Centralized Identification and Authentication System and Method
`
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent Agglication of:
`
`Nader Asghari—Kamrani ;
`
`and
`
`Kamran Asghari—Kamrani.
`
`
`
`1of19
`
`1
`
`USAA1016
`
`
`
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent Agglication of:
`
`Nader Asghari—Kamrani ;
`
`and
`
`Kamran Asghari—Kamrani.
`
`
`
`1of19
`
`1
`
`USAA1016
`
`
`
`Centralized Identification and Authentication System and Method
`
`
`
`
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`
`The present invention relates to a centralized identification and
`
`authentication system and method for identifying an individual over a
`
`communication network such as Internet, to increase security in e—commerce.
`
`More particularly a method and system for generation of a dynamic, non-
`
`predictable and time dependent Securecode for the purpose of positively
`
`identifying an individual.
`
`2. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
`
`The increasing use of the Internet and the increase of businesses utilizing
`
`e—commerce have lead to a dramatic increase in customers releasing confidential
`
`personal and financial information, in the form of social security numbers, names,
`
`addresses, credit card numbers and bank account numbers, to identify
`
`2of19
`
`
`
`themselves. This will allow them to get access to the restricted web sites or
`
`electronically purchase desired goods or services. Unfortunately this type of
`
`identification is not only unsafe but also it is not a foot proof that the user is really
`
`the person he says he is. The effect of these increases is reflected in the related
`
`art.
`
`US. Pat. No. 5,732,137 issued to Aziz outlines a system and method for
`
`providing remote user authentication in a public computer network such as the
`
`lntemet. More specifically, the system and method provides for remote
`
`authentication using a one—time password scheme having a secure out—of-band
`
`channel for initial password delivery.
`
`U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,665 issued to Teper et al. outlines the use of a system
`
`and method for enabling consumers to anonymously, securely and conveniently
`
`purchase on-line services from multiple service providers over a distributed
`
`network, such as the Internet. Specifiwlly, a trusted third-party broker provides
`
`billing and security services for registered service providers via an online
`
`brokering service, eliminating the need for the service providers to provide these
`
`services.
`
`
`
`U.S. Pat. No 5,991,408 issued to Pearson , et al. outlines a system and
`
`method for using a biometric element to create a secure identification and
`
`verification system, and more specifically to an apparatus and a method for
`
`creating a hard problem which has a representation of a biometric element as its
`
`solution.
`
`3of19
`
` fiW"‘
`
`
`
`
`
`"-.=.;=
`
`§:&
`
`Although each of the previous patents outline a valuable system and
`
`method, what is really needed is a system and method that offers digital identity
`
`to the users and allows them to participate in e-commerce without worrying about
`
`the privacy and security. in addition to offering security and privacy to the users,
`
`the new system has to be simple for businesses to adopt and also doesn’t
`
`require the financial institutions to change their existing systems. Such a secure,
`
`flexible and scalable system and method would be of great value to the
`
`businesses that would like to participate in today’s electronic commerce.
`
`None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in
`
`combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a
`
`centralized identification and authentication system and method solving the
`
`aforementioned problems is desired.
`
`For convenience, the term “user" is used throughout to represent both a
`
`typical person consuming goods and services as well as a business consuming
`
`goods and services.
`
`As used herein, a "Central—Entity” is any party that has user‘s personal
`
`and/or financial information, UserName, Password and generates dynamic, non-
`
`predictable and time dependable Securecode for the user. Examples of Central-
`
`Entity are: banks, credit card issuing companies or any intermediary service
`
`companies.
`
`As also used herein, an "External-Entity" is any party offering goods or
`
`services that users utilize by directly providing their UserName and Securecode
`
`as digital identity. Such entity could be a merchant, service provider or an online
`
`4of19
`
`4
`
`
`
`
`
`site. An “External-Entity" could also be an entity that receives the user's digital
`
`identity indirectly from the user through another Extemal-Entity, in order to
`
`authenticate the user, such entity could be a bank or a credit card issuing
`
`company.
`
`The term “UserName” is used herein to denote any alphanumeric name,
`
`id, login name or other identification phrase, which may be used by the “Central—
`
`Entity” to identify the user.
