Patent Application
20140095388
Related application “Secure User Authentication using a Master Secure Element”, Attorney Docket No. 81494882US01 filed on the same day and assigned to the same assignee is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Related application “Validating a Transaction with a Secure Input and a Non-Secure Input”, Attorney Docket No. 81524742US01 filed on the same day and assigned to the same assignee is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Mobile platforms or connected devices such as smart phones, personal computers, tablet PCs are integrating a secure element to authenticate the platform, to protect user credentials or to secure transactions. The secure element is typically a highly tamper resistant device that provides a secure execution environment isolated from the host processor. The secure element may be integrated into various form factors such as, for example, SIM cards, SD cards, or small outline packages attached directly on the printed circuit board (embedded secure element) and is especially useful for payment applications such as bank cards, mobile wallets and the like.
A payment transaction often requires the authentication of the user to either activate the application or to validate the transaction. A payment transaction is usually performed on a secure terminal with trusted user interfaces (i.e. secure display and keypad) for added security. In the typical mobile handset type architecture, a user enters their PIN code or activates the confirmation button located directly on the handset keypad. The entry of the PIN code or the activation of the confirmation button is typically handled by the host processor which operates in a non-secure and open environment. Because mobile handsets are typically connected to a network, the handsets can be infected by malware that can operate to intercept the entered PIN code or cause an invalid transaction to be confirmed.
Typical transaction validation involves two factors: 1) the application needs to be assured that only the user can validate the transaction; 2) the user needs to be assured that only the transaction the user accepts is completed. However, requiring entry of a PIN code to validate each transaction may be seen as user unfriendly and not very secure as the more times a PIN code is entered the greater the chance of it being observed and stolen.
a shows an embodiment in accordance with the invention.
b shows an embodiment in accordance with the invention.
a-d show an embodiment in accordance with the invention.
Smart phones and tablets equipped with relatively large touch screens are becoming ever more common. Users are becoming increasingly familiar with the tactile and intuitive nature of touch screen interfaces. Gestures such as the “spread”, “pinch”, “rotate”, “flick” and others are standardized motions for interacting with multi-touch devices and are typically improving the user experience in many ways.
In an embodiment in accordance with the invention, transactions on a mobile handset, PC, tablet or similar device having a touch screen may be secured if the touch screen is controlled by a master secure element embedding gesture recognition capability.
Related application “Secure User Authentication using a Master Secure Element”, referenced above, describes an exemplary embodiment where master secure element 120 is used as a secure processor and controls user input into the handset keypad (or touch screen) 110 to secure the user authentication based on, for example, the entry of a PIN code (see
The user validates a transaction by tracing on secure touch screen 110 the transaction amount digit by digit with their finger or a suitable stylus, for example. The traced digits are then verified individually by SP 120 (before the user validates the transaction by inputting “>”).
a shows an embodiment in accordance with the invention. In step 210 of
If malware running on host processor 115 is able to manipulate the transaction amount sent to SP 120, it will be detected in step 250. If the transaction amount displayed on non-secure display 130 is not correct, the transaction is cancelled by the user in step 240. The transaction is validated because only the user is able to enter the amount that the user agrees to.
Note that for embodiments in accordance with the invention, it is not necessary for the transaction amount data to originate from host processor 115. It may also come from another device directly connected to SP 120 such as a near field communications (NFC) controller 299 as shown in
b shows an embodiment in accordance with the invention. In step 255, NFC controller 299 sends “Amount” related to the transaction to SP 120. In step 260, SP 120 requests digit validation from host 115 and in step 265 sends “Amount” to host 115. This causes host 115 to display the “Amount” and the digit entry field on non-secure display 130 in step 270. In step 280, the user traces the transaction amount digit by digit on secure touch screen 110 which overlays non-secure display 130. In step 290, SP 120 compares the digits traced by the user on touch screen 110 digit by digit with the “Amount” sent by NFC controller 299 to master secure element in step 250. If the digit by digit comparison does not indicate a match, the transaction is aborted.
a-d show the typical transaction validation flow for an embodiment in accordance with the invention. In
In an embodiment in accordance with the invention, the user only needs to trace with their finger or a suitable stylus the digits drawn on non-secure display 330 on overlying touch screen 310 corresponding to the transaction amount. Each digit employs a single-stroke gesture inspired by the UNISTROKES shorthand technology developed by XEROX and developed by Palm as GRAFFITI in the 1990's. Unlike UNISTROKES, only 12 symbols (representing numbers 0-9, cancel “<” and ok “>”) are used which the user does not need to learn because host 115 presents them to the user via display 330 for tracing on overlying touch screen 310. Symbol recognition by SP 120 is computationally simplified because only the small set of symbols used (12 in one embodiment in accordance with the invention) and because SP 120 “knows” the symbol to be entered by the user.
Whether the symbol is displayed by host processor 115 on display 330 or not, the shape the user needs to enter on touch screen 310 is always known by SP 120. Hence, symbol recognition does not necessarily require an initialization training phase by the user. However, a recognition system that is part of SP 120 can record physical data such as, for example, shape, size or speed related to the way an individual user draws the symbols of symbol set 400. This recording of physical data allows a biometric recognition of the user based on statistics. The confidence level increases with each transaction as the recognition system gathers more data. In the event that SP 120 does not recognize the user, SP 120 can request the entry of the users PIN code on a keypad as described in related application “Validating a Transaction with a Secure input and a Non-Secure Output” incorporated by reference above.
While the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments, it is evident to those skilled in the art that many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent in light of the foregoing description. Accordingly, the invention is intended to embrace all other such alternatives, modifications, and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
