Account creation via a mobile device

• US 20050239447A1
• Filed: 05/20/2004
• Published: 10/27/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Perumal, Raja Pazhanivel, Khandelwal, Vikas, Agney, Michael Shayne, Holzman, Aron M.
• Granted Patent: US 7,606,918 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/414.300
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0876 based on the identity of the terminal or configuration, e.g. MAC address, hardware or software configuration or device fingerprint
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/068 using credential vaults, e.g. password manager applications or one time password [OTP] applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security

Abstract

Creating an account via a mobile device. A request to create an account is received from a user via a mobile device. The request is received from the mobile device according to a wireless communications protocol. In response to the received request, a confirmation message is delivered to the mobile device for rendering to the user as a challenge. A response to the rendered challenge is received from the user via the mobile device. It is determined if the received response to the rendered challenge corresponds to the delivered confirmation message. And the account is created for the user if the received response to the rendered challenge is determined to correspond to the delivered confirmation message. Other aspects of the invention are directed to computer-readable media for use with account creation via a mobile device.

Claims

1. A method of creating an account via a mobile device, said method comprising:

receiving, via a mobile device, a request from a user to create an account, said request being received from the mobile device according to a wireless communications protocol;

delivering, in response to the received request, a confirmation message to the mobile device for rendering to the user as a challenge;

receiving a response to the rendered challenge from the user via the mobile device;

determining if the received response to the rendered challenge corresponds to the delivered confirmation message; and

creating the account for the user if the received response to the rendered challenge is determined to correspond to the delivered confirmation message.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device is a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) device, and wherein the confirmation message comprises one or more of the following:

a Short Message Service (SMS) message and a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) push message.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the request comprises communicating with the mobile device according to a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP).

4. The method of claim 1, wherein delivering the confirmation message comprises delivering the confirmation message to the mobile device according to a wireless communications protocol.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the confirmation message comprises a six-digit numeric code.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising allowing the user access to an affiliate service in response to creating the account for the user, and wherein creating the account for the user comprises receiving user profile information from the user via the mobile device and creating the account for the user in response to the received user profile information.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a device identifier and a provider identifier from the user via the mobile device, said device identifier identifying the mobile device, said provider identifier identifying a service provider that offers a service to the user via the mobile device; and

storing data on the mobile device, said data specifying the received device identifier and the received provider identifier, said data being stored on the mobile device for a predetermined period.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising removing the stored data from the mobile device if the received response to the rendered challenge is determined to correspond to the delivered confirmation message.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a device identifier and a provider identifier from the user via the mobile device, said device identifier identifying the mobile device, said provider identifier identifying a service provider that offers a service to the user via the mobile device, and wherein creating the account for the user comprises storing data representative of the created account in a memory area, said data comprising one or more of the following:

the received device identifier, the received provider identifier, the received response to the rendered challenge, and a time when the account is created.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein storing the data representative of the created account in the memory area further comprises storing the received device identifier, the received provider identifier, and the received response to the rendered challenge in the memory area as a hash.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a device identifier and a provider identifier from the user via the mobile device, said device identifier identifying the mobile device, said provider identifier identifying a service provider that offers a service to the user via the mobile device; and

storing one or more of the following data in a memory area;

the received device identifier, the received provider identifier, a hash of the received device identifier and the received provider identifier, the delivered confirmation message, a number of times that a confirmation message is delivered to the mobile device, a number of times that a response to a challenge is received from the user, an indication of whether the received response to the rendered challenge is determined to correspond to the delivered confirmation message, and a time stamp indicating a time when the confirmation message is delivered to the mobile device.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising removing the data stored in the memory area when the time stamp stored in the memory area is older than a predefined period.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

inquiring if the user desires to receive another confirmation message when the received response to the rendered challenge is determined not to correspond to the delivered confirmation message and when the stored number of times that a confirmation message is delivered to the mobile device is less than a predetermined number;

receiving an indication from the user via the mobile device, said indication specifying a desire of the user to receive the other confirmation message; and

delivering the other confirmation message to the mobile device for rendering to the user as another challenge.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising performing one or more of the following in response to delivering the other confirmation message to the mobile device:

updating the stored time stamp with a time when the other confirmation message is delivered to the mobile device, updating the confirmation message stored in the memory area with the other confirmation message delivered to the mobile device, incrementing the stored number of times that a confirmation message is delivered to the mobile device, and setting the stored number of times that a response to a challenge is received to zero.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing data in a memory area, said data indicating a number of times that a response to a challenge is received from the user;