`
`The term “Password” is used herein to denote any alphanumeric
`
`password, secret code, PIN, prose phrase or other code, which may be stored in
`
`the system to authenticate the user by the “Central—Entity”.
`
`The term “SecureCode” is used herein to denote any dynamic, non-
`
`predictable and time dependent alphanumeric code, secret code, PIN or other
`
`code, which may be broadcast to the user over a communication network, and
`
`may be used as part of a digital identity to identify a user as an authorized user.
`
`The term "digital identity" is used herein to denote a combination of users
`
`"SecureCode" and users information such as "UserName", which may result in a
`
`dynamic, non—predictable and time dependable digital identity that could be used to
`
`identify a user as an authorized user.
`
`The term “financial information” is used herein to denote any credit card and
`
`banking account information such as debit cards, savings accounts and checking
`
`BCCOUFTIIS.
`
`50f19
`
`
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`The invention relates to a system and method provided by a Central-Entity
`
`for centralized identification and authentication of users and their transactions to
`
`increase security in e—commerce. The system includes:
`
`— A Central-Entity: This entity centralizes users personal and financial
`
`information in a secure environment in order to prevent the distribution of
`
`user’s information in e—commerce. This information is then used to create
`
`digital identity for the users. The users may use their digital identity to identify
`
`themselves instead of providing their personal and financial information to the
`
` ~ A plurality of users: A user represents both a typical person consuming goods
`
`External—Entities;
`
`
`
`and services as well as a business consuming goods and services, who
`
`needs to be identified in order to make online purchases or to get access to
`
`the restricted web sites. The user registers at the Central—Entity to receive his
`
`digital identity, which is then provided to the External—Entity for identification;
`
`— A plurality of External-Entities: An External—Entity is any party offering goods
`
`or services in e—commerce and needs to authenticate the users based on
`
`digital identity.
`
`The user signs-up at the Central-Entity by providing his personal or
`
`financial information. The Central-Entity creates a new account with user's
`personal or financial information and issues a unique UserName and Password
`
`to the user. The user provides his Username and Password to the Central—Entity
`
`for identification and authentication purposes when accessing the services
`
`6of19
`
`6
`
`
`
`provided by the Central—Entity. The Central—Entity also generates dynamic, non-
`
`predictable and time dependent Securecode for the user per user's request and
`
`issues the Securecode to the user. The Central-Entity maintains a copy of the
`
`Securecode for identification and authentication of the user’s digital identity. The
`
`user presents his UserName and Securecode as digital identity to the External-
`
`Entity for identification. When an External-Entity receives the user's digital
`
`identity (UserName and Securecode), the External-Entity will forward this
`
`information to the Central—Entity to identify and authenticate the user. The
`
`Central—Entity will validate the information and sends an approval or denial
`
`response back to the Extemal—Entity.
`
`There are also communications networks for the user, the Central—Entity
`
`and the External-Entity to give and receive information between each other.
`
`This invention also relates to a system and method provided by a Central-
`
`Entity for centralized identification and authentication of users to allow them
`
`access to restricted web sites using their digital identity, preferably without
`
`revealing confidential personal or financial information.
`
`This invention further relates to a system and method provided by a
`
`Central—Entity for centralized identification and authentication of users to allow
`
`them to purchase goods and services from an Extemal—Entity using their digital
`
`identity, preferably without revealing confidential personal or financial
`
`information.
`
`Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to offer digital identity to
`
`the users for identification in e—commerce.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`it is another object of the invention to centralize user’s personal and
`
`financial information in a secure environment.
`
`it is another object of the invention to prevent the user from distributing
`
`their personal and financial information.
`
`it is a further object of the invention to keep merchants, service providers,
`
`Internet sites and financial institutions satisfied by positively identifying and
`
`authenticating the users.
`
`it is another object of the invention to reduce fraud and increase security
`
`for e—commerce.
`
`it is another object of the invention to allow businesses to control visitors
`
`access to their web sites.
`
`It is another object of the invention to protect the customer from getting
`
`bills for goods and services that were not ordered.
