with a reference relating to said virtual connection.

7. A terminal according to claim 6, wherein said reference relating to said virtual connection is the date on which said persons exchanged identities.

8. A terminal according to claim 6, wherein said reference relating to said virtual connection is the place where said persons exchanged identities.

9. A terminal according to claim 6, wherein said shared secret is an identifier associated with a password.

10. A non-transitory computer readable media having stored thereon software comprising instructions for enabling a virtual connection of two persons each having a NFC device, with one of said NFC devices being a telecommunications terminal comprising the identity of a first one of said persons, with the other NFC device comprising the identity of the second one of said persons, with said software being configured to be installed in said telecommunications terminal and able to read the identity of the second one of said persons, wherein said instructions cause the telecommunications terminal to:

transmit the identity of said first one of said persons from said telecommunications terminal to said NFC device;

participate in the generation of a secret shared by said persons based on at lest one of phone numbers of said persons, geographic locations of said persons, or time of transmitting the identities of said persons, with said secret giving providing access to an online storage space shared by said persons; and

store said shared secret in said telecommunications terminal and in said NFC device, with a reference relating to said virtual connection.