In an online computing environment, backup authentication mechanisms help users or account holders who have forgotten their passwords regain access to their accounts. The security and reliability of today's backup authentication mechanisms have significant room for improvement.
Website accounts have typically allowed access thereto by authenticating account holders using credentials that are either memorized or stored, e.g. passwords or smartcards, by the users. In such a system, there are always account holders that will forget or lose these memorized or stored credentials.
Passwords are frequently used as a means of primary authentication, meaning passwords are the typical day-to-day means for accessing an account holder's account. Some password mismatches result when account holders mistype passwords or cannot remember which of their passwords to use.
Modern web browsers have integrated password managers that remember and enter account holders' passwords for them. Those who use these features need not enter their passwords as often, and thus may be less likely to remember their passwords when they do need to enter them. These account holders may resort to backup authentication if they lose the data in their password managers, replace their computers, or start working from new computers.
Existing backup systems may use ‘secret’ personal questions and alternate email addresses for backup authentication in the event users forget or loses his access credentials. However, these methods are frequently unreliable. For personal questions, users often forget their answers, especially when answers are case and punctuation sensitive. It is also common for acquaintances of the respective users to be able to guess the answers, even acquaintances not closely associated with the respective account holders or users. In existing methods, many times the questions are not applicable to the general public, not memorable, ambiguous, easily guessable with no knowledge of the account holder, or easily guessable with minimal knowledge of the account holder.
An account holder who tries to authenticate an account using an alternate email address many times finds that the configured address expired upon a change of job, school or Internet service provider. Since other websites rely on email addresses to authenticate their account holders when passwords fail, it is especially important for webmail providers to have a secure and reliable authentication mechanism of last resort.
The ubiquity of mobile phones has made them an attractive option for backup authentication. Some entities already send SMS messages containing authorization codes to supplement primary authentication for high-risk transactions. However, authenticating users by their mobile phones alone is risky as phones are frequently shared or lost.
Some websites offer last-resort backup authentication through their customer-support departments. However, introducing human customer support teams may not provide a strong advantage over automated systems, as information used by support staff to authenticate account holders may be no better than the information available to the automated systems.
The concept of shifting the responsibility to authenticate an individual from one party to another is not new. Authenticating users via alternate email addresses shifts the responsibility to authenticate to the providers of those alternate addresses. In organizations, the responsibility to authenticate users who fail primary authentication is often shifted to system administrators, corporate security, or other support staff.
Other systems have used a two-factor primary authentication system (PIN and token) for enterprise use in which account holders who lose tokens can receive help from a pre-selected trustee called a “helper.” In this system, the trustee authenticates using the two factors, PIN and token, in order to generate a “vouchcode” that substitutes for the account holder's lost token. This system is designed for primary authentication and it cannot be assumed that a system administrator is always available if the system fails and a backup authentication is necessary. This system requires the system administrator or trustee to be on the same system as the account holder.
A social authentication system for backup account recovery is described. The backup account recovery system provides for an account holder to obtain his or her password in the event the account holder is unable to gain access to an account using the primary authentication method. The social authentication system allows the account holder to contact several trustees that were previously selected and identified.
Upon being unable to gain access to an account, the account holder contacts one or more trustees to inform them that the account holder needs to regain access to the account and therefore needs to obtain an account recovery code from each trustee. Each trustee may then contact the account recovery system which resides in servers accessible on the Internet. The account recovery system then verifies that the trustee's contact information matches that of a previously identified trustee for the specified account holder. Once the trustee's contact information has been verified to match that of a previously identified trustee for the specified account holder, the account recovery system begins a back and forth dialog with the trustee, whereby the trustees provide information, transmit a link and code provided by the account recovery system, vouch for their contact with the account holder and pledge that the statements they have provided are accurate and that the trustees agree on the course of action. Once this dialog is successfully completed, each trustee is provided with a unique account recovery code, which is then provided to the account holder. Once the required number of account recovery codes has been received, the account holder is able to use them to obtain access to the account.
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
The detailed description is described with reference to accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The use of the same reference numbers in different figures indicates similar or identical items.
Overview
This document describes a complete social authentication system for backup account recovery. The social authentication system is a system in which account holders initially appoint and later rely on account trustees to help them authenticate. To regain access to their accounts, account holders contact their trustees by phone or in person, so that their trustees may recognize them by their appearance or voice. A trustee who recognizes an account holder may provide the account holder with an account recovery code once the trustee has accessed the account recovery system and complied with its various requirements. An account holder must present a sufficient number of these codes (e.g. two codes from any of four possible trustees) to authenticate.
The overall success of any authentication system depends on four measurement categories:
Setup and maintenance costs: The time or effort required of the account holder to configure or reconfigure the authentication system.