`
`It is another object of the invention to increase customers’ trust and reduce
`
`customers’ fear for e—commerce.
`
`It is another object to decrease damages to the customers, merchants and
`
`financial institutions.
`
`
`
`8of19
`
`
`
`it is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and
`
`arrangements thereof for the purposes described which are inexpensive,
`
`dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
`
`These and other objects of the present invention will become readily
`
`apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`Fig. 1 is a high—level overview of a centralized identification and authentication
`
`system and method according to the present invention.
`
`Fig. 2 is a detailed overview of a centralized identification and authentication
`
`system and method according to the present invention.
`
`Fig. 3 is a block diagram of the registration of a customer utilizing a centralized
`
`identification and authentication system and method according to the present
`
`invention.
`
`Fig. 4 is a block diagram of the transaction of a customer utilizing a centralized
`
`identification and authentication system and method according to the present
`
`invention.
`
`Fig. 5 is a block diagram of a Central-Entity authorizing a user utilizing a
`
`centralized identification and authentication system and method according to the
`
`present invention.
`
`
`
`10 of 19
`
`10
`
`
`
` iil
`
`
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODiMENTS
`
`Detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiment are provided herein.
`
`it
`
`is to be understood, however, that the present invention may be embodied in
`
`various forms. Therefore, specific details disclosed herein are not to be
`
`interpreted as limiting, but rather as a basis for the claims and as a
`
`representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to employ the present
`
`invention in virtually any appropriately detailed system, structure or manner.
`
`The invention relates to a system 1 and method 2 to identify and
`
`authenticate the users and their transactions to increase security in e—commerce.
`
`Fig. 1 illustrates a system to positively identify the users 10 in e-commerce
`
`based on digital identity.
`
`The system 1 comprises a plurality of users 10, a plurality of External-
`
`Entities 20 with goods and services that are desired by the users 10 and a
`
`Central—Entity 30 providing a unique UserName and Password to the users 10
`
`and generating dynamic, non-predictable and time dependent Securecode for
`
`the users 10 per user's request. There are also communication networks 50 for
`
`the user 10, the Central—Entity 30 and the External-Entity 20 to give and receive
`
`information between each other.
`
`It would be desirable to develop a new system 1 and method 2 to
`
`centralize user's personal and financial information in a secure environment and
`
`to offer digital identity to the users 10 in order to provide privacy, increase
`
`security and reduce fraud in e—commerce. ideally, a secure identification and
`
`authentication system 1 would identify legitimate users 10 and unauthorized
`
`110f19
`
`11
`
`
`
`users 10. This would increase the user's trust, which leads to more sales and
`
`cash flow for the merchants/service providers.
`
`The present invention relates to a system 1 and method 2 to support this
`
`ideal identification and authentication system. For identification purpose, a digital
`
`identity (a unique UserName and a dynamic, non-predictable and time
`
`dependent Securecode) is used by the user 10 at the time of ordering or at the
`
`time of accessing a restricted Internet site. A series of steps describing the
`
`overall method are conducted between the users 10, the Central-Entity 30 and
`
`the External—Entity 20 and are outlined in Fig. 3,4,5.
`
`
`
`There are three distinct phases involved in using the centralized
`
`identification and authentication system Fig. 2, the first of which being the
`
`registration phase, which is depicted in Fig. 3. During the registration phase, the
`
`user 10 provides his personal or financial information to the Central-Entity 30.
`
`The user 10 registers at the Central—Entity 30, 100, 104 and receives his account
`
`and login information such as UserName and Password 108. User 10 can access
`
`his account at any time by accessing the Central—Entity's system using a
`
`communication network 50 and logging into the system.
