Accessing services via web-based applications is an expected convenience for many individuals. As such, various financial institutions offer members and/or customers online access to financial services. These individuals are often allowed 24-hour access to services, such as online account management, offered by the respective institution via portable electronic devices such as laptop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), cellular telephones, smartphones, etc.
Security associated with online banking, for example, is a concern for both the financial institutions and their customers. As such, various authentication procedures can be implemented to offer levels of assurance as to the identity of an individual. For instance, in order to logon to an online account, an individual may be asked to provide logon credentials such as an online user ID and password associated with the online account. Additional security can be provided via use of personal identification numbers (PINs) or hardware and/or software based security tokens.
In order to simplify the logon procedure, some electronic devices “remember” an individual's logon credentials (e.g., authentication information). For example, an individual's online user ID and/or password can be stored on the electronic device. However, remembering an individual's credentials in this manner can have various drawbacks. As an example, storing such logon credentials locally on the electronic device can expose the individual to security compromises via “hacking,” for instance.
The present disclosure provides methods and systems for secure logon. One or more embodiments include: determining, via authentication information provided by a user of an electronic device, that the user is authorized to access an online account provided by an online account provider; providing the user with a selectable option to enable and/or disable a logon process by which the user can access the online account by solely providing a particular authentication item of the user; providing the user with an assigned verification credential for use in conjunction with a next logon attempt using the enabled logon process; receiving a verification credential in response to the next logon attempt; verifying that the received verification credential matches the assigned verification credential provided to the user; and providing the user with an updated assigned verification credential for use in conjunction with a subsequent logon attempt using the enabled logon process.
In the following detailed description of the present disclosure, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration how one or more embodiments of the disclosure may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those of ordinary skill in the art to practice the embodiments of this disclosure, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that process, electrical, and/or structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. As used herein, the designator “N,” particularly with respect to reference numerals in the drawings, indicates that a number of the particular feature so designated can be included with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.
The figures herein follow a numbering convention in which the first digit or digits correspond to the drawing figure number and the remaining digits identify an element or component in the drawing. Similar elements or components between different figures may be identified by the use of similar digits. For example, 110 may reference element “10” in
As shown at 106, and as described further herein below, the member 115 (e.g., a user of mobile device 110) can, via application 102, enable a logon process (e.g., “expedited logon” or “quick logon” as used herein) by which the user of the device 110 can access his/her online account by solely providing a particular authentication item. In this example, the particular authentication item is the user's PIN; however, embodiments are not so limited. For instance, the particular authentication item can a different authentication item known to the user (e.g., an online username or password) or a biometric authentication item such as a finger print or iris scan, for example.
In various embodiments, an identity of a user of device 110 is authenticated before the user is allowed to enable and/or disable the quick logon feature described herein. For instance, for security purposes, an online account provider may require an online account holder to initially provide more information to verify the individual's identity upon an initial logon. As an example, an initial logon may require the user to provide multiple different authentication items which can include an online username, password, social security number, account number, answers to security questions, etc. Requiring a user to provide multiple authentication items for an initial logon process can increase the confidence that the user of the device 110 is authorized to access the online account.
However, because a user often must manually enter the authentication information to the mobile device, requiring the user to provide multiple different authentication items each time the member wishes to access the online account can be frustrating and inconvenient. As noted above, some prior approaches provide an expedited logon process in which one or more of the authentication items required for logon are “remembered” by the device (e.g., the username and/or password can be stored locally on the mobile device). Electronic fields on a user interface (e.g., display) of the device can be automatically populated with the remembered authentication information such that the user can logon to the account without manually entering the authentication information. However, “remembering” a user's authentication information, as in such previous approaches, includes storing the information locally on the mobile device (e.g., in cache memory). Storing authentication information locally on the mobile device can expose an authorized user to potential security compromises associated with the expedited logon. For instance, an individual who has access to the mobile device 110, but who is not authorized to access the online account, can logon to the online account without having to manually enter the authentication information of the authorized user (e.g., the unauthorized user can simply “click” on an icon to transmit the remembered data to the online account provider).