prompting another response to the rendered challenge from the user if the received response to the rendered challenge is determined not to correspond to the delivered confirmation message and if the indicated number of times that a response to a challenge is received from the user is less than a predetermined number within a predefined period;

receiving the other response to the rendered challenge from the user via the mobile device;

determining if the other response to the rendered challenge corresponds to the delivered confirmation message; and

creating the account for the user if the other response to the rendered challenge is determined to correspond to the delivered confirmation message.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a device identifier and a provider identifier from the user via the mobile device, said device identifier identifying the mobile device, said provider identifier identifying a service provider that offers a service to the user via the mobile device; and

delivering the received device identifier and the received provider identifier to an affiliate service in response to creating the account for the user.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the request comprises receiving the request from the user at an affiliate server, said affiliate server associated with an authentication server and providing an affiliate service to the user;

and wherein creating the account comprises creating the account for the user at the authentication server.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more computer-readable media have computer-executable instructions for performing the method recited in claim 1.

19. A system for creating an account via a mobile device, said system comprising:

a network server for receiving a request from a user to create an account via a mobile device, said request being received from the mobile device according to a wireless communications protocol, said network server being configured to deliver a confirmation message to the mobile device in response to receiving the request, said confirmation message being delivered to the mobile device for rendering to the user as a challenge;

said network server being further configured to receive a response to the rendered challenge from the user via the mobile device and to determine if the received response to the rendered challenge corresponds to the delivered confirmation message; and

an authentication server for creating the account for the user if the network server determines that the received response to the rendered challenge corresponds to the delivered confirmation message.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the mobile device is a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) device, and wherein the confirmation message comprises one or more of the following:

a Short Message Service (SMS) message and a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) push message.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein the network server is configured to deliver the confirmation message to the mobile device according to a wireless communications protocol.

22. The system of claim 19, further comprising an affiliate server associated with the network server and the authentication server, said affiliate server is configured to initially receive the request from the user via the mobile device and to communicate the request to the network server via a data communications network.

23. The system of claim 19, wherein the network server is configured to receive a device identifier and a provider identifier from the user via the mobile device, said device identifier identifying the mobile device, said provider identifier identifying a service provider that offers a service to the user via the mobile device, said network server further configured to deliver the received device identifier and the received provider identifier to the authentication server.

24. The system of claim 23, further comprising an affiliate server associated with the network server and the authentication server, wherein the authentication server is configured to receive user profile information from the user via the mobile device and to create the account for the user in response to the received user profile information, said authentication server further configured to deliver the received device identifier and the received provider identifier to the affiliate server and to allow the user access to an affiliate service provided by the affiliate server in response to creating the account for the user.

25. The system of claim 23, further comprising an authentication database associated with the authentication server, said authentication database configured to store data representative of the account created by the authentication server, said data comprising one or more of the following:

the received device identifier, the received provider identifier, the received response to the rendered challenge, and a time when the account is created by the authentication server.

26. The system of claim 23, further comprising a confirmation database associated with the network server, said confirmation database configured to store one or more of the following data:

the received device identifier, the received provider identifier, a hash of the received device identifier and the received provider identifier, the delivered confirmation message, a number of times that a confirmation message is delivered to the mobile device, a number of times that a response to a challenge is received from the user, an indication of whether the received response to the rendered challenge is determined to correspond to the delivered confirmation message, and a time stamp indicating a time when the confirmation message is delivered to the mobile device.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the network server is configured to remove the data stored in the confirmation database when the time stamp stored in the confirmation database is older than a predefined period.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein the network server is configured to prompt another response to the rendered challenge from the user if the network server determines that the received response to the rendered challenge does not correspond to the delivered confirmation message and if the stored number of times that a response to a challenge is received from the user is less than a predetermined number.

29. The system of claim 26, wherein the network server is configured to inquire if the user desires to receive another confirmation message when the network server determines that the received response to the rendered challenge does not correspond to the delivered confirmation message and when the stored number of times that a confirmation message is delivered to the mobile device is less than a predetermined number, said network server further configured to deliver the other confirmation message to the mobile device for rendering to the user as another challenge if the network server receives an indication from the user specifying that the user desires to receive the other confirmation message.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the network server is configured to access the confirmation database and to perform one or more of the following in response to delivering the other confirmation message to the mobile device:

updating the stored time stamp with a time when the other confirmation message is delivered to the mobile device, updating the confirmation message stored in the confirmation database with the other confirmation message delivered to the mobile device, incrementing the stored number of times that a confirmation message is delivered to the mobile device, and setting the stored number of times that a response to a challenge is received to zero.