`
`Next is the transaction phase, where the user 10 attempts to access a
`
`restricted web site or attempts to buy services or products 110, as illustrated in
`
`Fig. 4, through a standard interface provided by the Externa|—Entity 20, similar to
`
`what exists today and selects digital identity as his identification and
`
`authorization or payment option. The External-Entity 20 displays the access or
`
`purchase authorization form requesting the user 10 to authenticate himself using
`
`his UserName and Securecode as digital identity. The user 10 requests
`
`12 of 19
`
`12
`
`
`
`Securecode from the Central-Entity 30 by accessing his account over the
`
`communication network 50, 114. The Central-Entity 30 generates dynamic, non-
`
`predictable and time dependable Securecode 118 for the user 10. The Central-
`
`Entity 30 maintains a copy of the Securecode for identification and
`
`authentication of the user 10 and issues the Securecode to the user 10. When
`
`the user 10 receives the Securecode 120, the user 10 provides his UserName
`
`and Securecode as digital identity to the External-Entity 20, 124, Fig. 4.
`
`
`
`The third phase is identification and authorization phase. Once the user 10
`
`provides his digital identity to the External-Entity 20, the External-Entity 20
`
`forwards users digital identity along with the identification and authentication
`
`request to the Central-Entity 30, 130, as illustrated in Fig. 5. When the Central-
`
`Entity 30 receives the request containing the user's digital identity, the Central-
`
`Entity 30 locates the user's digital identity (UserName and Securecode) in the
`
`system 134 and compares it to the digitai identity received from the External-
`
`Entity 20 to identify and validate the user 10, 138. The Central-Entity 30
`
`generates a reply back to the External-Entity 20 via a communication network 50
`
`as a result of the comparison. if both digitat identities match, the Central-Entity 30
`
`will identify the user 10 and will send an approval of the identification and
`
`authorization request to the External-Entity 20, 140, otherwise will send a denial
`
`of the identification and authorization request to the External-Entity 20, 150. The
`
`External-Entity 20 receives the approval or denial response in a matter of
`
`seconds. The Extemal-Entity 20 might also display the identification and
`
`authentication response to the user 10.
`
`To use the digital identity feature, the Central-Entity 30 provides the
`
`authorized user 10 the capability to obtain a dynamic, non-predictable and time
`
`13 of 19
`
`13
`
`
`
`
`
`dependable Securecode. The user 10 will provide his UserName and
`
`Securecode as digital identity to the External—Entity 20 when this information is
`
`required by the External-Entity 20 to identify the user 10.
`
`The Central—Entity 30 may add other information to the Securecode
`
`before sending it to the user 10, by algorithmically combining Securecode with
`
`users information such as UserName. The generated Securecode will have all
`
`the information needed by the Central-Entity 30 to identify the user 10. in this
`
`case the user will only need to provide his Securecode as digital identity to the
`
`External—Entity 20 for identification.
`
`In the preferred embodiment, the user 10 uses the communication
`
`network 50 to receive the Securecode from the Central-Entity 30. The user 10
`
`submits the Securecode in response to External—Entity's request 124. The
`
`Securecode is preferably implemented through the use of an indicator. This
`
`indicator has two states: "on" for valid and "off" for invalid. When the user 10
`
`receives the Securecode, the Securecode is in “on" or "valid" state. The
`
`Central—Entity 30 may improve the level of security by invalidating the
`
`Securecode after it's use. This may increase the level of difficulty for
`
`unauthorized user. Two events may cause a valid Securecode to become
`
`invalid:
`
`1. Timer event: This event occurs when the predefined time passes. As
`
`mentioned above the Securecode is time dependent.
`
`2. Validation event: This event occurs when the Securecode forwarded
`
`to the Central-Entity 30 (as part of digital identity) corresponds to the
`
`user's Securecode held in the system. When this happens the Central-
`
`Entity 30 will invalidate the Securecode to prevent future use and
`
`14 of 19
`
`14
`
`
`
`
`
`sends an approval identification and authorization message to the
`
`External—Entity 20,140.
`
`A valid digital identity corresponds to a valid Securecode. When the
`
`SecureCode becomes invalid, the digital identity will also become invalid.
`
`While the invention has been described in connection with a preferred
`
`embodiment, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to the particular
`
`form set forth, but on the contrary, it is intended to cover such alternatives,
`
`modifications, and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of
`
`the invention as defined by the appended claims.
`
`
`
`15 of 19
`
`15
`
`
`
`What is claimed is:
`
`CLAIMS
`
`1.