In contrast, one or more embodiments of the present disclosure provide an individual authorized to access an online account a selectable option to enable and/or disable an expedited logon process that is both secure and convenient. In various embodiments, the expedited logon process is a process by which, when enabled, the user can access the online account by solely providing a particular authentication item known to the user, such as a PIN number of the user, for instance. As illustrated at 106 of
When the expedited logon process is enabled, a next (e.g., subsequent) logon can be conducted via the expedited logon process. In one or more embodiments, an assigned verification credential for use in conjunction with the next logon attempt is provided to the member 115. The assigned verification credential can be a soft token and can be provided to the mobile device 110 from the online account provider 120. As an example, the soft token can be a rotating key and can be provided by a trusted security authority 130 to the account provider 120 and/or to the member 115 (e.g., via mobile device 110). The trusted security authority 130 can be a trusted third party such as VERISIGN®, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., among other trusted third parties capable of providing secure soft tokens.
In various embodiments, the assigned verification credential is a one-time code. As an example, the assigned verification credential can be used for a single logon (e.g., for a single particular account access session). As such, the one-time code is only valid for a single expedited logon. That is, a new (e.g., updated) assigned verification credential is provided to the member 115 for a next subsequent logon via the enabled expedited logon process. Therefore, the one-time code is integrated into the application 102 for purposes of the expedited logon process when the process is enabled.
In operation, once a member 115 has enabled the expedited logon process (e.g., using mobile device 110), the member 115 can attempt to logon to the online account via the expedited logon process. For instance, the member 115 can input the particular authentication item (e.g., the member's PIN in the example illustrated in
As noted above, in one or more embodiments, a trusted security 130 authority can be used to provide the one-time codes that can be assigned and provided to the mobile device 110 for use in conjunction with a next logon. The trusted security authority 130 can also be used to verify the PIN and/or one-time codes provided to the account provider 120 during the enabled expedited logon process.
Integration of a one-time use soft token into an expedited logon process in which a user of a mobile device can access an online account by solely providing a particular authentication item such as a PIN, has various benefits. For instance, the member is less exposed to security compromises because the authentication information is not stored locally on the mobile device. Also, the expedited logon process is convenient since the user can logon to the online account by providing a single authentication item (e.g., PIN) known by the user. Furthermore, the use of a soft token can offer a level of security and identification verification while being transparent to the user of the mobile device (while not requiring physical possession by the user of a hard token such as a smart card or USB token, for example). As such, embodiments of the present disclosure can provide increased logon convenience for online account holders while simultaneously increasing security as compared to previous approaches.
One or more embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented via hardware, software, and/or firmware. For instance, one or more embodiments can include computer executable instructions (e.g., program instructions) that can be stored on a computer readable medium (e.g., storage devices such as disks, CDs, hard drives, removable memory, etc.) among other types of computer readable media. The instructions can be executed by a processor of one or more computing devices to perform secure logon in accordance with embodiments described herein.
The device 210 includes a user interface 211 (e.g., a graphical user interface). As described further in connection with
In the embodiment illustrated in
As indicated by “Welcome Adam” shown on user interface 211 of
If both the PIN provided to input field 223 and the assigned verification credential are verified (e.g., by the online account provider and/or by a trusted security authority), then Adam's attempted logon via the enabled expedited logon process will be successful. If either the PIN provided to input field 223 or the assigned verification credential are not verified, then the logon will not be successful.
As illustrated in
In various embodiments, the logon process for accessing an online account of the user when the expedited logon process is disabled may require the user to input one or more additional authentication items than are required for the user to access the online account via the expedited logon process. For instance, when the expedited logon process is disabled, the user may be asked to provide two or more of an online user ID, a password, an account number, a hard token, or one or more answers to security questions.