Efficiency: The time or effort required of the account holder each time he or she authenticates to the system.
Reliability: The likelihood that the account holder can successfully authenticate his or her identity.
Security: The time or effort required to impersonate (falsely authenticate as) an account holder, or likelihood of doing so successfully.
Reliability is especially important for a backup authentication system of last resort. Account holders that need to use a backup authentication system of last resort may have no other chance to regain access to their accounts. If a backup authentication system is less secure than the primary mechanism it supports, its very existence will make users' accounts less secure. Fortunately, backup authentication occurs less often than primary authentication, and efficiency may be sacrificed to achieve reliability and security. While the system described below addresses all four measurement categories, it is more focused on the reliability and security aspects.
Illustrative Architecture
The account recovery system of
The account recovery system may also work with as few as one trustee when it is combined with other mechanisms for authenticating the account holder. For example, the account holder might be able to recover an account by answering a personal authentication question and obtaining a single account recovery code. Likewise, a as few as one account recovery code from one trustee may be used in combination with an old account password or a printed code sheet stored in a safe.
In the event an account holder needs to recover an account, the account holder 102 obtains account recovery codes 108 from the trustees 104. An account holder 102 initiates a request 110 to the trustees 104 that instructs them to visit the account recovery system via the network 112 at some network or Internet address provided by the account holder 102 to the trustees 104. Account holders 102 should contact trustees using methods that allow the trustees 104 to verify their identity. Such methods include either voice or visual appearance, i.e., in person, by telephone, by video teleconference, etc. The request 110 alerts the trustees 104 to the fact that account recovery codes 108 must be obtained for account holder 102. Again, depending on the level of security required, the trustees 104 can receive the request 110 from the account holder 102 in-person or by telephone. These methods are preferred in the case of higher levels of security. If security is less critical and expedience is more important, the user interface/email method 114 may be used.
After receiving the request 108 from the account holder 102, the trustees 104 individually contact the network or Internet address provided by the account holder 102. This communication begins the account recovery authentication process 116 located on servers 106. The account recovery authentication process 116 begins with the initial request process 118. After the request 108 is received by the servers 106, the initial request process 118 sends an email or other type of communication to the trustee 104. The trustee 104 is asked to enter the trustee's own email address as well as the address of the account holder 102 the trustee 104 is assisting. An illustrative example of this screen is set forth in
Referring back to
The codes used to authenticate trustees 104 may be contained in a web link as described above. However, the codes do not need to be specific to web links. The trustee 104 may also be asked to copy the code alone and send the code via SMS message or another similar type of communication where the code would be then be entered into a web page.
Referring back to
The trustee authentication email process 120 also causes the servers to create a record to track the request and the email sent to the respective trustee 104 will contain a code pointing to this record. The trustee copies this link into her browser's address bar to continue. This emailed link and code are all that are required to prove the trustee's identity and retrieve the account recovery code 108. An attacker who could convince a trustee 104 to forward the email would be able to retrieve the code. Two countermeasures against this attack are the email's subject, which may begin with a message such as, but not limited to, “**FOR YOU ONLY**”, and the message body, which begins with a conspicuous warning such as, but not limited to, “do not forward any part of this email to anyone” as shown in
When the trustee 104 pastes the link from the trustee-authentication email process 120 into her browser, the trustee 104 is asked to explain why an account recovery code 108 is being requested by choosing from a set of options that are set forth in the query/response process 122.
Referring again to
Finally, a confirmation process 124 is initiated. The respective trustee 104 is asked to provide a pledge asserting that the trustee's previous answers are correct and that the respective trustee 104 understands the potential consequences of giving an account recovery code 108 to someone other than the account holder 102. As an example of confirmation to be entered by the respective trustee 104, the pledge may require the trustee 104 to type the name of the trustee 104, as provided by the account holder 102, and to press a button that says “I promise the above pledge is true”. For example, if a trustee 104 reports receiving a request 110 from the account holder 102 via voicemail, the trustee 104 would be asked to pledge that the trustee 104 will only provide a code after the account holder is reached “in person.”
Referring once again to
Illustrative Flow Diagram
In operation 606, the trustee's computing device 105 receives the verification form and in operation 608, the trustee 104 completes the verification form. The completed verification form is transmitted to the servers 106 in operation 610. In operation 612, one or more of the servers 106 receive the completed verification form. At this point, one or more of the servers 106 may identify the trustee in operation 614. The servers 106 compare the email addresses submitted on the completed verification form with the email addresses for both the respective trustee 104 and the account holder 102 that are contained in the database established when the account holder opened an account and configured the trustees 104. If the email addresses match the addresses stored in the servers 106, the process continues. If the email addresses do not match the addresses stored in the servers 106, the process is aborted. At this point, one or more of the servers 106 may be configured to send an email to the respective trustee 104 stating that the process is aborted and no further communication will be allowed with respect to the account recovery process or the process may allow the trustee another attempt at providing the addresses, depending on the level of security desired. The use of the trustee's email address ensures that the individual who purports to be the trustee actually is the trustee.