`
`A system for identifying an individual over a communication
`
`network; comprising:
`
`a User that needs to be identified in e—commerce;
`
`a Central-Entity that provides digital identity to the users to
`
`positively identify themselves in e—commerce;
`
`an External—Entity offering goods or services and needs to
`
`authenticate the users in e—commerce;
`
`a communication network for the user, the Central-Entity and the
`
`External-Entity to send and receive information between each other.
`
`2.
`
`The system according to claim 1‘, wherein said a digital identity
`
`includes Securecode and other information such as UserName.
`
`3.
`
`A system according to claim 2, wherein said a Securecode is a
`
`dynamic, non—predictable and time dependent alphanumeric code, secret
`
`code, PlN or other code.
`
`4.
`
`The system according to claim 1, wherein said communication
`
`network includes Internet, wireless and private networks.
`
`5.
`
`A method for identifying an individual; comprising the steps:
`
`The user registers at the Central-Entity;
`
`The user provides his personal andlor financial information to the
`
`Central—Entity;
`
`16 of 19
`
`16
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`The user receives his unique UserName and Password from the
`
`Central—Entity;
`
`The user attempts to get access to a restricted web site or to buy
`
`goods and/or services from an External—Entity;
`
`The External-Entity requests the user to authenticate himself using
`
`his digital identity;
`
`The user requests Securecode from the Central—Entity;
`
`The Central-Entity generates dynamic, non-predictable and time
`
`dependabie Securecode for the user;
`
`The Centra|—Entity stores a copy of the Securecode and sends out
`
`the Securecode to the user over a communication network;
`
`The user receives the Securecode over a communication network;
`
`The user submits his Securecode as part of the digital identity in
`
`response to External-Entity‘s request;
`
`The External—Entity forwards the user's digital identity along with the
`
`identification and authentication request to the Central~Entity over a
`
`communication network;
`
`The Central—Entity retrieves the user's digital identity including the
`
`Securecode from the system;
`
`The Central—Entity compares the retrieved users digital identity with
`
`the digital identity received from the External—Entity;
`
`The Central-Entity sends approval identification and authorization
`
`message to the External-Entity when the digital identity forwarded to the
`
`Central—Entity, matches the user‘s digital identity retrieved from the
`
`system;
`
`The Central-Entity sends a denial identification and authorization
`
`message to the External-Entity when the digital identity forwarded to the
`
`17 of 19
`
`17
`
`
`
`Central-Entity does not match the user's digitai identity retrieved from the
`
`system.
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`18 of 19
`
`18
`
`
`
`
`
`
`ABSTRACT OF THE DlSCLOSURE
`
`A method and system is provided by a Central-Entity, for identification and
`
`authorization of users over a communication network such as Internet. Central-
`
`Entity centralizes users personal and financial information in a secure
`
`environment in order to prevent the distribution of user’s information in e-
`
`commerce. This information is then used to create digital identity for the users.
`
`The digital identity of each user is dynamic, non predictable and time
`
`dependable, because it is a combination of user name and a dynamic, non
`
`predictable and time dependable secure code that will be provided to the user for
`
`his identification.
`
`The user will provide his digital identity to an External-Entity such as
`
`merchant or service provider. The External—Entity is dependent on Central-Entity
`
`to identify the user based on the digital identity given by the user. The External-
`
`Entity forwards user’s digital identity to the Central—Entity for identification and
`
`authentication of the user and the transaction.
`
`The identification and authentication system provided by the Central-
`
`Entity, determines whether the user is an authorized user by checking whether
`
`the digital identity provided by the user to the External-Entity, corresponds to the
`
`digital identity being held for the user by the authentication system. If they
`
`correspond, then the authentication system identifies the user as an authorized
`
`user, and sends an approval identification and authorization message to the
`
`External-Entity, otherwise the authentication system will not identify the user as
`
`an authorized user and sends a denial identification and authorization message
`
`to the External-Entity.
`
`19 of 19
`
`19
`
`
`
`Nader Asghari-Kamrani, et al.