As an example, the subsystems 320 and 330 can be local area networks (LANs), personal area networks (PANs), campus area networks (CANs), or metropolitan area networks (MANs) which can communicate via one or more protocols over a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet, e.g., Internet 325. Computing devices, e.g., servers, of the networks 320 and 330, can be networked together via a number of network devices such as routers, switches, hubs and the like (not shown in
In the embodiment illustrated in
The member computing device 310 can be a device such as device 210 illustrated in
As illustrated in
In the embodiment illustrated in
In one or more embodiments, the account provider network 320 can determine, via authentication information (e.g., online username, password, account number, SSN, etc.) provided by a user of member computing device 310, that the user is authorized to access an online account 324 provided by the online account provider 320. The authorized user can be provided with a selectable option 331 to enable/disable an expedited secure logon process by which the user can access the online account 324 by solely providing a particular authentication item (e.g., a PIN) of the user. The online account provider 320 can also provide the user of the member computing device 310 with an assigned verification credential (e.g., a one-time code 336) for use in conjunction with a next logon attempt using the enabled expedited logon process.
The assigned verification credential can be provided to the member computing device 310, stored thereon, and automatically sent to the online account provider 320 along with the particular authentication item (e.g., PIN) upon the next subsequent logon attempt. A verification application 326 of the online account provider network 320 can be used to verify that verification credential received from application 302 of the member computing device 310 matches the assigned verification credential provided to the user and/or to the device 310. The verification application 326 of the online account provider network 320 can also be used to verify that the particular authentication item received from the member computing device 310 matches the authentication item corresponding to the member holding the online account. Although not illustrated in
In various embodiments, the particular authentication item (e.g., PIN) is manually entered by a user of device 310 to a user interface of the device 310, while the assigned verification credential is automatically received by the online account provider (along with the manually entered PIN) in response to the next expedited logon attempt. Various embodiments of the present disclosure include providing a user of the member computing device 310 with an updated assigned verification credential for use in conjunction with a subsequent logon attempt using the enabled expedited logon process. That is, a different assigned verification credential is provided to the user to replace the prior assigned verification credential. The different (e.g., updated) assigned verification credential can then be used in conjunction with a next subsequent logon attempt using the enabled expedited logon process.
In one or more embodiments, a computing device other than member computing device 310 can be used to logon to the online account 324 using an expedited logon process in accordance with embodiments described herein. For instance, in response to a member attempting to logon to the online account from a computing device other than device 310, the account provider network 320 can electronically obtain the assigned verification credential (e.g., one-time code) previously provided to the computing device 310. In this manner, the account provider network 320 can verify the identity of the member via the assigned verification credential obtained from the computing device 310 and via the particular authentication item provided to the network 320 from the computing device other than the device 310.
In the embodiment illustrated in
As used herein, the term “computer executable instructions” refers to instructions that may be performed by a processor (e.g., processor 464) and/or other components. The term “storage media” can includes various storage media that can be used to store computer executable instructions. Storage media can include non-volatile media and/or volatile media, among other types of media and can be in the form of magnetic media, optical media, and/or physical media, among others. Some examples include hard disks, floppy disks, CD ROMs, DVDs, and Flash memory. Embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to a particular type of storage media.
In the embodiment illustrated in
In the embodiment illustrated in
Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that an arrangement calculated to achieve the same results can be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to cover adaptations or variations of various embodiments of the present disclosure. It is to be understood that the above description has been made in an illustrative fashion, and not a restrictive one. Combination of the above embodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description.
The scope of the various embodiments of the present disclosure includes other applications in which the above structures and methods are used. Therefore, the scope of various embodiments of the present disclosure should be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
In the foregoing Detailed Description, various features are grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the disclosed embodiments of the present disclosure have to use more features than are expressly recited in each claim.
Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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61308710 | Feb 2010 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 13036945 | Feb 2011 | US |
Child | 14678178 | US |