31. One or more computer-readable media having stored thereon a data structure for creating an account via a mobile device, said data structure comprising:

a device identifier field for storing a device identifier, said device identifier identifying a mobile device of a user;

a provider identifier field for storing a provider identifier, said provider identifier identifying a service provider that offers a service to the user via the mobile device;

a confirmation message field for storing a confirmation message delivered to the mobile device for rendering to the user as a challenge;

a message counter field for storing a number of times that the stored confirmation message is delivered to the mobile device; and

a response counter field for storing a number of times that a response to the rendered challenge is received from the user.

32. The computer-readable media of claim 31, wherein the data structure further comprises:

a hash identification field for storing a hash of the stored device identifier and the stored provider identifier,

a verification field for storing an indication of whether the received response to the rendered challenge corresponds to the delivered confirmation message, and

a time stamp field for storing a time when the stored confirmation message is delivered to the mobile device.

33. The computer-readable media of claim 32, wherein if the indication stored in the verification field specifies that the received response to the rendered challenge does not correspond to the delivered confirmation message and if the number of times stored in the message counter field is less than a predetermined number, the confirmation message field is updated with another confirmation message, the number of times stored in the message counter field is incremented, the number of times stored in the response counter field is set to zero, and the time stamp field is updated with a time when the other confirmation message is delivered to the mobile device for rendering to the user as another challenge.

34. The computer-readable media of claim 31, wherein the confirmation message stored in the confirmation message field comprises one or more of the following:

a Short Message Service (SMS) message and a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) push message.

35. The computer-readable media of claim 31, wherein the confirmation message stored in the confirmation message field comprises a six-digit numeric code.

36. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable components for creating an account via a mobile device, said computer-readable media comprising:

an interface component to receive a request to create an account from a user, said user requesting to create the account via a mobile device, said request being received from the mobile device according to a wireless communications protocol;

a confirmation component to transmit a confirmation message to the mobile device in response to the received request, said confirmation message transmitted to the mobile device for rendering to the user as a challenge;

a verification component to receive a response to the rendered challenge from the user via the mobile device and to determine if the received response to the rendered challenge corresponds to the transmitted confirmation message; and

an account component to create the account for the user if the received response to the rendered challenge is determined to correspond to the transmitted confirmation message.

37. The computer-readable media of claim 36, wherein the interface component is configured to receive a device identifier and a provider identifier from the user via the mobile device, said device identifier identifying the mobile device, said provider identifier identifying a service provider that offers a service to the user via the mobile service, and wherein the account component is configured to receive user profile information from the user via the mobile device and to create the account for the user in response to the received user profile information, said account component further configured to transmit the received device identifier and the received provider identifier to an affiliate service in response to creating the account for the user.

38. The computer-readable media of claim 37, further comprising a memory component to store one or more of the following data:

the received device identifier, the received provider identifier, a hash of the received device identifier and the received provider identifier, the transmitted confirmation message, a number of times that a confirmation message is transmitted to the mobile device, a number of times that a response to a challenge is received from the user, an indication of whether the received response to the rendered challenge is determined to correspond to the transmitted confirmation message, and a time stamp indicating a time when the confirmation message is transmitted to the mobile device.

39. The computer-readable media of claim 38, wherein the interface component is configured to inquire if the user desires to receive another confirmation message when the verification component determines that the received response to the rendered challenge does not correspond to the delivered confirmation message and when the stored number of times that a confirmation message is transmitted to the mobile device is less than a predetermined number within a predefined period, and wherein the confirmation component is configured to transmit the other confirmation message to the mobile device for rendering to the user as another challenge if the interface component receives an indication from the user specifying that the user desires to receive the other confirmation message.

40. The computer-readable media of claim 38, wherein the interface component is configured to prompt another response to the rendered challenge from the user if the verification component determines that the received response to the rendered challenge does not correspond to the transmitted confirmation message and if the stored number of times that a response to a challenge is received from the user is less than a predetermined number within a predefined period.