`
`1 I 5
`
`1 W7
`
`/ 50
`
`10
`
`@
`
`10
`
`&
`
`1 0
`
`E
`
`
`
`communication
`Netwmk
`(such as Internet)
`
`
`
`
`20
`
`20
`
`E
`
`.
`xternal-Entity 2
`
`2o
`
`30
`
`Central-Entity
`
`Figure 1
`
`20
`
`
`
`Securecode
`Generation
`,
`
`Digital Identity
`
`Comparison
`
`Nader Asghari—Kamrani, et al.
`
`2 I 5
`
`2
`
`Personal or Financial information
`
`
`
`Registration
`
`Account
`C
`ti
`
`tea
` Account information
`
`
`
`
` 30
`
`
`) Communication
`Network
`
`"
`
`RequestIReceive Securecode
`
`
`
`20
`
`
`
`Registration Phase
`
`steps:
`
`6) @
`
`Transaction Phase Steps: ® ® ® @ ® G’
`
`Identification & Authorization Phase
`Steps:
`
`@696)
`
`Figure 2
`
`21
`
`
`
`Nader Asghari-Kamrani, et al.
`
`3/5
`
`
`
`100
`
`104
`
`108
`
`User signs-up a the central-
`Entity by providing his personal
`or financial information
`
`central-Entity creates an
`account for the USER
`
`USER receives account
`infonnation from the Central-
`
`Entity, including UserName and
`Password
`
`110
`
`Figure 3
`
`22
`
`
`
`Nader Asghari-Kamrani, et at.
`
`4 I 5
`
`1 O8
`
`
`
`110
`
`114
`
`118
`
`120
`
`124
`
`USER attempts to get access to
`a restricted web site OR to buy
`
`goodslservices
`
`USER requests Securecode from
`the Central-Entity over the
`
`communication network
`
`Central-Entity generates
`dynamic, non-predictable and
`
`time dependent securecode
`
`USER receives the Securecode
`
`USER provides his UserName
`and Securecode as digital
`identity to the External-Entity for
`
`identification
`
`130
`
`Figure 4
`
`23
`
`
`
`Nader Asghari-Kamrani, et at.
`
`5 I 5
`
`124
`
`The Extemal-Entity forwards the
`user's digital identity along with
`the identification and
`
`authentication request to the
`central-Entity
`
`USER's digital identity in the
`
`The Central-Entity locates the
`
`130
`
`13
`
`138
`
`140
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Central-Entity compares the
`user's digital identity retrieved
`from the system to the digital
`identity received from the
`External-Entity
`
`
`
`
`
`
`150
`
`central-Entity sends a denial
`identification and authorization
`message to the External-Entity
`
`Yes
`
`central-Entity sends an approval
`identification and authorization
`
`message to the External-Entity
`
`Figure 5
`
`24
Accessing this document will incur an additional charge of $.
After purchase, you can access this document again without charge.
Accept $ Charge
Still Working On It
This document is taking longer than usual to download. This can happen if we need to contact the court directly to obtain the document and their servers are running slowly.
Give it another minute or two to complete, and then try the refresh button.
A few More Minutes ... Still Working
It can take up to 5 minutes for us to download a document if the court servers are running slowly.
Thank you for your continued patience.
This document could not be displayed.
We could not find this document within its docket. Please go back to the docket page and check the link. If that does not work, go back to the docket and refresh it to pull the newest information.
Your account does not support viewing this document.
You need a Paid Account to view this document. Click here to change your account type.
Your account does not support viewing this document.
Set your membership
status to view this document.
With a Docket Alarm membership, you'll
get a whole lot more, including:
- Up-to-date information for this case.
- Email alerts whenever there is an update.
- Full text search for other cases.
- Get email alerts whenever a new case matches your search.
One Moment Please
The filing “” is large (MB) and is being downloaded.
Please refresh this page in a few minutes to see if the filing has been downloaded. The filing will also be emailed to you when the download completes.
Your document is on its way!
If you do not receive the document in five minutes, contact support at support@docketalarm.com.
Sealed Document
We are unable to display this document, it may be under a court ordered seal.
If you have proper credentials to access the file, you may proceed directly to the court's system using your government issued username and password.
Access Government Site