In operation 616, the trustee is selected. In operation 618, a transmit link and a code are transmitted to the trustee's email address 105 along with instructions on the next steps for the trustee 104 to take. As discussed above, the transmission to the trustee may only contain a code that may be sent back to the server 110 by SMS message or other similar communications. In this embodiment, a link would not be necessary.
A representative communication is shown in
An attacker who could convince a trustee to forward the email would be able to retrieve the code. Two countermeasures against this attack are the email's subject, which may begin with, as an example only, “**FOR YOU ONLY**”, and the message body, which begins with a conspicuous warning, as an example only, “do not forward any part of this email to anyone.”
Once the servers 106 receive the verified link and code in operation 626, the servers 106 transmit a situational query to the trustee's computing device 105 in operation 628. The computing device 105 receives and the trustee 104 completes the query in operation 630. The response is then transmitted to the servers 106 in operation 632. The servers 106 receive the query response in operation 634. An illustrative example of the query is shown in
These options may convey that the trustee has heard from the account holder personally or that the trustee is responding to a request from a third party. The options that indicate the highest risk of fraud are listed at the top in order to maximize the chance that the trustee will read them before making a choice. If the trustee 104 chooses either of the top two options, the servers will transmit a warning message to computing device 105 in operation 636. The warning message describes telltale signs of fraud and encourages the trustee 104 to contact the account holder by phone or in person. The trustee receives the message in operation 638 at computing device 105. The trustee 104 may, however, given the option to disregard these warnings and continue.
The trustee 104 may also decide not to continue with the process if she is unable to confirm with the account holder that the account holder has requested an account recovery code. The warning message may also be dynamically updated to respond to ongoing security threats.
After the servers 106 have sent the warning message, one or more of the servers 106 transmit the pledge to computing device 105 in operation 640. The computing device 105 receives the pledge in operation 642 and the trustee 104 is asked to pledge to the trustee's previous answers and to pledge her understanding of the potential consequences of giving an account recovery code to someone other than the account holder. This pledge requires the trustee 104 to type the trustee's name, as provided by the account holder, and to press a button that says “I promise the above pledge is true”. For example, if a trustee reports receiving a request from the account holder via voicemail, the trustee would be asked to pledge that a code will be provided after the trustee reaches the account holder “in person.”
After the trustee 104 has signed the pledge, the trustee's computing device 105 transmits the pledge to one or more of the servers 106 in operation 644 and the servers 106 receive the pledge in operation 646. After the servers 106 receive the response to the pledge, the servers 106 determine whether to transmit the account recovery code to the trustee 104 based on a probability that the trustee 104 is operating on behalf of the account holder 102 in operation 648. The probability is based on statistics from the process and known attacker criteria. If the probability is above a certain threshold determined by the level of security required, the servers 106 transmit the account recovery code to the trustee 104 in operation 650. The trustee 104 receives the account recovery code at computing device 105 in operation 652. The account recovery code can be of any format and contain both numeric and alpha characters. An account recovery code with, e.g., six alphanumeric characters has been found to provide a sufficient level of security in most cases. Once the account holder has received the required number of account recovery codes from the predetermined number of trustees, the account holder enters these codes into his account access interface and the account holder is provided access to the account.
If this is the first account recovery code requested for this account holder, the system will then email the remaining trustees to notify them of the event and encourage them to call the account holder. To further protect against attack, the account holder will be notified immediately if already online and whenever he next logs in if he is not online that an account recovery code has been sent to a trustee. If the account holder did not request an account recovery code, the account holder will know there is an attack on his account. If an attack is underway, a call from his trustees would alert the account holder to login and halt the recovery process before the attacker can complete it.
Conclusion
The description herein describes a backup account recovery system of last resort. The account recovery system provides a method of providing an account holder with a secure and reliable means to obtain access to his account in the event a password is lost or forgotten using social authentication. A group of trusted individuals are configured to be acceptable contacts for account recovery codes for the account holder to obtain access to an account. The trusted individuals or trustees then initiate a process with remote servers and the account recovery system to progress through a series of interchanges that provide confidence the trustee is who he says he is and that the account holder has actually requested an account recovery code.
Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20100293600 A1 | Nov 2010 | US |