This application claims priority to Great Britain Application Serial No. 1213224.7, filed Jul. 25, 2012, the contents of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The present disclosure relates generally to the operation of an electronic device which has a touch screen display. More particularly, it relates to a method for the protection of sensitive information during the operation of such an electronic device.
In recent years there has been rapid growth in the use of portable wireless communication devices providing computing, telephone and Internet access functions. As the range of available functions has expanded, so has the range of uses to which these devices may be put. Many of these uses involve the transmission and storage of confidential information such as bank account transaction details and personal contact data such as address books. In general, these multifunctional devices often have a high monetary value and are also relatively small so as to be easily hand-held. There is therefore a substantial risk of these devices being stolen from a user, even while the devices are being used. The security of confidential information may be compromised as a result, particularly if it was being accessed at the time. Many modern mobile multifunctional devices are provided with a multipoint touch screen, also termed a multi-touch touch screen, for interfacing with the device.
Embodiments include methods, systems and computer program products for operating an electronic device having a touch screen display for displaying information. Embodiments include generating a designated location on the touch screen display for receiving a continuous touch contact. Based on detecting a continuous touch contact at the designated location, information is displayed on the touch screen. Based on detecting an absence of a continuous touch contact at the designated location on the touch screen display, the display of information is disabled.
Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniques of the present invention. Other embodiments and aspects of the invention are described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimed invention. For a better understanding of the invention with the advantages and the features, refer to the description and to the drawings.
The subject matter which is regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The forgoing and other features, and advantages of the invention are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
After the security setting has been enabled, for example by the user, selection of application A by the user touching icon 120a causes loading of application A. Before the device allows access to the information in application A, an interaction with the user is initiated. In an embodiment, a message 130 is displayed as illustrated in
In one embodiment, application A may now be interacted with, for example by a user of device 100 touching appropriate areas of touch screen 110 indicated on the graphical user interface. Interaction is only enabled so long as the user maintains contact with designated screen area 140. Interruption of contact, for example by lifting a digit touching designated screen area 140, is detected by touch screen display 110 input/output controller and a touch discontinuation event is emitted and communicated to by the operating system of device 100. A notification of touch discontinuation, for example a message, is passed to application A. Reception of the touch discontinuation notification by application A causes display of information by application A to be discontinued. In one embodiment, a further action by the user is now requested to re-enable access to information displayed by application A. In one embodiment, as illustrated in
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that embodiments of the invention described above may function to protect access to a user's information such as confidential information. A thief snatching device 100 from its user during use will cause discontinuation of touch contact at screen area 140 by digit 150. Access to information displayed by application A will thereby be disabled, and information contained therein will be protected from access by the thief.
In one embodiment, application software 470 may include application A as previously described, selected by a user by touching icon 120a on the graphical user interface displayed on touch screen display 110. Information entered by a user by interaction with applications displayed on touch screen 110 may be saved in volatile memory 450 or stored in non-volatile storage 440. Data is moved by operating system 460 to touch screen display input/output controller 420 for display by touch screen 110, or to non-volatile storage 440 as required. Also illustrated in volatile storage is security module 480. In exemplary embodiments, the security module 480 includes the logic required to perform the steps of operation of the security setting. As such, security module 480 may be a software application loaded from non-volatile storage 440 into volatile storage 450 at startup of device 100.
Alternatively according to another embodiment, security module 480 may form part of operating system software 460. Alternatively, according to another embodiment, although illustrated as a software module, security module 480 may be embodied in hardware. In exemplary embodiments, such hardware may be an integral part of processor 410. Alternatively, according to another embodiment, security module 480 may be a separate hardware component, such as an application specific integrated circuit processor in device 100 dedicated to operating the security setting function. In another embodiment, security module 480 comprises an encryption function to encrypt user data on device 100 when the device.
It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that other setup mechanisms are possible without departing from the scope of the invention. In one embodiment, setup is carried out for device 100 and is applied to any application selected by a user as requiring the security setting. In this embodiment, the user may select from a menu list of installed applications as illustrated in
In another embodiment, the setup mechanism applies the security setting of the present invention to the complete device. In this embodiment, the user will enable the security setting of the present invention for the device 100 as a whole. The setup procedure may be similar to that employed in the previously described embodiments. Once set, the user will maintain touch contact with the designated screen area whenever the device 100 is in operation to enable interaction with the device. In another embodiment, the screen address of the designated screen area will be reserved by the device 100 operating software so that no other information, such as icons or text, is displayed at screen addresses covered by the designated screen area. In this embodiment, the user might, for example, scroll up, down or sideways in a multiple icon display, or a text display, and the icons or text would be adjusted to flow around rather than coinciding with any of the designated screen area.
In another embodiment, user interaction with device 100 is also possible using a keypad or keyboard attached to or linked to the device, or by using voice or gesture interaction with device 100.
At block 612 the user interacts with the user interface of application A displayed on the graphical user interface of touch screen 110. If the user ceases to maintain contact with designated screen area 140, for example by removal of digit 150, this contact discontinuation is detected by the display input/output controller 420. This causes display input/output controller 420 to emit a touch discontinuation event which is communicated to device operating system software 460 at block 614. At block 616 the event is detected by operating system software and a notification, for example a message, sent to application A to disable display of information. When application A completes this step, its displayed information is no longer visible to the user. Some form of re-initiation action by the user is now required, for example entry of a password or other validation information to restart application A. In optional block 618, operating system software 460 puts the device into a protected state, for example a locked state requiring entry of a device password or other validation information to continue use of the device. In one embodiment, putting the device into a protected state at block 618 comprises encrypting information stored in device 100, for example using an encryption application stored in device 100. Further access to stored information in this embodiment requires a decryption step including entry of a decryption key by a user or by an authorizing authority. In another embodiment, the decryption key is obtained from an authorizing authority by a legitimate user of device 100 after providing proof of credentials.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the mechanism described may be implemented in any one of a number of ways. It may be implemented in addition to other security measures required for access to the device. For example, startup of device 100 may be protected by a password or similar security control. Similarly, launching of application A may be protected by a password or similar access control. It will further be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention may be implemented in software logic, in hardware logic, or in a mixture of software and hardware logic.
As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.
Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.
Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
Aspects of the present invention are described above with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of code, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20140028589 A1 | Jan 2014 | US |